need some help on this one rather than taking her to vet unless really neccessarybut my girl is 6 weeks pregnant and has started to moult really heavily is this normal

darren

Mine did this recently and went to have a litter of nine on tuesday,i really wouldn't worry if anything it will make her more comfortable while she is nursing them.

thank you

I'd say it was unusual other than loosing some belly hair, usually they are in great coat during pregnancy.

It is unusual, but not unknown. My bitch lost a lot of hair, as did a friends bitch (different breeds) but I would check her for external reasons (ie fleas, etc) just in case there is a different reason than her hormones.

My last bitch was going through a moult when she actually went to the stud dog.  By the time she was 6 weeks pregnant, her coat was at its very best.  She had lost underneath, as I would expect her to around the nipples.  But pregnancy certainly didn't cause coat loss, her coat looked stunning.

She had a check up a the vet on monday 7th and he said she was in good health so for that reason i had to call him today and he said it is her summer coat coming through.

What do u guys think on his verdict.

Darren

Hi Darren,
My bitch had a litter 3 weeks ago, I posted on exactly the same problem http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?pid=1147421;hl=#pid1147421, she was loosing coat when I had expected she would had been in growth phase coat, she had a litter of 9 (which is big for her breed) so I can only say perhaps with a big litter they suffer coatwise. Her pups were all good weights and she is fine other than being in her underwear!. Good Luck with your litter.

> What do u guys think on his verdict.
>

I'd say the vet knew little about breeding.

Bitches will have a hormonal moult; after having a litter (virtually to the skin). 

This is usually not until about weaning, though maybe the hot weather is hurrying things along.  My girl is also loosing hers in clumps down to the skin (perfectly normal) and it is rather sooner than usually, as pups only 5 weeks old, and she started at least a week ago.