At what point in a pregnancy would you start to give folic acid & what dose would you give please? Mine is a toy breed weighing around 12lb. Thanks cheryl.

In humans they now say that folic acid is best given before pregnancy rather than during. I must admit I've never given it to any bitches.

I must admit I've never given it to any bitches

Me neither, nor any breeders that I personally know. :-)

If you are feeding your bitch a good quality puppy complete food, it has every vitamin, mineral and protein amounts in it needed for a healthy bitch and pups, and if you feed some raw foods too (chicken wings, minced meat etc.) as I tend to do your bitch should be perfectly healthy without lots of top ups. :-)

Thank you both for your replies, i admit to never using this also, but following on from another thread just wondered if it was the norm to nowadays.
My bitch is fed a quality puppy food & also cooked meats & veg as she won't eat them raw, would love her to have chicken wings but she just plays with them although a lamb rib goes down well occasionally.

That's all she needs she will be just fine.

Good luck with the pregnancy. :-) (If it's happened yet)

Thank you Carrington, we are mid season & the deed has been done hence the question lol.

I think fit and fertile supplement  for pregnant and lactating bitches has folic acid in it but it is recommended  before season is due  and through the pregnancy I must admit my girls coat is looking fabulous on it , it does say for good coat condition.

I don't give folic acid, I just feed Royal Canin HT 42d from 1st day of their season, to day 42 post mating, then change them over to Royal Canin Starter food.

Hi,  I have been giving it to bitches for the last ocuple of years.  I give it fropm the expected start of the season, or the first day, whichever is sooner.

bye
Gwen

I give folic acid from the 1st day of noticing a season is going to start, until day 40. I give one tablet but my bitches are 25kg

Folic acid is used in my breed to try to minimize the risk of dermoid sinus. For this to be meaningful, the Folic acid has to be given during the first trimester of the pregnacy, to be of any use. This because the spine is formed during the first three weeks.
In some breeds I've heard Folic acid is thought to decrease the number of pups with cleft palates.
The recomended amount is five milligrams per day. Folic acid can't be accumulated in the body, the excess will be passed with the urine.

Sorry it,s thicko here again but what is Dermoid Sinus? please

http://www.dermoids.org/

Thanks Barbara!
Of course most people don't know what DS is. Stupid of me.
It's supposed to be very much related to spina bifida in human babies. And that's something which is proven to be avoided, more or less, by the mother taking Folic Acid as supplement before getting pregnant and during the first trimester. When this was first studied, mothers with one child with spina bifida participated. One half  got Folic Acid, the rest placebo. It turned out they had to stop the study in advance, since it became very clear early on that the benefit of Folic Acid was proved. It wouldn't have been ethical to deprive mothers of something that would obviously keep their next child healthy, just to complete a study.
In the USA the flour is supplemented with Folic Acid. It's been discussed here too. But it's supposed to increase the cases of cancer in the bowels, in older people. So the goverment decided against it.