can anyone recommend a glucose drink or drops for bitch to gain energy when whelping?

Get some glucose powder from Boots! No need for over priced energy drinks. Spoonful of glucose in water is what I offer my girls after a few pups born :-)

Same here, glucose powder disolved in water after a few pups and afterwards.

And when mum is ready for first meal I give gruel using AlisonGold's recipe ... my girls say it's wonderful :-D :-D

Gruel recipe.

Cup of Porridge
2 cups of Water
1 Egg
Tablespoon of Honey
Tablespoon of Milk powder (whelpi or similar)
Tablespoon of Glucose

Boil up everything together, stirring until porridge is thick, dilute with a cup of milk and cool. Feed lukewarm 

And just as an after note, only add the egg on the first mix. (Sorry, probably missed that out).
My girl just loves the gruel. She had her litter just under 8 weeks ago, had it for breakfast every day up to about 4 weeks and is in fabulous condition, you literally wouldn't know she had had a litter!

Can I just ask if it upset her tum, if she'd never had that before?

Never had a problem with any bitch at any litter.

My two girlies never had an upset tum with this recipe either :)

Thank you, just checking as to what people's experiences are.  Think my girl would give me a look of disbelief, I normally have porridge for breakfast every morning, she would think she had been given the holy grail if she thought she was going to have some too lol.

Have noted down recipe.  Is there any special significance for the ingredients?  I can understand the honey/glucose and whelpi, ie, sugar in an easily absorbed form and the calcium from the whelpi, but Oats? Is that because its a slow release carb?  Why the egg?  Can I ask why you would feed this rather than their normal pregnancy diet of a complete puppy food that is maybe soaked/made mushy.

Not critisising, just genuinely interested.

My girls always get their main meals too, it is just  a good pick me up after giving birth, it is nice and gentle on their stomachs and they LOVE it.
Don't know why the egg for the first meal.
I think if you have an especially picky Mum then at least you know that they are getting some goodness into them and also having all those ingredients and so much fluid in it helps them produce good quantities of milk for pups.

thanx very much all will get to boots tomorrow to get some glucose powder in the cupboard thanx x