PSA on lactation and very young puppies...

[Beckula]

We recently rescued a very young puppy, the vet said about 4 weeks so he would be about 5 1/2 weeks now. Well I thought I had put him in his bed which he could not previously climb out of...

I sleep shirtless so as to leave the equipment out for my 20 month old. I had hives last night so I had taken a benedryl and was really out of it. I woke up this morning to find the puppy in the bed latched on.  Has this ever happened to anyone else?  Is it going to hurt the puppy?

[Adaline'sMama]

I doubt its going to hurt the puppy, but I think its weird. I would have freaked out if I woke to find that.

[Beckula]

Oh I did.  Puppy is sleeping in the crate with the door latched tonight.

[maeby]

I don't know if it's that weird... I mean, we see news articles all the time about cross species nursing. Maybe he really needs the extra cuddles. I have a kitten and when she first came to me she would try to nurse on my finger tips. I hand expressed breastmilk for her to drink and she loved it. She is my most attached and loyal pet. My poor dogs have had so much trauma in their lives, I bet the closeness from nursing might have helped them a lot.... 

[jenniferlynne]

Oh, wow, that is awful.    I would've been horrified to wake up and find a dog latched onto my breast.   I'm all for cuddling with pets but, nursing them?  No.  Besides the fact that human milk is meant for humans, not animals, I don't think I'd want my dog looking at me and thinking I'm delicious. :)

[tank]

Originally Posted by jenniferlynne 

Oh, wow, that is awful.    I would've been horrified to wake up and find a dog latched onto my breast.   I'm all for cuddling with pets but, nursing them?  No.  Besides the fact that human milk is meant for humans, not animals, I don't think I'd want my dog looking at me and thinking I'm delicious. :)

cows milk is made for cows but humans drink that, what's the difference?

I honestly don't now how I would handle that, probably just laugh it off but if your child is in bed with you the dog should be locked in the crate or out of the room at night for safety.
 

[jess in hawaii]

Different but related-

When one of my boys was about 10 months old, our rabbit gave birth to two babies. Within 3 or 4 days it became apparent that she was not nursing one of them much, and as one grew he got more and more while the other got less and less. My options, as I saw them, were 1) Drive 45 minutes to the big pet store for some kind of supplement to bottle feed  2) Get goat milk from the farm down the road, to bottle feed  3) Hold the bunny so it could catch the leakage from one breast while my son nursed on the other....

Yep.

She grew healthy and strong and was one of my favorite rabbits ever :)