Monday, February 10, 2014

Don't Try This at Home

Oliver Darcy shares the story and video of a woman who "saved" an orphaned puppy by giving it human milk...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/10/what-a-woman-says-she-had-to-do-to-save-an-orphaned-puppy-has-generated-a-lot-of-controversy/

Not recommended! Young animals can usually survive for a short time on milk from a different mammal species, but each creature is designed to thrive on milk from its own kind. Powdered milk "formulas" to replace dogs' and cats' milk are available at some pet stores, at some discount department stores including Wal-Mart, and from the vet; although not as good as milk from a healthy foster mother of the same species, these formulas contain a reasonable approximation of the major nutrients in the balance a puppy or kitten needs.

Disease germs can migrate from infants to their mothers or foster mothers during the nursing process. This woman probably exposed herself (and her baby) to a variety of canine diseases humans don't normally get by trying to feed puppies as if they were baby humans. If I had to try to "save" an animal on human milk I'd at least pump the milk and bottle-feed the animal.

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