Hi All tonight I took one of my toy bitches to the vet for a general check over and I wanted to ask about feeding if she is pregnant. The vet was a locum and he felt her belly and said she needs antibiotics. I said that she is fine and I have not brought her here because anything is wrong but he still prescribed them and said she was "loose" which she isn't. Anyway I said about changing her on to a more energy dense food is she is pregnant at 6 weeks and asked if shed be ok to go onto Arden Grange Prestige he shouted NO WAY and started the lecture again about feeding a puppy food. He wouldn't even let me explain that it says on the website its ok for pregnant and lactating bitches.

He was so rude and I think he gave me antibiotics she doesn't even need. I just rang the main practice in the next town and complained and I have got to take her to the vet there for a free consultsation about pregnancy feeding and to decide whether she actually needs the ab.

Oh and while I was there he tried to sell me a spoton flea treatment eventhough she maybe pregnant and a spay opperation oh and a diffuser for Friday.

So does anyone feed AG Prestige or would you stick to puppy food.

Don't know about AG but I would give her what she will eat! I've had bitches not eat anything when they are pregnant and have been lucky to get anything down them.

Some vets just haven't a clue, have they? But then they probably haven't bred a litter themselves so will give try to tell you a load of rubbish. Go with your gut feelings.

Prestige is actually designed for hard work or breedign, ro for dogs hard to keep weight on.

I have also used it instead of puppy food, as mien sia  larger breed.

not being funny but you could of come on here for advise on feeding and got it for free, if a website says the food is ok for pregnant and lactating bitches why do you have to ok it with the vet?

you should of been firmer about ab's if you didnt want them, sorry but if you take a dog to a vet when theres nothing wrong (as you have said) they are likely to try it on. my vet would never do this with me he wouldnt dare, hope you are happy with your next vet anyway :)

At the new practice we go there there are a few extremely good vets (example: one of them last week removed giant rear dewclaws on two of my pups ten times better than my previous vet did, and he did it for free!) but there are a couple of idiots as well. One in particular drives me nuts. (Needless to say we only accept her for routine stuff!!) It started with me bringing in a litter of 3 bitch puppies for vaccination. She spent ages examining one and then said she was very sorry, but it had not dropped either testicle yet. Next we needed a pets passport for a Malinois and she said "Belgian Shepherd, yes?" I said she had to make sure to put Malinois as well, just BSD won't do for a pets passport as there are after all 4 varieties of them. She didn't believe me, she said there was just one breed of BSD listed on her computer and she'd never heard of there being four. Needless to say in both cases I proved her wrong. Third time we took in a cat to be vaccinated and I specifically requested a KILLED vaccine -so she injected him with a live one. And fourth time I took my Malinois x Golden Retriever crosses in for booster vaccinations. These dogs are very heavy, have floppy ears and are brindle in colour. "I see all your dogs are Belgian Shepherds", she said. Me: "These are crossbreeds." Vet: "Surely they are just a different colour of Belgian Shepherd? They have the same face!" DUH!!!!

blooming heck I didnt realise how lucky I am my vet is a general vet who prefers natural meds if you want anti bios its like getting blood out of a stone..his interests are: are dermatology, orthopaedics and canine reproduction , especially infertility and A.I. Indeed, he lectures on canine reproduction at Liverpool Veterinary School.
(As stated on their website) . He is very straight to the point and I value his opinion he breeds and judges and used to show his dogs.

I try to avoid locum vets if possible.
Is there anyone at your practice you do like KaneFizz? I'd be making sure I only saw them during routine appointments.

Have to say i'm now very lucky I have a bloody great vet and most at the practice are good. When you've got a good one you'll never want to let them go.

LOL Marianne, seems Vets are just people you get the good, the bad, and the down right stupid, you seem to have a sample of the latter.

Would not expect a Vet to follow the instructions of their client to the detriment of the animal but that is the only exception and however strange the request it should be treated with courtesy and polite interest then charged for.

I used AG Prestige for the first time this year in 2 pregnant bitches and would never use it again.

Both bitches have always whelped easily and both this time had sections which resulted in the death of one. In future I will be sticking to normal food UNTIL pups are born and then I will change food. Which is what I have always done in the past. A friend of mine had the same problem.

I have used Arden Grange Prestige for years for our pregnant bitches - none has ever had any problems as a result of their diet during pregnancy. As with any food, what suits one breed won't suit another and it's a case of finding out what suits your own dogs. Also I'm afraid our vet practice would be the last place we would consult for feeding advice - vets are not generally experts on nutrition.

Just giving my take on it, as a breeder of toys.  I know there are folk that have used AG on larger breeds.  So this is just me.

I have used Royal Canin mini junior from week 6 of pregnancy, and pups were all weaned on it.  I will be fair and say that condition was super, and all dogs loved it. 

However, they outpriced me, and I went over to Fish4dogs, the small kibble size.  My last litter have been weaned on it, and it went down well.  And they love the salmon mousse as a treat.  :-)  Again, mum was introduced to it at around week 6 of pregnancy.

(Poos are great)

At the new practice we go there there are a few extremely good vets

Just hijacking for a second.
A friend of mine took her Chow as she had come out of the car and then collapsed. Ran her straight through to the Vet (a Locum) and was told that she had terrible problems with her heart. Then went on to explain that he had come to this diagnosis as her tongue was blue!!!!. Went back to their own Vet next day and what had happened is that she had pulled a muscle in her chest getting out of the car. Wouldn't you think that a Vet would know about the colour of a Chow's tongue!!! These are the people we have to trust!!!

Ran her straight through to the Vet (a Locum) and was told that she had terrible problems with her heart. Then went on to explain that he had come to this diagnosis as her tongue was blue!!!!.

Oh wow. That beats virtually anything! That Chow Chows have black/blue tongues is something I learnt when I was about 5, it must have been my mum telling me that -and she knows basically nothing about dogs, it's just such a wellknown fact, a bit like knowing rabbits have short tails and mice have long ones!

Sorry to hear you do not like your vet- are you not able to request a certain vet? I only deal with one vet who I have been seen for well over 12 years and only see someone else in an emergency if she is not working that day- like with Tiva's eye needed emergency op. Have to say I love my vet she has such a love for animals :-) and she is very honest with me as well...

hi my little girl has just had her pups and they are 8 days old today. the vet told me to give her puppy food but she wud not eat it. so i gave her what she wanted and we have 4 cute pups and they are all do so well.

Our Vets are very good, will listen to what you have to say or ask and only treat if they know its the right thing for the animal. There are 3 Vets at ours who are really good and those are the ones we see as and when we need to, although all are good, we just seem to get on better with the those 3.

I use AG and when my bitch was 7 weeks I started her on the AG puppyand she's very fussy but did eat it, the pups are now 7 weeks old and I still have the mum on puppy food and she's doing great.

After discussion with the nutritionist at Arden Grange (vet would be the last person I'd ask advice for feeding a pregnant bitch :-( ), I fed my bitch Prestige through her pregnancy, with a change over to Puppy food (I didn't bother with the Weaning food, just the Puppy/Junior) during the last week of her pregnancy. She stayed on the puppy food until the pups left home. Mum and pups did extremely well on their Prestige and Puppy food.

If in doubt, contact Ness at AG, she's very helpful.