Hello all.

I'm concerned about my girlie. She had her litter four weeks ago and today she's been very out of sorts. Yesterday she had the trots and threw up her food with some bile; today she's eaten some kibble and kept it down (she's very slim still so I daren't keep her off food for a day) but she seems so low, her tail has barely lifted from her bum and she won't settle for long, often getting up to reposition herself. She's been okay during the day but tonight she seems a little more upset.

Is this common? There's no smelly discharge from her, and her milk is going down fine without any lumps or bumps. She's also of a good temperature and isn't pacing, feeding happily, etc. She just seems a little low. Just giving her some food now which perked her up, thankfully. If she isn't showing improvement tomorrow she'll be at the vet's, but I thought it best to ask. I think she has a bug but either way.

Is she still free to access her pups as and when she wants?  could she simply be rather tired from the mammoth task of rearing her litter?

I think you might be right Barbara, she seems a bit fed up. She's settled now she's done another poo, and relaxed enough to sleep properly. She's able to hop into and out of the new pen quite easily and curls up with the bubs in their new bed often, even feeding for long feeds which aren't as common now. I'm trying so hard to take all the strain off her and take care of the pups myself now, they're toileting on their pee pads for the past two weeks now without her having to clean them up, and they're getting there with their food so feeding less.

I'll report back tomorrow evening to say how she is, this little love is so important to me, breaks my heart to see her not herself. I honestly would have never had a litter if I knew it would make me shed so many tears over her well-being, even when this was such an easy whelp, pregnancy, and recovery.

maybe she needs a tonic , pick me up , I always give Vetzyme to my girls and feed them as good a protein as I do the pups

I was wondering if her calcium level OK, boost her nutrition intake with Nutro/vet drops which have lots of calories in a small amount which won't fill her up for her normal diet.

My girls are usually 2lb under their normal weight of 9lb when they finish raising pups because they give to them to the expense of themselves. 

I'll get some more Nutri drops for her to give her a boost. She's still on puppy food, as she's still thin (usually about 7kg, she's probably a little over 6kg right now) and feeding.

I think it might have been cleaning up the puppies food that has brought on her poorly tummy, so she hasn't been getting any of their slop recently as maybe it was the goats milk that upset her tum so much.

Watch her!!

I dont like a thin, dull, depressed bitch at maximum lactation....can be the start of something unpleasant like eclampsia.
Watch for 'staring' expression  and muscle weakness/tension.
Calcium rich foods and supplements and great vigilence needed at the moment Id say.

Tonight has been no different, she's still miserable though her trots are starting to firm up a little bit, and she's eating fine, feeding fine, etc. Tail is still down. No staring at me, but she came in from being out just now and her hackles were up, very bizzare as they're never up and she hadn't heard anything out there because I supervise all her visits on lead.

I'll carry on with the calcium and supplements; anyone got any tips on calcium rich food for a bitch with a poorly tum, though? xx

Hard bolied eggs

Have you told your concerns to your vet? They can advise on both accounts and do a serum calcium analysis if neccessary.
Giving her Prokolin will help firm her up and then you can get red meat into her which is very rich in calcium and iron ( the other thing she may be depleted in).

Thank you Toolz, Brainless, I'll do both of those.

Yes, did talk to my vet, he said that it's common for bitches to be exhausted and a bit low after a litter but to bring her in on Friday if she hasn't improved.

"red meat into her which is very rich in calcium and iron"

From what I know, red meat is not rich in calcium; it's very high in phosphorus though. 100g lean steak contains 2% calcium and 20% phosphorus. 

Keeping the calcium to phosphorus ratios is important and although red meat will provide lots of iron and various B Vitamins which are beneficial, feeding red meat as an aid to increasing calcium levels wouldn't be the way I'd be going. 

If you are feeding a lot of red meat (for the benefits it offers) then you need to increase calcium from other foods to balance things out.

The ratio should be approx. 1.2 parts of calcium for each 1 part of phosphorous (1.2:1).

When my girls have been tired whilst looking after pups I have fed steak and that does seem to perk them up!  Hope your girl picks up soon.

Thanks Chris. I have steak in the freezer which can definately be administered for her. Thanks for the info about the red meat; I had read something last night that said you need to balance the protein out when feeding to give bitches more energy when they're nursing.

What I would do without this forum is not worth thinking about!

Yes, give the steak a try.  It does turn their poo black and sticky though so you have been warned!

Energy comes most easily from carbohydrates (first), then fats and then protein.  The body has to work harder to extract energy from fats/protein.  Although having said that dogs don't have a huge carbohydrate requirement but at times of tiredness carbs. provide a quicker source of energy.

Obviously, protein is important in a lactating bitch as she will be passing the protein (along with everything else) into the milk. Growth comes from protein (the amino acids in protein) so milk needs to be protein rich for growing pups (f you don't feed enough protein she'll use her own muscle mass to provide protein in her milk).  However, for her own energy needs she needs adequate carbohydrates as well as protein (and everything else in a balanced diet!).

If she were mine I'd be feeding a good quality puppy kibble and whilst she's tired I'd top her up with steak and give a calcium supplement to balance the extra phosphorus in the meat out. 

A good kibble should provide everything but if she needs extra iron then raw steak is a good way to go provided you don't exceed about 10% volume of her ordinary diet.  So that would be 300g of kibble per meal and 30g raw steak (as an example).  I give the steak meal as a separate meal though as it is digested at a different rate to the kibble.  So mine get 3 - 4 kibble meals per day plus one steak meal (or one other meal i.e. eggs/cottage cheese if that's what I'm doing).

Thanks Chris. She's much better today, a little sick up this morning but other than that, much better. Her tail has come up and her poo is firming up, though she's still taking herself off to her crate for some alone time. Currently feeding the babies (she does this just a couple of times a day now as her milk is going down, thankfully the pups are starting to eat more of their puppy gruel).

Thanks again everyone for all of your help, you've been a huge help!

Excellent news waggamama.  I'm pleased to hear she's feeling better.  Tiring work looking after babies especially when lactation reaches its peak.  Now they are eating more food and drinking less milk she'll be able to regain some stamina.

Hopefully, it's a huge relief to see her better. I think we might take her in for vet check on Monday anyway, just to be sure!