Hi, my bitch is at day 31 and for the past 3 days has been completely off her food. She normally eats a mixture of dry and tinned food with no problems but I can't seem to tempt her with anything. I have tried scrambled egg, cold meat, chicken and duck. I have tried feeding her by hand but she is not interested. She has taken a very small amount of tuna each day although again she does not seem to be overly keen. Has anyone had similar problems and has any suggestions what to try.

Hi lell,

When my bitches were in whelp, they were an absolute nightmare. They would steadfastly refuse dog food of any kind from about 4 weeks onwards. I became resigned to the fact that, from that time on, l would have to feed them "human" food. The only non-human food l could tempt them with, would be raw, green tripe, and very occasionally, Whiskas cat food (fishy) variety. They all liked pilchards in tomato sauce, but on its own, not mixed with a complete food or dry mixer. I also used to get them turkey legs from the supermarket. They also liked strong, vintage cheddar and liver, but they could only have liver occasionally, as it gave them the trots.They would eat anything that we were eating - so l used to cook extra portions. I am sure that they used to tell one another, " when you are preggers, don't eat for a couple of days and she will give in, and start cooking you one of their dinners" LOL. Oh, l forgot, they used to like egg custards and rice puddings - home made of course.

Thanks very much for the suggestions Jaycee. Its really worrying when they deviate from normal routines. She ate a bit of duck by hand tonight. I had to feed our other dog some at the same time - she doesn't like to see anything go by her. Will try some of your ideas tomorrow if she is still off her food. Lets hope she doesn't decide she likes hand fed human food permanently!! On the plus side she actually chased our other dog in the garden tonight which she hasn't done for the past couple of weeks so maybe she is starting to feel a bit perkier - fingers crossed. Thanks again.

It's not at all unusual for a pregnant bitch to be off her food for a while. Mostly they will get their appetite back again and even become ravenous. Occasionally a bitch can be fussy for the duration, we had one so I know at first hand - a nightmare at the time but amazingly the puppies were absolutely fine and all average weights for the breed.

Also, the timing of her meals could help. I find that a bitch who refuses her morning meal will often eat if offered something about lunchtime.

With any luck your girl will regain her appetite soon. In the meantime if you hit on something she seems to like then let her have it. With our latest litter, the bitch only liked boiled chicken for a week or so round about 26 - 36 days. After that she would eat anything and everything. Good luck!

Most of my girls go off their food during pregnancy and don't start again until they have whelped.  The ones that do eat, only eat around midnight

Thanks for all the reassurance - it sounds as though this is fairly normal then. She ate some more duck this morning - hand fed again but at least she is eating something.

Mine went crackers for raw liver.  She also liked it dehydrated along with dehydrated chicken.  it kept her going.

My dog became a nightmare from the minute she was mated. Everything gave her the severe runs and I kept taking her to the vet and she ate hardly anything and lost weight. She also became VERY fussy with her food I was at my wits end. Within 2 days of whelping her poo firmed back up and I cant fill her now and her weight returned within 2 weeks. So dont worry.:)