B845
Tube-Feeding a Puppy

An 8-10 French soft rubber catheter is held up to the side of the puppy, with the tip of the catheter held at the puppy’s last rib and the opposite end held up to the pup’s mouth. A mark (indicated by the white arrow) is made on the tube at a point that is approximately 75% of the way from the pup’s last rib to its nose. This marks how far the tube should be placed down the puppy’s throat. The mark should be adjusted as the puppy grows.

 

With the puppy in a horizontal position, gently insert the catheter into its mouth and begin slowly moving the tip of it towards the back of the throat. Allow the puppy to swallow as the tube moves past the throat and into the esophagus. Once the tube is inserted to the mark, stop and squirt a small amount of water (1-2 mLs) into the tube. If the puppy coughs or resistance is met while placing the tube, pull the tube out (it may be in the trachea/lungs) and start over.

 

Once it has been determined that the catheter is in the right place, a syringe with milk replacer can be attached and given. Remove the air bubbles from the syringe and give the replacer slowly over a 3-5 minute period. If resistance is felt while administering the milk, the stomach may be full and more milk should not be given. A video of this procedure is found below.

 

If the video does not play, you must install an MPEG video
player on your computer (e.g. Windows Media Player).
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