One of our bitches had mastitis when she was feeding her puppies. We caught it early and with me expressing the milk and applying compresses, plus a course of Synulox, it resolved quickly.  About 8 weeks after her next season (not mated), she had another touch of mastitis but a course of Synulox sorted it.

She's recently had another season (not mated this time either) and I'm just wondering if there's anything I can do to ward off another bout of mastitis - any supplements or advice? She's raw fed, has liquidised veggies and daily salmon oil on her food. 

Much appreciated if anyone has any experience to share.

No answer for you I'm afraid, but I'm hoping this bumps you up a bit as I'm quite interested in any answer :-)

can't help here as the only time one of mine had it, it was her last litter and she was spayed 12 weeks after the pups were Born.

Not sure about when the bitch doesn't have pups, but I've found expressing milk and applying aloe vera to help - bitches find it odd first time then realise how soothing and cooling it is... I apply after they've fed the pups to give it time to soak in although it wont hurt them. It helps with scratches and bites too....

You need to treat like a phantom/false pregnancy this time, as this could happen?? I give my bitch dorwest garlick & fenugrek...which takes the toxins from the body...some give Raspberry leaf from the start of the season, right through until & a little after the expect due date...yes even if not mated. She may not even get milk..did she have phantoms before the last litter?

I would treat as a phantom. I was advised to give Pulsatilla during and after the season as my bitch was prone to particularly bad phantoms. I would advise speaking to one of the companies who sell it, as they will be able to calculate the dosage for the particular bitch. It worked well for my girl, and although she started to go into a phantom, she quickly pulled herself out of it.

Good luck, miserable for all concerned...

Tanya

> You need to treat like a phantom/false pregnancy this time, as this could happen?? I give my bitch dorwest garlick & fenugrek...which takes the toxins from the body...some give Raspberry leaf from the start of the season, right through until & a little after the expect due date...yes even if not mated. She may not even get milk..did she have phantoms before the last litter?

Thanks Lexy and everyone. I've started to supplement her with garlic & fenugreek for the time being as we had some here already. I'll be keeping a careful eye on her in case of any early signs of phantoms or mastitis. And I'll now look into using pulsatilla, so thanks for that.

No, she didn't have phantoms before she had puppies but it was a large litter and it took her quite a while to recover condition afterwards.