Pressure on the bowel....very normal

Is she eating more? My pregnant girls usually have a increased appetite, especially the last few weeks.

So my girl has about 11 days left and she has gained one pound 4 ounces or so. Her stomach isn't huge by any means...I can't imagine there is more than 3 in there at the most...though this is my first time. Do I need to be concerned about this amount of weight and she still has so much time left? A couple weeks back she decided to stop eating her dry food....so I cooked her up some turkey, rice as well as wet dog food. I gave that to her three times a day. In total the food is more than she would have consumed non-pregnant in a day. What I am doing now is taking her dry puppy and putting warm water on it to make a gravy and she eats that no problem....but still won't eat dry.

How much did your dogs gain and how many pups did they have? I hope her pups aren't getting too big.

First of all Nature has it's own way of dealing with things. Eating does slow down, she doesn't have much room left in there. You may try giving her some whelping pudding....scrambled eggs, etc. I know it's frustrating when they do this, so we attempt to make anything that will entice them. I'd steam Chicken instead of turkey.....I've done baby food, gerbers chicken sticks.....

Usually on the first litter they don't show, her muscles are still taunt.

Good Luck

It sounds like you are doing just fine with her diet. I would rather see the momma gain weight during pregnancy because after they have pups they sometimes will lose a little weight. She still have plenty of time for that belly to grow.:)

Thanks very much for the ideas and reassurance. I wish I could see/feel them moving around so I know they are doing well. I guess I have to wait for that to happen yet. I just REALLY hope that the homecooked foods wasn't too much and that the pups gained too much. I had to feed her....and she loved it so much :)

Do you give a full one egg scrambled daily in the last 10 days or so? Or how often?

I will print out the whelping pudding today. This can be giving during end pregnancy as well as during and after whelping I assume? I will check out the recipe and ask questions if I have any on it.

Thanks again :)

It is my understanding that you should provide extra calcium once the whelp is done...or during even. In what form of food would be the best and how often and how much? How about Nutrical or Nutrical Puppy? Any and all info would be great. Amounts would be great. Thanks.

Here's something that you should keep on hand

Oral Cal Plus

To keep eclampsia at bay, so it never comes at all… forget everything about giving tums, cottage cheese, cheese, icecream.. etc. It’s useless. The body needs the calcium to be delivered with the correct ratio of Vit D and Phosphorus or it doesn’t absorb it, it’s useless. Pet Cal has this correct ratio. Another thing that has it is, believe it or not.. a scrambled whole egg! Of course everyone knows not to start calcium until the litter is whelped.. no giving it to PG bitches… I do give some calsorb during whelping If things slow down on a larger litter, but never before whelping. Make it a general practice to scramble your bitch an egg every day, and depending on weight, give ½ to a whole pet tab per day. I gave it to a 8 lb bitch ½ in the morning ½ at night…this is the “daily dose” for about a 20 lb dog who was NOT nursing a litter…so just fine for ½ the size, but nursing a litter. I would grind up the pet tab in the food processor and put the powder in the egg when I scrambled it. Also, plenty of sunshine.


Also, check your dog food for Soybeans, soy protein, or anything related to soy in any way. For SOME reason that is not completely understood by me (many menopause supplements contain soy, or are soy based, so this seems to be a contradiction).. soy protein can interfere with the absorption of calcium in dogs. If your food has soy of any sort, change to a food that does not for the duration of the weaning of the litter.

Have the following recipe on hand to give after the whelping and maybe during......

1 12 oz can of goats milk
equal parts of distilled water
1 egg yolk well beaten
1 Tablespoon of Karo.

The whelping pudding is given during the nursing process. About 1 to 2 tablespoons a day. I give this to pups during the weaning process too.

Nutri Cal is ok.....but, it does tend to cause loose stools. I prefer NutriDrops, much faster absorbing. My practice is to rub a couple of drops into each newborn pups gums, along with giving them a 1/2 tube of Benebac (probiotic) before putting them to mom's breast.

thank you for this information girl.. I do the egg every other day as per my holistic vet recomendation, I am on my way to order the ora cal hubby keeps laughing at me for buying everything ...but I feel better prepare than sorry...;)
hugs,
Carmen in nj

You can get the oral cal plus from Revivalanimal.com. You can still purchase the Cal Sorb, but it is yucky tasting and most the time the girls will vomit after administering. The Oral Cal Plus is better tasting.

I had horrible luck in getting my finicky girls to eat that scrammbled egg.....This time around they were so bad with their eating, I resorted to spoon feeding 4 times a day.....from the time they were about 3 weeks pregnant.

thank you again, My girl is not a finicky eater, she really likes her egg, I give it to her as a miday snack, every other day.
she is on her 45th day today, and looks like her belly is growing by the day..:cool: I went to revival already, hubby said i have them on speed email..LOL their catalog is on my night table..LOL :D .
hugs,
Carmen in nj

Good Luck and praying that she won't deliver on her 58th day....love those pups to bake a bit longer.

Don't feel bad, I had a fold up picnic table with all the supplies ready, and a refrigerator shelf ready with the meds......Towels, blow dryer and medicated shampoo ready in the bathroom with a space heater there so it would be nice and toasty in there when I went to clean her up. Come whelping time my bedroom looks like a hospital room.

me too... I am taking her for xrays on day 56, hopefully she will hold until day 59 or later, she is a maden bitch so only time will tell..:)