My girl had her second litter 19 days ago. Her motions have been much softer than usual following their birth. I checked in my log for her first litter and she was exactly the same. I wormed the pups with Panacur 10% on days 14, 15 and 16 and her motions are much much looser now. She is well in herself. Eating, drinking and feeding the pups. The pups were loose for just one day after the worming. I have no record of her being so loose after worming pups last time but used drontal puppy then. Should I be worried? Her pooh is almost liquid now.

It may be that she is eating something different this time around. Cleaning up after the pups makes her stools softer anyway.

Did you worm the dam too, I do her at the same intervals as the pups till she stops feeding them

No, I didnt worm mum at the same time. Right, I suppose I was thinking that because she was wormed from 40 days till two after whelping, that she wouldnt need that yet. She needed to go out every two hours during the night. She seems to need to go as soon as she gets the urge and cant hold it. Again, she seems well, and is feeding pups, but I am getting paranoid that she isnt drinking enough and offering her water all the time. Obviously she knows best as she wont have any until she is ready. Thinking about a vet visit as worried about what or what not to give her to help her get back to "normal" stools. If pups were wormed 14, 15, 16 should she still be so loose? Now day 19/20.

I have not known this myself with wormers. I would maybe take her to the vets, if she has picked something up there is always the risk of passing it on to the pups. A few years back I had a bitch do this, with pups pretty much the same age. The bitch had awful watery motions. She had not been out of the garden but the vet reckoned it was wildlife, badgers, foxes or whatever in the garden, she had picked it up from, just following their trail with her nose. One of the pups caught it but all were fine with antibiotics.

If there is a sour smell, its indicative of bacteria so ab's are a definate.

>I suppose I was thinking that because she was wormed from 40 days till two after whelping, that she wouldnt need that yet.

Although that excellent regime means that pups will be born with minimal worms there will still be a few which she'll be reinfecting herself with when she cleans up after the pups, which is why she needs worming at the same time.

Right. Thank-you for the info re: worming mum. Will get onto that.! Her last pooh was slightly more solid so am going to wait a couple of hours to see what happens. If no improvement will take her to vet. She enjoyed her breakfast after feeding the pups who seem totally satisfied, and is drinking well too, so not as worried at the mo.

As the bitch is cleaning everything the pups produce she is getting a dose too, so I don't usually worm Mum until after the pups have been wormed.

I have found with some of my girls by giving them their normal food (not the high protein puppy food), their motions improve. 

Once that happens I give a mix of half and half puppy and adult, and motions return to pretty much normal, other than volume because of the amount being eaten.

Ann
Just a reminder that the pregnancy dose for your bitch was at quarter strength.  The dose is not the same once she has whelped.  Whereas the pups are dosed for 3 days, mum is only once at normal adult dose.  I normally do my bitches on day one of pups Panacur.

Ah! well she has been totally on puppy plus anything else she fancies really. Lots of chicken etc. I will do as you say and cut the puppy food out until her motions get back to normal. Thank-you for that.She has now gone three hours without a motion so hopefully things are settling down.  She sailed through this period two years ago for her first litter. Surprising how different the experience can be. We are learning all the time, arent we. Thank-you

thank-you for your help re: worming.

One of my girls insists upon cleaning up after her children right up until the point they go to their forever homes which means she tended to have loose stools for the whole eight weeks. We very often raced eachother to see who can get to the "present" first...she always won!!!!!

I now steam and puree Butternut Squash and put into icecube trays and freeze. At the first sign of diarrhea I give her one cube followed by another 12 hours later. It works wonders with the consistency.

Pumpkins will soon be appearing in the shops for any of you who want to freeze some for dealing with any loose stools over the next 12 months.

What do you do with the pumpkins?

Scrape the innards out, steam, mash/puree and freeze in icecube trays, tip the cubes into a bag and store in freezer, at first signs of soft/loose stools give the dog a cube, they take it like a new treat, never needed to give more than 2 cubes a few hours apart, it won't mask any serious problem/infection so if no improvement that day take them to the vet.

Strangely it is reported to work on constipation too but not tried it.

You get more from a pumpkin than other types of squash but they are not available year round.

thanks I will get a few in as soon as they are available.  I have one bitch hopfully due in October and another (never been bred from) who gets alot of tummy upsets so worth a try. 

I got the info from our cousins across the pond, I like that it is a natural remedy and so quick acting too.

Sorry gone off subject a bit.

Oooh interesting about the pumpkin. My girl is still very loose. I have taken her off puppy kibble for a couple of days and replaced with her normal food. Pups are three weeks now so will start weaning this weekend. Hopefully she will not clean up as much from now on. Will bear the pumpkin thing in mind, just in case she cant resist though.

I would not count on it my girl continued to clean up after the pups at any age if they happened to go indoors in their puppy pen. 

Had to lock her out of the room until I'd cleaned up.

At least she left it alone when outside.

Well if she misses just once, it might make a bit of difference lol Fingers crossed!!!

>I would not count on it my girl continued to clean up after the pups at any age if they happened to go indoors in their puppy pen

Same here.  The last time I kept a pup, I was sure that mum would still be poo eating when her daughter was an adult.  I have found that it seems to be the very maternal bitches that are more prone to taking it too far.

Yep super maternal bitch, happily feeding them at 9 weeks.

I have had her spayed (as I have now kept a puppy) even though she isn't 6 until December as I am sure when her half sister is next bred from she would want to mother the pups, (she did this with her own mothers last litter, but her Mum was more than happy to allow it), probably come into lactation, and this could well cause friction between them (younger sis not as laid back as their Mum).

I am hoping the lack of hormones will lessen any issues, with only 19 months between the half sisters I will have to be extra careful.

Don't know if this s a silly question but I assume we don't use the pumpkin seeds

No it is only the flesh of the pumpkin you cook

Thanks I've just spent ages singing to the radio chopping, cooking and mashing pumpkin lol