I’m Hungry!

Dither’s pups are nine days old and gaining nicely. Yet, Dither is just gaunt. No matter how much I feed her and tempting high calorie items she eats, she is just thin. She seems to have enough milk, but not an abundance for this many puppies. The puppies seem OK, yet I decide to do a little supplementing with a bottle. I mix up the goat’s milk and sit in the box while she’s feeding them. With nine, it always seems like one is pushing to find a teat and is unsuccessful. I begin by picking up whoever is not attached and trying them with the bottle. Pepe isn’t interested and pushes it out of his mouth.  After a moment or two of gently presenting it, BOOM! He realizes he’s hit the mother load and frantically begins sucking, not believing his good luck. Legs stuck straight out and rigid, body focused with every fiber of his being drawing in milk as fast as he can. When he finally stops to take a breath, his tummy feels full and he looks like a wood tick. Sorry for the analogy, but I live in Northern Minnesota.