Hi,

Are there supplements that I should give my bitch while she is in whelp, she is very healthy so far with a good appetite and is looking really well for it - however some people say you should give supplements such as Vetzyme?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

When dogs were fed mainly on household scraps then supplements could be helpful, but if the bitch is eating a good quality diet there is no need to supplement it; in fact giving certain supplements (ie calcium) is believed actually to increase the risk of problems.

She is fed mainly good quality dog food with a few scraps, we have started giving her rice pudding at lunchtime to try and keep the ever increased appetite at bay!
People say you should give them puppy food about a week before they are due to whelp - is this recommended?

I'd ditch the rice pudding; it's full of carbohydrate and sugar, when if anything she needs less of those and a higher level of protein than her maintenance level. So add in extra meat instead, or a good quality puppy food (from about 6 weeks gestation) will have the balance she needs.

Also as she gets bigger she'll need more meals but smaller ones because her insides will be getting squashed by the growing puppies and there isn't enough room for her to be comfortable after a large meal.

I've been giving Ellie some wheatgerm oil which the stud dog owner recommended pre-mating to help fertility. I suppose I might as well phase it out now though, she's either pregnant or not!

Haha - yes you can't really do a lot about it if she is not!
Mine definately is - well either that or she has eaten one of the cats! I don't think there is much danger of her going too far over her due date.

I would never recommend supplements of any sort to a pregnant bitch.  It's an outdated idea, and can do more harm than good.  Most people feed dogs a high quality food nowadays.

I keep to the same brand, but change over to puppy version around 6-7 weeks.  As someone has already said, it's often better to get them on several smaller meals a day, as they seem to find it difficult to manage a couple of larger meals.