Hi Great site now then have any of you used Folic Acid to your bitches if so when and why did you give it What were the results ?A friend has been told to use it sorry she is not on a computor so will have do this through me We also show and breed dogs but never have given it to my own
Would like to hear from you all good or bad

Folic acid is routinely prescribed to women intending to get pregnant and in the first few months of pregnancy to help prevent congenital conditions such as spina bifida. It's believed to help prevent cleft palate as well (another condition where bones haven't fused properly) so I would imagine it does the same job in pups as well.

Folic acid sources are green lieafy vegetables, liver, kidneys and eggs.

Supplementation is useful in dogs with anaemia or long term AB use as both strip the gut bacteria essential in making FA as do drugs used to treat colitis etc such as Tagamet, sulfasalzine etc.

For normal dogs a weekly meal of liver should suffice........

I've always given my girls folic acid when I know they are going to be mated.  Normally for a month before their season is due, then all the way through pregnancy.  It's also one of those products where you can't overdose, as anything the body doesn't need, comes back out in their wee!  As I've always used it, I'm not sure if it makes any difference or not, it certainly hasn't done any harm!

I used it for my last litter.  I was told to give 6 tablets daily from the start of the season until about day 35.  There were no ill effects and no cleft palettes, but then again I've only had one anyway in 30 years of breeding - but it was from this particular bitch at her previous whelping.