hiya guys just wondering if any of you have experienced anything similar, i have a small toy breed bitch who is 3 years old at 18months mnths she delivered a beautiful litter of 6 healthy puppies one which is currently doing exceptional in the show ring, then early last year we decided to breed to keep a puppy to go on and show as we have done with mam anyway to cut a long story short we done all tests etc and she was good to go scanned at 4 weeks pups visible then at 6 weeks absorbed whole litter and we found she had an infection anyway took months to get back to normal but as time passed she was back to her normal self so we decided to try one last time so we got tests all re done everything fine had her mated got the herpes vaccine and used wheatgerm oil as had been told this is very good to help try and stop absorption anyway after what had happened the last time i thought i will hand in weekly urine samples so if any infection was present it would be caught immediately so when i went for herpes vaccine i had uine tested and couldnt believe it came back with an infection especially after she had only recently before mating came back absolutely fine, anyway they said 50 white blood cells had been found i dont no if thats high so i started her straight on antibiotics and the vet said if she had taken from the mating she would be kept on them till she whelped, so she is still on them and is 4 weeks pregnant but all of a sudden the last 3 days ive noticed she is generally fine in herself eating and pooing as normal running around as normal but is trembling an awful lot, not like shaking but trembling if you no what i mean and panting more than usual, shes due for a scan at 5 weeks and i have a canine doppler which is picking up 2 seperate heartbeats so im thinking she is in whelp as its always been a good indicator but ive never had this trembling in any of my bitches before so would be grateful for any advice im thinking should i get an emergency vet appointment or leave her and keep a watchful eye with her been ok in herself?

Low blood sugar would  be my guess, very small breeds are more prone to hypoglycaemia.

How often is she being fed, several small meals a day would be best spaced evenly though the day every 8 hours.

i dont have a feeding routine i just always make sure her bowl is full and i see her coming back and forth eating maybe i should start and give little and often is there any sugar supplements i could give her?

Dogs should not be given sugar, it's addition (along with over feeding) I suspect that dogs now seem to be getting diabetes more often.

It could be that she simply isn't eating as regularly feeling queasy.

One of the negatives of free feeding, is you don't know how much they are eating any time.

My toy breed tend to go off food at this stage, so I second a worry over hypoglycaemia.  You never know a dogs intake by allowing grazing.

When my girls start to go off their kibble I feed minced steak, poached white fish, sardines in tomato sauce etc.  They attack the change in feeding so I'm guessing it's worth you changing to find out how you get on.  My bitches totally ignore kibble once they've whelped anyway, due to sore mouths, so it helps my girls to cope.

thanks very much guys i really appreciate all your help, ive been feeding her tday little and often and i must say the trembling has calmed down alot just a little bit here and there, so heres another question over the next few days shall i expect the trembling to stop all together or will it just continue a little and would you advise a trip to the vets or just continue to feed little and often, any comments would be much appreciated

Trembling could also mean a calcium problem.  Which is URGENT.  We can only advise given your info - I would want a vet to test in case, it is not to be taken lightly.  Was she taking in enough calcium during pregnancy?  I don't mean by supplementing, I mean in her food.

Keep up the little and often.  I am not exaggerating when I say that one of my toys with a large litter worked her way up to 9 meals a day.  I kid you not!  She actually lost no weight during the rearing of her litter, and I hate to see bitches that end up skin and bone.

With toys, I always want pups to be quite well covered too.  It gives them something to fall back on if they become ill for any reason.  And any fat falls off as they grow more active.  I prefer podgy to thin when it comes to pups.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">I always want pups to be quite well covered too.  It gives them something to fall back on if they become ill for any reason.  And any fat falls off as they grow more active.  I prefer podgy to thin when it comes to pups.

I'm the same with my pups, at the weaning stage I like plump pups to cope with all the changes at that stage in their lives that may set them back re appetite etc.

Thanks very much for your comments shes on royal canin mother and babydog food so their should be the right amount of calciumin their and calcium drops are generally after whelping not before so i cannot get my head around whats going on ive getting an emergency appointment for 4 tday at the vets to try and get her sorted out but i certainly agree with you all i like alot of meat on both my bitch and pups her first litter of 6 was outstanding when we used to just keep her bowl filled up with the royal canin mother and babydog and id let her eat as and when she wanted when we took the pups and bitch vet checked my vet knows us personally off been in and out over the years and he d said you ve been very lucky she hasnt needed a c section for the size of these pups they were alot bigger than usual for the breed and ive seen alot of bitches who go thin at the back end after whelping but none of my girls ever have and i think its down to a good diet before and through pregnancy, i have always feed them on orijen but when i plan a mating i always feed the royal canin mother and babydog from 3 weeks after mating and all my girls and pups have never had a problem with any eye staining infact we met up with one of her pups at a show not long ago and he had eye staining and i asked what he was been feed on and they said pedigree kibble i said change to acana or orijen they later rang me to thank them and said the staining had gone, i believe theres definetly alot to be said for good food anyway ill keep you updated when i get back from vets thanks again guys

I would definitely go with jeans idea she knows her chi's Hope it all works out. yes good for is at the root of many things Personally I am araw feeder but you are quite right to suggest a change in food for the pup that was on pedigree to one of the grain free