Dog after giving birth not drinking water or ordinary feed

OriginV

At 3 in the morning my Golden Retriever gave birth to a litter of 8 pups and I noticed just before she gave birth that she stopped eating her ordinary nuts and stopped drinking her water is this normal? What liquid should I give her to replace the water? What should I feed her?

DBB

One of the common signs that a bitch is about to whelp is that they won't eat or drink.
If she ate the afterbirths, she'll have gotten plenty of fluid and nutrition from them.
If she's not eating or drinking by the end of today or tomorrow, it might be time to be a little concerned, but for now, enjoy her with her pups!

OriginV

DBB wrote: »

One of the common signs that a bitch is about to whelp is that they won't eat or drink.
If she ate the afterbirths, she'll have gotten plenty of fluid and nutrition from them.
If she's not eating or drinking by the end of today or tomorrow, it might be time to be a little concerned, but for now, enjoy her with her pups!

Thank you for the quick reply, Will keep this updated.

Knine

OriginV wrote: »

At 3 in the morning my Golden Retriever gave birth to a litter of 8 pups and I noticed just before she gave birth that she stopped eating her ordinary nuts and stopped drinking her water is this normal? What liquid should I give her to replace the water? What should I feed her?

I would be concerned. Feeding a litter normally makes a bitch ravenous. I would get a vet to check her in case she has retained a puppy or birth products. Bitches can also get a condition called eclampsia after giving birth. Normally they present as quite unwell with this e.g. very restless or fits.

Did you try feeding her in her bed or by hand? She may not want to leave her puppies. Is she feeding & cleaning them? Do the puppies seem content? You can give her some puppy formula - Whelpi or Royal Canin which you should have had on standby but really water should be fine.

DBB

In saying that they go off their food, I fostered a dog from the pound who gave birth 3 days after I got her. She literally jumped into her whelping box and popped out her first pup whilst chewing on a bit of lamb chop I had given her after my dinner :-D

OriginV

Knine wrote: »

I would be concerned. Feeding a litter normally makes a bitch ravenous. I would get a vet to check her in case she has retained a puppy or birth products. Bitches can also get a condition called eclampsia after giving birth. Normally they present as quite unwell with this e.g. very restless or fits.

Did you try feeding her in her bed or by hand? She may not want to leave her puppies. Is she feeding & cleaning them? Do the puppies seem content? You can give her some puppy formula - Whelpi or Royal Canin which you should have had on standby but really water should be fine.

I gave her some chicken and ham a while after birth and she gobble it down not a bother. She is feeding and cleaning them.

Knine

DBB wrote: »

In saying that they go off their food, I fostered a dog from the pound who gave birth 3 days after I got her. She literally jumped into her whelping box and popped out her first pup whilst chewing on a bit of lamb chop I had given her after my dinner :-D

Lol mine was looking for food on the way back from an emergency C-Section.

If a bitch is slow in labour I give calcium rich foods. It helps a lot.

The OP could try some chicken or similar & see if that gets mammy started.

DBB

Assuming that she's in good form, is minding her pups, and that she ate 8 sets of afterbirths, and still has an appetite, it's unlikely you've anything to worry about. She is likely to be very consumed by her pups right now, so you may have to make life easier for her... Offer her water and very tasty food, and you may have to convince her to leave them to go out to the toilet.

Knine

And enjoy the easy part of rearing puppies while mammy does all the work.

Oh can we have some pictures?

DBB

Knine wrote: »

And enjoy the easy part of rearing puppies while mammy does all the work.

Oh can we have some pictures?

Ha ha! The first 3 weeks seem so easy... And then... And then... The poop hits the fan!

OriginV

I will go out with my camera now and get some right pictures as I only have crappy phone pictures so far.

OriginV

Is it okay to give her milk? Or a hint of milk mixed with water?

Here are some pictures, not the best :

DBB

She looks very pleased with herself!
Don't feed her milk, adult dogs are lactose intolerant and it could upset her tummy. If you want to get some easily digestible protien into her, perhaps scramble some eggs, or give her some tinned fish.
If I may be so bold, could I suggest you bed her and the pups down on fleece rather than straw? It's quite an irritant to the skin, especially for pups. It's also not particularly hygienic. Fleece also gives pups much better purchase with their claws to find their way around, builds up the right muscles and nerve paths etc.

SillyMangoX

Not cows milk as that can cause diarrhoea but if you got some goats milk for her I'm sure she'd love it. Very cute

Knine

Definitely get some fleece bedding. Straw can harbour all sorts of parasites too. Fleece helps prevent puppy swimmers. I'm not sure if you have a heat lamp up or not but she will need one.

Keep the visitors to a minimum until she relaxes a little & she lays out on her side with them otherwise it be difficult for them all to feed.

Try getting some whelpi or Royal Canin baby milk & mammy can have this too. She will be eating a lot more then normal.

Good luck with your new family. They look to be a nice even litter.

OriginV

So just a soft blanket or something instead of the straw?

OriginV

She is back to herself now eating her usual food and drinking water, All the pups seem to be doing find so far. Would wood shavings be any good as bedding?

DBB

OriginV wrote: »

She is back to herself now eating her usual food and drinking water, All the pups seem to be doing find so far. Would wood shavings be any good as bedding?

No better than straw, to be honest. Straw and wood shavings are not hygienic, they harbour parasites, and make quite a mess when wet/urinated on.
Young pups need to be able to grasp their bedding with their feet to move around properly, and to orientate towards their mum and siblings. This helps to build up the correct locomotory muscles and nerve paths for them as they grow.
Fleece ticks all the boxes: its warm, it dries quickly, it's easy to wash, it doesn't harbour mites, it gives pups the grip they need. I'd suggest you get yourself an armful of fleece blankets in your nearest charity shop, and keep a cycle going where you've always got clean, dry fleece to put under them whilst you wash the soiled stuff.
Ideally, vet bed would be perfect. It's not cheap, but it's an investment because it lasts for years.

anniehoo

Have you thought about your deworming regime yet? It'd be best to plan now and start in approx 2 weeks time in case you hadn't thought that far ahead yet.

jimf

already mentioned but I cant stress enough the importance of a heat lamp

a beautiful litter and mam looks very proud and relaxed is it her first litter

I would also endorse the others views on choice of bedding sawdust and straw would be out imho puppies have a habit of crawling and sniffing and these can irritate the nasal passages especially sawdust

OriginV

jimf wrote: »

already mentioned but I cant stress enough the importance of a heat lamp

a beautiful litter and mam looks very proud and relaxed is it her first litter

I would also endorse the others views on choice of bedding sawdust and straw would be out imho puppies have a habit of crawling and sniffing and these can irritate the nasal passages especially sawdust

I have a heat lamp. It is her first litter. So the best is the blankets or fleeces?

jimf

OriginV wrote: »

I have a heat lamp. It is her first litter. So the best is the blankets or fleeces?

great that you have the lamp

she looks very attentive id say she will be a good mam

yes blankets /fleeces are best I find when their up and about and mam is sick of cleaning up after them that newspapers are great and so easy to dispose of and believe me you will know what im on about when they go on solids

please let us have reg photos

Lemlin

anniehoo wrote: »

Have you thought about your deworming regime yet? It'd be best to plan now and start in approx 2 weeks time in case you hadn't thought that far ahead yet.

I'd suggest this:

http://m.vetuk.co.uk/dog-worming-cat-worming-drontal-suspension-c-17_927/drontal-puppy-suspension-p-103

Buy it online now so you have it for when the pups get their first dose at 2 weeks. £16.52 is €20. Most Irish vets are €30 to €35 for it.

You'd need the 100ml bottle. Pups get 1ml per kg of weight every 2 weeks.

boomerang

Parazole much cheaper and can be bought at most chemists, vets and pet stores.

Half an ml per kg for each puppy, given for three consecutive days and repeated every two weeks to twelve weeks. You'll need a small syringe (1ml or 2.5ml - from your vet) and to be weighing the puppies to do it right.

aonb

go to charity shops, you might be lucky and find some soft blankets (we have some in our charity shop in Newbridge!!!) - or else Penneys have really cheap fleece blankets - even baby sized ones, you could use a couple of, really easy to wash and dry. Put some layers of newspapers underneath the blankets too to keep it soft/warm/dry.
Lovely looking bitch - how many dog/bitches in the litter?

OriginV

aonb wrote: »

go to charity shops, you might be lucky and find some soft blankets (we have some in our charity shop in Newbridge!!!) - or else Penneys have really cheap fleece blankets - even baby sized ones, you could use a couple of, really easy to wash and dry. Put some layers of newspapers underneath the blankets too to keep it soft/warm/dry.
Lovely looking bitch - how many dog/bitches in the litter?

Have some fleece/soft blankets under her at the moment. 8 puppies all together.

Knine

Parazole as mentioned above is better then Drontal & one small bottle lasts a long time. As well as round & tapeworm it also kills single cell parasites & lungworm.

boomerang

Not all tapeworm though Knine - it doesn't treat Dipylidium caninum.

The duration of treatment for giardia, lungworm etc. with parazole also differs so it's important to be aware of that to ensure the treatment is curative.

Lemlin

boomerang wrote: »

Not all tapeworm though Knine - it doesn't treat Dipylidium caninum.

The duration of treatment for giardia, lungworm etc. with parazole also differs so it's important to be aware of that to ensure the treatment is curative.

How much does the Parazole retail for?

Knine

boomerang wrote: »

Not all tapeworm though Knine - it doesn't treat Dipylidium caninum.

The duration of treatment for giardia, lungworm etc. with parazole also differs so it's important to be aware of that to ensure the treatment is curative.

Roundworms are the main problem for puppies though. Coccidiosis can also be an issue in the Summer months.

Lemlin I think I paid just over a tenner for a bottle of it.

boomerang

Yep usually about €10 - have seen it on sale in Maxi Zoo for €17.99, which is astronomical!

It's classed as a CAM - companion animal medicine - so doesn't require a prescription. This is why petshops and vets and chemists can sell it OTC.