Ive heard that a homeopathic remedy called urtica urens 30c is good for helping milk production in lactating bitches and was wondering if anyone has any experience of it?
Last litter at 5 days old we had our bitch and pups at the vets as they were starting to lose weight, our girl was checked over and vet said she had very little milk. We fed her anything we could think of that she would eat, advice from her breeder and my mentor and we were massaging her ever hour with a hot wet flannel for about a day on top of this the vets gave me a drug that they said was safe (cant remember what it was to treat) but the main side affect was milk production in bitches. In this time we were topping the pups up. At about 7 days or so her milk came in and we had no problems after that. Im a little worried that this might happen again, I really dont want to have to give her any drugs that she doesn't need and thought about homeopathic remedies rather than giving her drugs or being faced with the problem again.

Has anyone used it? Was it any good?

This time my girl is on royal canin ht 42d and has been since day 1 of season, she should now be 2 weeks in whelp. Ive also heard royal canin can help them produce too uch milk, resulting in mastitis. Im a bit worried about her being on the food AND using something to help with her milk production. What do you think?

Any help would be great
Thanks

Amy

Best thing to do would be to ask for a referal to a homeopathic vet. I am a great believer in homeopathic remedies but only if they are prescribed by someone trained in their use.

Absolutely - I wouldn't try to use any homeopathic remedy without consultation.  Each case is very different.

Personally I'd play it by ear.

No harm in being prepared though ;)

The milk will be brought in by the puppies suckling vigorously, best to put them on a teat, let them suckle as much as they want and weigh at the same time daily.  Contented pups who feel good to the hand are usually getting enough even if you can't express any milk, hungry pups will complain a lot and be unsettled.
The bitch needs plenty of liquids to make enough milk, so soaking all her food in warm water, stock or milk can help as can giving her stock, milk etc. to drink in addition to water.   Soaking her dry food is also kinder to her tongue and lips as she can get very sore from licking and cleaning the pups.

I used fennel seed tea from the supermarket when my bitch seemed to have little milk and pups stopped gaining, she had plenty after, but this can backfire as you can have too much of a good thing too ;)

Sorry no experience of Royal Canin as I put bitch on same food as pups will have ;)

I'm a great supporter of homeopathy but wouldn't give anything to a pregnant/lactating bitch without referral to a Homeopathic Vet.

OK thanks everyone, does anyone know how I can get in touch with a homeopathic vet?
Im tempted to just see how she goes and hope for the best, the less interference the better but I really dont want to have to go through that again. The only way I could get fluids down her last litter was to give her bowls full of weakened lactol, this got her drinking but she still wouldnt eat much, and she is usually very greedy. Maybe she will be a little more settled this time with it being her second litter, last time she was very unsettled for the first week or so too.

Google BHVA to find Homeopathic vet in your area.

Thankyou :-)

Maybe she will be a little more settled this time with it being her second litter
Or maybe she's just not the best brood bitch?
Our Champion bitch enjoyed the mating but hated being pregnant, screamed during whelping and after sleeping in the whelping box exhausted for the first 24 hours, didn't want anything to do with her puppies until they were 6 weeks old.  Although she produced a super litter including the bitch that we kept winning a CC, we didn't mate her again.

Oh no she was a fantastic mum, just wasnt very settled the first week. She had a very easy birth however, when we thought she was finished at 9pm we had to have a trip to the vets at 6am as she had been pushing for hours. Vet said there may be a stuck dead pup when I was on the phone so we took her down and out came a placenta as we went through the vets door.
As you can imagine, this wasn't the best start with her brood. Then of course, babies werent getting the milk they needed so were crying on and off for a bit which was stressing her out. As well as having to have another trip to vets at day 5 because pups were losing weight. This time we are going to go down the covered box route. Ive read recently someone is having the same problem on here, we also have a link-a-bord whelping box. As it is sooo big we had a problem keeping it covered, however, this time we will be getting one with a lid to keep her more settled. Once pups started to feed properly once her milk had come in she was fantastic. Even though her babies werent getting much milk from her for the first week she still did everything else with them and absolutely adored them (after getting over the initial shock of the first one popping out lol). She loved it, and we wouldnt actually be mating her again had we managed to get our long awaited girl from her last time. She only had 2 girls out of the 8 and unfortunately neither were destined for the show ring :-(

I'm 100% behind the Homeopathic and Holistic approach to optimum good health for life...not just through the rigours of pregnancy.

I've found that the simplest way of ensuring good health through seasons...pregnancy...whelping...lactation...puppies (and beyond) is to feed a Raw Meaty Bones Diet throughout. This gives the Carnivore Mother all the essential nutrient building blocks she needs.....to equip her body naturally with the extra demands placed upon her during the process.

In giving the Mother a Species Appropriate Raw Diet.....that her body is naturally designed to eat.....

I've found that....
Pregnancy is uneventful.....and Mum is still running and playing with everyone else right up until the last couple of days
Whelping is less stressful for her.
Puppies are more uniform in size
After eating the placentas a Mother isn't under any pressure for the first couple of days to need to eat...and milk supply starts gently and naturally
I leave RAW wild rabbit mince freely available and whole wild rabbit close by for when she feels a need to eat of her own accord...and lots of cold fresh water.
Milk supply increases naturally along with the growing demands of her little ones.
At 3 weeks old the puppies start taking an interest in what Mum is eating....and will start gnawing on chicken wings or wild rabbit bones that are in the Den.....and at this stage I start leaving RAW rabbit mince and RAW chicken mince available for them too.
By 6 weeks old the puppies are adept little Carnivores in their own right...easy able to eat a chicken wing to themselves....or all pile round a whole wild rabbit......and Mums milk supply is still there in direct relation to the lessening demands of her little ones. Round about now She starts regurgitating some of her own food for them as well.
Even at 8 weeks old they will still sit underneath her for a 2 minute suckle for reassurance and Mums milk is drying up naturally.

Using the above approach I haven't needed to use any medications...Homeopathic or otherwise.....so haven't personally used Urtica Urens (Nettle) 30c for milk production....although I have used it for reducing swelling from itching....when symptoms have matched the Remedy Picture in the Materia Medica)

All I would say....is make sure the Homeopathic Vet you choose/seek referral to..... is trained both conventionally and Homeopathically...and is truly Holistic in their approach.

 

  

>....is make sure the Homeopathic Vet you choose/seek referral to..... is trained both conventionally and Homeopathically

By law all homoeopathic vets must be conventionally trained and registered with the RCVS.

I used the RC food from mating with my girl.  I must say, I find this food fabulous having just re-discovered it.  I was given a bag by the RC rep to try and I would buy this again.  My girl is in fabulous shape, teats are coming up nicely allready at 5 weeks(pups) and the pups are looking great too with only 2 poos each per day. They are actually well on the way to housetraining and will cry for me to lift them out the whelping box to toilet.  Can't praise this food enough if you don't do the raw diet(which sounded great and very natural)

Great thanks Cracar for the info on the food. Its very expensive but if mum and pups thrive on it then cost isn't an issue! Not sure I could afford to keep both my girls on this all the time though. I used to have 5 girls and fed them all on the breed specific foods (2 different breeds) about 7/8 yrs ago. At that point it was about £25 for 14 kg through the breeder programme but now a lot more than that. Its costing me £45 per bag at the moment, including delivery on the breeder programme. I think Im going to leave the homeopathic remedy, if the problem arises again then we will just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. Fingers crossed she will do well on the RC and I will make sure she drinks/eats well.
Thankyou everyone

Why not contact your local rep?  I got my first bag free to try with my litter and I haven't used RC or even been a registered breeder with them for about 10 yrs.  I think they are trying to get the word around about their food which is tailored to different points of a dogs life and different breeds.  I definately recommend it so they are doing their job!!  Contact your local rep and explain about rearing your litter and see if they give you some freebies.  Maybe even some puppy packs?

haha cracar, it would be worth a shot for a free bag of starter but not sure they would do this since I already have my girl on the ht 42d? What do you think?

Give it a go.  Tell them that you are considering what food to rear the litter on.  What they think is that you are advertising their product to another new 7 or so dog owners so it's worth being nice to you and if you are happy then you are going to endorse their product.  I know pedigree is another company that does this but I don't like their food at all.  Give them a phone and tell them about me getting a freebie and see what you get!  lol.  Worth a call?

lol I phoned Margaret Masterman as soon as I signed off here at 4pm, explained about my girls milk not coming in last time and said I was considering the food again as I was concerned that this problem would happen again. We had a talk and she's coming out on wednesday to talk me through what she needs and when and tell me about the puppy packs etc.
I know when I was with them last time I got a lot of freebies whenever they called books, food bins etc.
I could do with a new food bin lol.....even if I dont get free food if she has some starter with her then it will at least save me the delivery costs lol. Thanks Cracar, it is a very good food and I will be using it regardless of freebies but definately worth a try if its going to save me £45. Will let you know :-)