A neighbor of mine (who is never home) has a female dog who just gave birth to a litter of puppies. She is familiar with me and fairly comfortable but I am not going to mess with them while they are this young anyway. From what I could see of the pups (she had them under a shed and I lured her out with cat food) there are at least five. I know my neighbor stops by every morning and feeds her dogs (she and her husband are going through a divorce or something, I think she is staying at a hotel while giving him time to find somewhere else to go before she kicks him out of her house), but I think she feeds whatever is on sale at the grocery store, and the female is extremely thin with signs of muscle wasting, so she may not be feeding enough.
I would like to get some good quality, calorie dense food and start feeding her myself before and after work. I have some ground raw rabbit I am contemplating feeding her, but since she just gave birth, I don't want to stress her digestive system and I don't know if she will even eat it, so I will be sticking to kibble and canned food for the moment. I want to get the food ASAP, so I don't have time to wait for shipping. It needs to be something I can pick up at PetCo on my lunch break tomorrow. I do not have practical experience with a healthy pregnant dog, let alone one in her condition.
I know lactating females need more calories, higher protein, and higher fat, so I think I need to give her "puppy" food. I need suggestions of what to buy her. I also thought about throwing in some high protein/fat cat kibble, but I don't know if this is a good idea.
I am more than a little angry right now, as it is quite literally FREEZING outside. If I could take her home I would, but 1. Dogs aren't allowed inside where I live and 2. I do not want to stress her with the pups being so young. The most I can do ATM is make sure she eats properly and offer her a blanket. I know better than to put it in there with her and the pups so I planned on setting it outside close to her bowl to see if she will drag it under the shed with her or something.
I am open to suggestions.