Do not usually ask

Hi everyone its very rare i ask a question but Jess has me stumped.

Ok my question is how do i get her to eat more, She is around 5-6weeks into her pregnancy and she is still a picky eater.
I have never owned a dog like this nor has my mum.
When mum first got jess she would not eat anything other than weetabix, she then got her eating cooked tripe and a complete dried food but only a small amount.
She is in perfect health had all relevant tests and all were great.

When any of my girls where in whelp they used to eat like horses from the 5week of gestation.
I am worried her whelps are not getting enough from her, My mum has asked me to look after her for a few weeks to see if i can get her eating better, But no luck.

Any idea's would be greatly appreciated

Mike

 

Hmmm...I'm sure you've tried this, but at the vet I work at when we can't get a dog to eat we have cans of AD and EN, and usually one or both will get the animal to eat. I don't know if those particular foods are available in the UK though...

 

Chicken or beef usually got mine eating. Or adding in canned food.

 

My female was a finicky eater at the beginning, well all through her pregnancy and even when we free fed she never cleaned up her bowl. Total, she only ate maybe one and a half as much as she did when she wasn't prego. She had big babies and was healthy otherwise so I wasn't too worried. She may just not be that hungary.

BUT if you're worried you could always add Probios to her food to add some something. ALSO if you add electrolytes that can also stimulate the appetite.

Sara

 

All of my dogs are fed probios during stressful times. Warning when feeding it to pregnant bitches. It cause some diahrea, then you have the possible danger of dehydration. Feed very small amounts.

If she's hungry, she'll eat. If she's in great body condition and not looking thin, then I wouldn't worry about it. She'll eat as much as she needs to.

 

To me she is abit on the slim side but thats because she has always been a fussy eater, I have been trying to get hold of some Enervite which is supposed to stimulate the appetite but can not get it here in the uk and postage from america is expensive.

Oh i tell you i have never had a dog that was like this during there pregnancy, Trust my mum to get a fussy eater haha

Thanks for the help though will try everything see what she eats plenty of

Mike

 

Mike, have you tried NatureDiet?
I only used to be able to get it at my local, little pet shop, but now KennelGate sell it, and 2 months ago Pets at Home started to stock it.
It's 60p a pack, and that's a days meal for a medium dog, I think a large breed would need 2 - 3.

I give it Floob as a treat, I make stuffed kongs and bones out of it. It's a think paste consistancy and it all natural.
I've seen 4 flavours, Chicken & Rice, Lamb & Rice, Tripe & Rice and Puppy. It's those ingedients, with carrots.

It's holistic, can be warmed up in a microwave, all sorts lol.

Here's the ingredients -
Chicken (min 60%)
Brown Rice (min 15%)
Carrots (min 8%)
Natural ground Bone
Kelp.
Vitamin A, D3 & E.

If Floobs had an upset tummy he has a third of a pack with extra boiled rice and he's right as rain in no time (so far!)

If you've tried this, and had no luck, sorry for boring you!

Good Luck.

 

Thanks everyone for your help.
I went out and bought some nurish-um and this seemed to make her eat a little more than usual, I am not usually one for supplementing but if it gets her to eat then so be it.

She does not look pregnant at all she still has her slim waistline scan only showed between 4-5whelps but i know how wrong those things can be.
Well i will keep trying see how far i get with her, as if my dates are correct then she will be due anytime from the 31st of march.

When vet did scan she did say are sure got the date right when she was mated and the only time he got to her was the 24th january so unless she concieved a few days later i am sticking to my dates if she goes over that then i know my dates were out by a few days.

Here is some pics i took of her lastnight as you can see she still is her slim self..








Again thanks for all the help

Mike

 

4-5 whelps?? LOL thats what my scan said!!! And I ended up with 14!!!

Kabuki never looked pregnant until right before she had them. Two weeks before and she blew up like a balloon. She doesn't eat a whole lot and is a very slender and athletic dog. One thing that helps her is the NuVet supliment I feed and canned puppy food when she was pregnant and after whelping.

 

Sam don't say things like that my mum will have a heart attack lol.
I thought she may have between 6-8 my partner reckons she will have about 10 lol

Well i have just put some chicken through the blender and she wolfed it down i have never seen her eat like that before lol

Mike

 

Sometimes they do get some morning sickness like people do.

Askari, Kabuki's dam never looked prego till just before and even then she could have just been overweight but she had big mamory's for them babies to eat from so it was pretty obvious because of that...she only had four though so that makes sense. Perhaps it is just a small litter. We saw four heads and spines and we had four babies....hard to say though.

Sara

 

yeah, Go figure I'd have 14!!!

And the sad part is her first Relaxin test came back negative.. her mamoraries kept getting bigger and bigger, so I took her in for a scan, and sure enough, there were 3 full skeletons and then 2 were really fuzzy. so we figured between 3-5 possibly 7... and uh, yeah, 14 later!!!!

LOL

Always prepare for the worst and the most is what I say, and good darn thing we did too!!!

She's been weaned from the puppies for a week now, and is back to her old self. Bodily condition getting there too!!

The chicken in a blender is what i used with mine, i tried chicken and beef. and never had problems.... Then its fun getting htem off that and back to their original dog food! LOL

 

Well i got some Purina Beta Large Breed Puppy complete dry food and she seems to like that, She is also eating canned butchers tripe mix which smells worse than the cooked stuff haha, She is filling out a little and now is actually starting to look pregnant bless her...

Hopefully now she will pick up her appetite, Will keep you all posted.

Thanks for all the help and advice :y_the_best: :y_the_best:

Mike

 

I bought some minced raw heart aswell as raw tripe and she devoured it, I am thinking she likes raw food better.

I have done my research and most websites including a veterinary website has stated raw is best anyway, So i thought what have i got to lose trying her on that.

Mind you the raw tripe smells awful i have never smelt anything like it i had to cover my face while putting it in her bowl it was that bad lol

But she is eating better so i cant complain.

Mike

 

Raw is the best. Just keep away from most store bought meats. The famrers and sutff and large scale beef producers inject their cattle with homones... this can inturn case problems for you female.
And if you have intact males, it can definately cause problems with him as well.....