feeding pregnant bitches

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dannie_kl

feeding pregnant bitches

Post by dannie_kl »

I have noticed around about 5-6 weeks the pregnant girls (spaniels and ruby did it) go off their food quite a bit and it can be a task to find them something they want to eat. do you give yours anything different when pregnant? do yours go off their food a bit too? or do yours just wolf down their dinner?
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Mitch
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by Mitch »

Molly go off her food [laughing] Iv been waiting for the off food days they didnt come last time and havent appeard this time, shes ravenous, eating as if her life depends on it, she wuld have eaten more at week 3, wev had to just get her to be patient

At just over 5 weeks we are now increasing things and at week 6 we will change her over to arden grange puppy/weening food for the last few weeks also we give a boiled egg every other day starting tomorrow and some fruit as in she is mad for pears at the moment, no pips though.

You have to be careful with calcium rich foods, when they are pregnant, as this can cause the girls own calcium production to decrease and leave her open to eclampsia.
dannie_kl

Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by dannie_kl »

Mitch wrote:Molly go off her food [laughing] Iv been waiting for the off food days they didnt come last time and havent appeard this time, shes ravenous, eating as if her life depends on it, she wuld have eaten more at week 3, wev had to just get her to be patient

At just over 5 weeks we are now increasing things and at week 6 we will change her over to arden grange puppy/weening food for the last few weeks also we give a boiled egg every other day starting tomorrow and some fruit as in she is mad for pears at the moment, no pips though.

You have to be careful with calcium rich foods, when they are pregnant, as this can cause the girls own calcium production to decrease and leave her open to eclampsia.
one of the spaniel girls Pearl ate her way right through, funny though her sister Jade is 4 weeks pregnant and wont touch a thing-not scrambled egg or sardines-nothing! ruby was a pretty steady eater but after the pups i could only get her to eat scrambled egg for about a week then i was told to give her cooked chicken and raw mice and by god she ate! also when our girls have pups we use a calcium supplement in liquid form-think its called calci vit or calci care-will have to look that up but it is very good!
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miniforme
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by miniforme »

I have always found with mine that there appetite increases, I feed Royal canin, So i change the bitch onto reproduction starter, a food made for bitches in the later stages of pregnancy, and also for puppies at weaning age, the nuts are small and are coated and they loveeeeeeeeee them! I also buy the Reproduction 1st Age Milk and give this to the bitch also.
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Mitch
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by Mitch »

Miniforme when do you give the milk to your girls we gave goats milk last time once shed given birth and it went through her

also did you ever soak the dry food for them
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miniforme
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by miniforme »

Everyone does it different , in the last two weeks of the pregnancy i feed the starter food. and in the last week i gave a little bit of the milk just once a day to mum, Then depending on the size of the litter as to how much milk i give her, i never soaked mums food but always let her finish off what the puppies hadn't at weaning time. i found i never had any problems with loose stools.
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dannie_kl

Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by dannie_kl »

yea ruby ate virtually right through as i say until having all those puppies but working in the kennels and seeing more dogs go off their fiid and so i wondered whether anyone has tips or tricks up their sleeve!
when ruby was whelping i gave her a drink called pow wow which was chicken flavoured, it was an isotonic thingy-i got it from crufts and i think it was brilliant, it was the only thing i could get her to drink and it boosted her energy. the makers said vets approved it for pregnant bitches or dogs recovering from ops and so on but wanted a more medical looking package so they repackaged it for vets calling it Oralade so they are both the same product except pow wow is much cheaper!
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miniforme
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by miniforme »

i also have given my bitches pow wow durning welping, or chicken stock :)
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dannie_kl

Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by dannie_kl »

miniforme wrote:i also have given my bitches pow wow durning welping, or chicken stock :)
yea i remember you saying about the chicken stock but as i got those pow wow on offer at crufts i kept them in the cupboard and used them for ruby when she was whelping and i will definately be getting some more in when i have puppies in future!
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by Lipgloss »

My girls are always funny for about a week with their food, around their 3rd week point- puking and wanting to be left alone..after that... there is no stopping them- they would constantly eat if they could! Ofcourse I don't let them. Food wise, yeh, you know me, they get a few more meaty bones towards the end, obviously got to be careful they don't have too much calcium. (tongue)
Michelle, who reckons all dogs should have their meat and eat it...!
dannie_kl

Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by dannie_kl »

interesting yours are a bit sickly, i have not experianced vomitting when they are pregnant but its not to say it wont come one day!
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by Caramomo »

Cara went through a period of about a week when she was not eating and was having a bit of sickness in the early afternoon each day. This was about week 2/3.
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Mitch
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by Mitch »

No Molly doesnt want to give any of her food back [laughing]
dannie_kl

Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by dannie_kl »

Mitch wrote:No Molly doesnt want to give any of her food back [laughing]
i'm not surprised-she told me you give mean rations! she asked me to come and stay with the contents of our local pet shop!
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miniforme
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Re: feeding pregnant bitches

Post by miniforme »

bitches will normally get a morning sickness around 3-4 weeks, just like humans it worse on some than others.
some will just get a little quite others will actually be sick! its a good sign if you know you bitch that will almost comfirm for your if she is in whelp ! (ok)
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