CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => Genetics & Breeding => Topic started by: k977 on April 04, 2007, 09:59:48 AM
-
I wonder if any one else has experienced this before with their cocker when in whelp,
I have a Cocker spaniel bitch Who is in whelp, she has one week to go after this wk end.
I have been trying to step up her food intake and feed her 4 small meals a day but can't get her to eat any thing other then cooked chicken, beef or other meats, egg- and she eats some vetzyme, she turns her nose up at nearly every thing you offer her including brown rice, rice pudding, goats milk, natural yogurt,dog biscuits, complete dog food-(tried bakers,special bitch diets,at the moment trying bakers puppy but having no joy with that!) pedigree finest cuts of meat to try and flavor the dried food, and lots more!
I have never had a dog like it, none of mine have ever been this bad when pregnant with their diet! She came to live with me last year, and her old owners stated that she was a picky eater, even from a pup, but she was never this bad.
She is healthy enough in her self so I am reluctant to take her to the vets.
Is this adequate enough for her daily intake?
Any ideas what I can try as I am worried she is not eating enough to supplement the puppies needs?
-
Hi,
I have only had one litter so I may not be the best person to answer your post. Penny had a good appetite throughout apart from during week 4-5 when she developed awful morning sickness.
However I did a lot of reading as I was determined to feed her usual raw meat diet throughout her pregnancy and what I read and how I followed the diet during this precise time in Penny's pregnancy was to increase the nutrient density of her diet so that she had everything she needed for the pups but without the bulk. I chose meats such as chicken, as that had the highest nutient density in the meats, eggs, and offal. Although mine were all fed raw to me it seems that your girl is instinctively choosing this group of foods for herself. I would just offer what she wants in the 4 meals you are already trying to provide.
Good luck for when she whelps. ;)
-
.
-
Phew, thats a relief!
Will keep on with what I am giving her at present then.
-
if she's otherwise feeling fine, i wouldn't be too worried either. Bitches can get a bit "moody" :005:, have special likings (just like us humans) and be a bit tricky with their food when they are in whelp. e.g. My Ada insisted on oranges las time she was in whelp. She would eat anything, as long as it had little bits of orange in it. If not - she refused to eat totally. Silly girl :lol:.
I always feed my whelping bitches with high quality puppy kibble as long as they will eat it (usually they are fine up to 4-5 weeks of pregnancy) and after that they can eat what ever they want, most important thing is that get energy from somewhere. If and when a bitch stops eating her food, I give them a supplement called "NutriPlus". I don't know if you have this in U.K, but I've found it really useful.
Here's a link to the supplement: http://www.vet-medic.com/Product_Info.aspx?pCode=NUTR6