Hi guys

My girl is, if she did conceive, 38 days pregnant. This will be her first litter, she's almost 3 years old.

I haven't consulted for confirmation for pregnancy because I don't wanna stress her out with an ultrasound and I'm not really up for my vet palpating and hurting something inside her. I'll get her on an X-Ray about day 45-50 just so stress won't easily cause any reabsorption since skeletons are then somewhat calcified, making the pup less likely to be reabsorbed.

About by the end of week 5, she has been thicker in the middle. The area between her ribs and pelvis has filled in. Her belly is rounder. When she sits, her belly is round, hard, with the area by her last nipple rather droopy. So at this point, I'm treating her as pregnant. I've also added a bit more to her food as well. From her usual 3.5 cups, she's eating 4 cups.

Today, she did eat her first meal. Her second meal however, which by far is the meal that is consumed with more gusto, wasn't consumed completely. She just ate half of her second meal, which is unusual, and it took her a while to even eat that half. I'll check tomorrow if this ensues.

However, is this probably due to her tummy filling up? Isn't it too early for that? My vet expected the filling up of the tummy to happen about week 7.
Some thoughts.

Thanks.

If she finds it stressful why are you considering Xraying her?  Infact, even if she didn't find it stressful why would you consider it?
I would not have thought this was a breed (you are not supposed to mention it by the way and the reference will probably be removed by Admin) that would be expected to have any whelping difficulties so really can't see the point and you will find out soon enough if she truly is carrying.
Bitches vary enormously when they might start to show depending on their build but I think most people would not be giving extra feed until about week 6.  If is post whelp that you really need to pile the food in.

I would never, ever consider an x-ray -for that she will need to be left at the vets then either sedated or put through a GA -compare that to standing up being cuddled by you whilst the vet does a scan.

I honestly would not expect to see any (visible) weight gain as early as 38 days, and personally would not increase food until 6 weeks -but it also would not surprise me if the bitch was a bit off her food, it could simply be a somewhat later case of morning sickness.

Hi guys

She ate all her food today.
Though lately she finishes her bowl slower than usual.

But she's eating more than her usual ration.

My girl didn't eat much at all past week 5 in pregnancy last time, she was a nightmare. I worried about stressing her with the ultrasound but chose a scanner that came to the house; she was perfect and it was so much more relaxed than going to the vet, we got a confirmation of the pregnancy and even pictures.

The OP is not in the UK it woudl seem?

In many countries pregnant bitches are routinely x-rayed to confirm pregnancy and expected numbers. 

Certainly ti seems to be the norm in he USA, where few of the people I have spoken with use ultrasound for pregnancy diagnosis.

The main argument seems to be you can tell numbers so know if a bitch has finished.  Obviously not foolproof as the litter a friend imported a dog from, x-ray said 5 pups and she had 6!

Hi guys

SHe's being a pain now. Lately she just eats half of her food, and she's at day 44!
Her tummy is round now and her vulva is "looser."

Any advise? She ate well on the first 5-6 weeks, we even increased her food by 25% on her fifth week.
Now she's a nightmare. To think she is supposed to be more ravenous now.

Any opinions? I need help.

Is she on puppy kibble split into 3/4 meals per day, that is what I do for my girls from 6 weeks and start daily worming at the same time.