Hi

Is there anything i can give my bitch to help suppress her milk. The pups are now 5 weeks old and she has stopped feeding pups but is still producing alot of milk so all the food she eats is still going to the milk and i want her gain weight because she is really skinny and i am concerned for her health.  The vet wont give me anything to help and wants her to stop naturally. 

Need some help advice

Darren

Leave well alone. She will gradually go down as the pups take less off her. They still need to suckle, even at 5 weeks. Not just for the milk. She will put on weight soon enough.

ETA:  I would only start to worry if one of her teats started to go hot and hard. She would need to see the vet then.

My bitches will suckle pups even on the day that they leave home.

Feed her ad lib - and keep her on puppy food for a good while after pups leave home.

I agree with the others and your Vet, at five weeks they are still pretty much at peak lactation.

Thanks for your comments but she has not fed them for 4 days now and her boobs are getting more full with milk. i'm just concerned for her health as none of the milk is now being used.

Is she allowed to be with pups? Ican't imagine that 5 week old pups wouldn't want to suckle.

5 weeks is usually the time when the bitches start their own weaning process - those teeth are sharp and the pups hang on tightly! But after a few days they normally go back to them again to allow them a little milk at a time, not a full feed. As long as she has free access to them (and to get away from them!) at all times, day and night, the milk should dry up naturally.

If she isn't going near the pups because of their sharp teeth and nails then I would make her a cover to wear. An old t-shirt, or similar (depending on size of bitch) with holes cut out for the teats is a good way of keeping the sharp teeth and claws off a bitch, but the pups still get to suckle.

Have the pups nails been cut regularly.  I woudl brign oen pup at a tiem to ehr to relive the pressure of the milk before she gets mastitis.

My pups are 5 1/2 weeks old and still feeding off mum, I wouldn't stop her feeding them, she'll continue to do so as long as she wishes - she comes and goes to them as she pleases.

she has full access to them all the time but she does not want to feed them anymore and when the pups try she walks away. I personally think she has just had enough, she's not interested in them anymore. The pups will bark, growl fight with each other but she is just not interested in anything they do.

At 5 weeks mien often seem to have lost interest, but this is temporary until the milk has dried up enough for the bitch to then come back and interact with the pups more without being mobbed.

As long as there is no heat in her mammary glands then I would take her lead.

Is she a first time Mum, and is the litter large?  Some bitches can be just a bit overwhelmed, and by letting just one or two pups suckle at a time she will be happy to top them up for a bit longer allowing the milk to subside more slowly.

She is afirst mum and there is only 5 in the litter. Yet again same thing today no interest in them at all but they are doing well it's just mum tits are huge with milk

Well I wouldn't consider 5 a small litter.  If the bitch isn't uncomfortable then leave her to her own choices.

5 is small when the normal litters 9. she's fine and still active  i think she has decided that she does'nt want to be a mum anymore. 

Yes but it is still enough to be offpuitting when they all rush to try and feed off her. 

I'd consider a small litter to be one or two. ;)

I can't see if you answered this already, but will ask myself.  How often do you clip the pups nails?