I could use some help! I was given a chihuahua to foster 5 days ago. Here's the background------first,I have had larger breed dogs all my life, bulldogs,rhodesian ridgeback/boxer mix, never a small one. This little one was rescued from an elderly lady who had a houseful of chi's, interbreeding etc, who was unable to care for them any longer. She was in shelter for probably at least 5 days,know absolutely nothing about this little girl other than the circumstance above and that she is pregnant. The vet estimates she is around one year old and 1 month preggers.The shelter was sure she was bred with another chi, thank God! Heres the tough part. She is very malnourished. She weighed 3.3 lbs when taken to vet. He said she was healthy except for bad tartar problem and being so underweight--no worms,heartworm,respiratory probs etc. Her belly is huge. She is skin and bone and huge belly. I am having a rough time getting her to eat. Vet recommended puppy chow and pedigree wet-little champions. Well she won't eat on her own. I actually have to hand feed her, and she won;t touch dry food,i even put in blender and made it into a fine meal,tried with broth, everyway. She hardly touches the pedigree wet unless i hand feed her tiny specks of it. I have cooked liver, ground turkey,ground beef,ribeye, and she will eat about a teaspoon worth at a time if its fed to her by hand and wont touch any grains, I made some brown rice, tried sticking a single grain in with her meat, no go. She does like yogurt and vanilla ice cream, give her about a teaspoon or two a day, all she will eat. I have been feeding her about a teasp. or two every couple of hours. Besides her eating problem she is very skittish. She has finally warmed up some, but is fearful of anything new. She doesn't know how to play, she stays in her doggie bed most all of the time, but is very sweet, no snapping or barking. Vet gave us vitatabs liquid vitamins,supposed to give 2 cc's twice daily. I am lucky to get 2 cc's for the whole day,put a tiny amount in the food i am feeding her each time. I am scared to death that she won't make it through this pregnancy. At this point I am not concerned so much with the baby/s I just want her to make it through. Its been a long time since we've whelped any pups, and this one is an extremely precarious one. I guess What I need to know is what is the ideal amount of food she should be eating? I don't know if she is eating enough.I offer it to her often every hour or two, but not sure. She is just so malnourished,you can see her whole skeleton. I am on pins and needles here trying to bring this tiny girl through. Any help on feeding tips/help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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