Hi..I need some advice.
My bitch is 4 wks pregnant today (hopefully), the last few days she has really gone off her food. I cant seem to get her to eat very much at all, shes been sick a few times aswell. She just isnt interested in food at all..not like her!! Shes on Wainwrights dry, have tried Tuna, sardines, cooked and raw mince, yoghurt, chicken, ham!!!! I genuinely dont know what to do now..any advice would be great.
Shes fine in herself, still happy and active, drinking well..just the food issues.

Many Thanks
Deborah

We were the same with our female Deborah,tried all the food you have, pasta was the only thing she would eat with cooked chicken in, she would not entertain dry dog food, she still wont, puppies are 10 days old now and she is not eating much at all, its a worry, drinking ok and puppies thriving, i guess she will eat when she is hungry, good luck with your litter.

Thanx annastasia,
Will try some pasta..Im making cottage pie for tea..might try her with some of that and see what happens, although its mince!! She likes cheese aswell.

Hope your girl starts to eat properly very soon, especially as she is feeding pups aswell. Good luck.

Deborah

> Hope your girl starts to eat properly very soon, especially as she is feeding pups aswell. Good luck.

I know , a friend of ours swears by corned beef hash (made just with potatoes, water and corned beef) when they are pregnant and feeding pups, our girl not keen on it, grr! arghhhh! its a worry, she is fine in herself though.

lol..corned beef hash on the menu for her at this end...good job I love her:)
She loves mashed potato..hehe..

Two of our dogs would actively steal raw carrots, sprouts, oranges, apples etc if given half a chance why don't you try some of these wouldn't suggest the oranges tho.

Thanx, will do

update...tried corned beef, cottage pie, offered her raw carrot(which she normally loves)..roast beef yesterday...nothing.. has turned her nose up at everything the last couple of days..I am now starting to get worried. I give the other 2 dogs a bit of chicken or scramble degg and she walks off, shes sleeping a lot aswell and that must be because shes hungry. I cant leave her food down all day as the other 2 will eat it...grrrrrrr!!!!!

I wouldnt worry too much Deborah, another female we have hardly ate a thing she was a nightmare, went on to have 10 very healthy puppies, she did look like a rescue case the day after she had them, but big and strong now, the female who has just had the pups ate 2 bowls of food yesterday woo hoo, fresh meat and dry kibble, she is strange starts to eat at about 5pm and another meal through the night, ate nothing today yet though but its a start, hubby gave her some rib of beef last night which was  left over from from sunday roast, oh yes she loved that, she would, wouldnt she ha ha! im sure in a week or so your girl will eat, ours did, then after pups back to picking, hope yours not the same.

Thanx anastasia..she had 1 teaspoon of scrambled egg for her brekky...lol...really big eater this one!!
I have contacted the vet and just waiting to see if he wants to see her.
What fresh meat did you mix with her kibble?
Im willing to try her on anything..lol
just a thought but can she have Lactol at all??

Hi Deborah, the fresh meat is from the butcher think he uses his cut offs, to make dog food, if yours doesnt have it try minced beef(but freeze it 1st) or they now sell it frozen in supermarkets, or pets at home have it frozen in bags  too and you can defrost just what she will eat, only takes half hour or so, Yes Lactol is ok for pregnant and nursing females, such a worry arent they, a good walk would do our girl good but we dont take them out when nursing babies in case of bringing infection back. Will she eat tripe, ours loved it when in whelp, she wont touch it now lol x let me know how you get on. She is probably feeling queezy i guess they are like us humans when pregnant.

>shes sleeping a lot aswell and that must be because shes hungry

Are you sure it's not because she is just tired? .......she is pregnat afterall! ;-)

lol..yeah..that too..bought some lactol....gonna try her on that..hubby has just had liver for his tea..she was begging for some...got some cooking in the oven now for her and the others.
Lets see what happens!!

> Lets see what happens!!

An explosive butt is what will probably happen !!

Liver ( especially when first introduced) is incredibly laxative.

Hi Tooolz
Im not going to give her a huge amount..just trying to get her to eat.
my vet recommended raw foods to try and get eating again..can you help with that one..never having fed raw I dont even know where to start.

This period will pass quite quickly and she should start wanting food again. In the last three weeks however, she will start to get uncomfortable and three small meals should be given.

This also helps with appetite because you're not over-facing her and each little meal can be varied.
Just like a pregnant woman, she will have her fads and fancies and trial and error will find what they are....sometimes it's strong fishy things and others it's dairy.
If your little girl is drinking and eating small amounts of high calorie foods like cheese, she will be fine for now.

If you want to give liver, it is better to start with making livercake (search this site for recipe) with garlic ....then give little bits to start and monitor her 'output'.
In desperation I sometimes buy sliced chicken breast in packets, I think they must contain taste additives because all mine will eat a slice....but be sparing.... they have an awful lot of salt in each slice.

Introducing raw to a newly pregnant bitch who is picky at the moment, might not be perfect timing :-)

Lottie, one of our bitches, has just had puppies, she got quite fussy during her pregnancy. She is normally fed raw meat and veg, and decided she just didn't 'do' raw vegetables any more thank you very much lol :) Funny, because when our friend's bitch was pregnant she did exactly the same!
But during her pregnancy, Lottie was more than happy to eat chicken casserole in white wine sauce and she legged it to the front door one night when our Chinese takeaway arrived ;) lol. She was also quite happy to eat Nature Diet, which you can get from Pets at Home and she quite liked pilchards in tomato sauce.

I agree with what Tooolz said, I would be careful introducing raw meat to a bitch that isn't normally fed on it, especially when she's feeling a bit fragile! I'm convinced some bitches get morning sickness, just like pregnant women. For a few weeks, you could almost see Lottie stomach turning over at the though of breakfast lol. Try not to worry too much, I'm sure she will soon get her appetite back. Lottie used to enjoyed a small bowl of rice pudding now and then, you can make this yourself with goats milk. We also gave her scrambled egg with mixed with cottage cheese and grated cheese on top. You could try her on shin of beef, cooked in a casserole dish with water, add a mixture of vegetables to the dish as well (obviously no onions :) ) Cook in the oven on a low heat until the meat is falling off the bone. This is also a good meal to feed to bitches who have had their pups, as their mouths can become sore from cleaning the puppies and you can mash all the veg up. Hope this helps, I swear our dogs get fed better than I do!

TY Tooolz,
She had  a small amount of cooked liver with mash and the mixed into a handful of kibble...almost all was eaten:) tummy ok for now!!
She is drinking, thankfully...she adores cheese, but I wasnt sure whether to give her any due to the fat in it..but i suppose anything will do(within reason)to get her eating...have also tried the chicken slices..which she loves and ham..but again havent dared give to much...a slice or 2 at most.

Going to check out the Livercake Recipe now.

Many Thanks again...I feel better now!

TY NDQ.
She does like beef casserole.
Never tried Nature Diet, but that might be on the shopping list for P@H this week.
I have 3 dogs and yes they eat better than we do!!
Lol..thought alcohol was bad for pregnant mums!!

Any help and advice is greatfully accepted if it gets her eating again.
Will let you know how it goes...I quite fancy the shin of beef..I think she might just go for that!!!

I'm pretty sure it wasn't real white wine, it was only a tinned sauce. I think I draw the line at giving wine to the dog (Disclaimer: This is not something I advise doing lol! :) ) Hope she likes the beef, if not I'm sure you could eat it yourself! And Nature Diet is only about 80p a packet so you won't be wasting too much if she doesn't like it. Good luck!