Neonatal Care and Orphans

Lecture Notes

The neonatal or newborn puppy or kitten is entirely dependent on the mother. It's best to think of the mother and offspring as one functional unit during this time. Newborn puppies and kittens will nurse every few hours, and every time they eat the mother will stimulate elimination of urine and feces by licking the anal-genital region of each of her young. The young will not be able to do that on their own for a few weeks. Also, extremely importantly, the mother keeps the young warm with her body heat, as neonates are unable to regulate their own internal body temperature.