Hi everyone recent thread discussed cracked/bleeding nipples in nursing bitches.What safe effective creams do people use to treat this.

Because some cream shouldn't be used while a bitch is actually nursing, to be safe I'd phone the vet and ask them to prescribe something that will be safe.    If you have numbers of puppies that you can do this, try rotating them so the teats get some 'down time' to help them recover.   And make sure you nip the pointy ends of the nails so prevent scratching.   Also by the time the teeth start to come through, you can begin weaning - we started towards the end of the third week, going into the fourth depending on how well the litter was doing.   If you start by using warmed goats milk four times a day, that should help the activity round the teats too.

I know a shepherd breeder who uses olive oil to gently massage the teats and surrounding tissue to keep skin moisuturised and also helps her to keep an eye on mastitis. Obviously she only uses a few drops so as not to upset pup's tummies.

Any of the human nipple creams suitable for nursing mothers (therefore ingestion by baby) would also be fine.

If you have an agricultural store near you bag balm, udder cream etc too, just read the labels re being suitable for actual nursing.

Lansinoh nipple cream.....get it from Boots. I have used this for the past 3 litters and works wonders on sore nipples. Does not put pups off nursing and completely safe if they ingest it,

Ali

Thanks everyone.