3 Priorities for Nursing Baby Animals
Baby Animals Are Here! Keep reading to learn about nursing baby animals and milk replacers.
You have prepared for your furry babies and the time has come for their arrival. Most of the time, a mother animal can take care of her own babies. There are instances, however, when this is not possible for a variety of reasons: the mother was killed, the baby was separated from the litter or herd, the baby is a runt and is pushed out by the more dominant siblings, the litter is unusually large and the mother cannot produce enough milk for all of them, or other health-related abnormalities. For these issues, it may be necessary to bottle feed one or more of the babies until they are old enough to eat on their own.
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Powdered Milk Replacer for Nursing Baby Animals
There are a variety of milk replacers formulated especially for specific animal species. Most of the powdered milk replacers can be mixed with water. Click here to see milk replacers and other supplies for baby animals.
Homemade Milk Replacer for Nursing Baby Animals
During the past year, there have been many products that been difficult to obtain from suppliers and distributors. One of such products is milk replacer for dogs and cats. Taking this into account, we have researched and come up with a recipe for making your own homemade puppy milk replacer. We have a video that shows the ingredients and recipe you can use:
Bottles and Nipples
There are specific types of nipples for the different species of animals: Kitten, Bunny or Puppy, Lamb, Kid, Calf. These are specific to the size and mouth of each particular animal. Make sure to check the nipple before using it, as some do not have openings. They allow the buyer to cut the opening to the size needed for the particular baby. An opening too large can cause aspiration or choking. For instance, the same bottle/nipple can be used for kittens and rabbits, but the opening should be slightly smaller for a rabbit than for a kitten.
If you have baby animals that need an extra boost to get them going, we hope that these suggestions will help you care for these little creatures. If the babies have not yet arrived, please refer to our previous post Now is the Time to Get Ready for Healthy Baby Animals, and look through our posts to read tips on taking care of each specific species.
As always, if you found this post on milk replacers and bottles for baby animals helpful, please follow us on Facebook. Feel free to ask any questions or leave a comment or suggestion. Good luck with the furry babies and thanks for reading!
