Bitch after having pups

fend

Right folks, im at my wits end to be honest.

Bitch had American Pitbull Terrior pups 3 weeks ago. All doing great. Iv been feeding Mika the mother like a horse, but she has lost so much weight its getting scary. I have her on 2 tins of wet food in the morning nixed with dried nuts in a HUGE bowl. She eats it in full. I leave nuts in a bowl between meals so she has the option always. Middle of the day she gets another 2 tins and dried food. Wats the lot. More dried nuts between meals and in the evening i giv her 1 can of food with nuts. Plus again nuts in a bowl in case shes peckish. Shes lost so much weight that her spine is beginning to show. I brought her to 2 vets and both said she is fine, its normal, but had agreed she was quite skinny.

What can i possibly do to bulk her up? She wont eat hearts or liver or any organs as she is quite picky when it comes to meat.

Help. All suggestions welcome!!!

Knine

fend wrote: »

Right folks, im at my wits end to be honest.

Bitch had American Pitbull Terrior pups 3 weeks ago. All doing great. Iv been feeding Mika the mother like a horse, but she has lost so much weight its getting scary. I have her on 2 tins of wet food in the morning nixed with dried nuts in a HUGE bowl. She eats it in full. I leave nuts in a bowl between meals so she has the option always. Middle of the day she gets another 2 tins and dried food. Wats the lot. More dried nuts between meals and in the evening i giv her 1 can of food with nuts. Plus again nuts in a bowl in case shes peckish. Shes lost so much weight that her spine is beginning to show. I brought her to 2 vets and both said she is fine, its normal, but had agreed she was quite skinny.

What can i possibly do to bulk her up? She wont eat hearts or liver or any organs as she is quite picky when it comes to meat.

Help. All suggestions welcome!!!

What tins are you feeding her? What is the dry food? How many pups has she got?

It is not normal to lose so much weight when feeding puppies. Bitches can lose some condition but not to the point that their bones are showing.

DBB

Is it just bog standard tinned food you're feeding her?
Because if it is, she needs far more nutrition than they're capable of providing, I'm afraid.
What brand of nuts is she on? Again, they might not be sufficient to provide her with the nutrition she needs to maintain both herself and her pups.
Clearly, she's not managing, and despite the fact that you're feeding a lot of food, that food is not doing its job (assuming that the vets are absolutely sure there's no medical issue going on). At 3 weeks, the pups are starting to seriously grow fast, and will be making huge demands of her.
If you let us know what brands she's on, we may be able to direct you onto higher protein, higher fat, more nutritious foods that are more suitable for a nursing mother.

Knine

Just noticed the puppies are 3 weeks. Have you started to wean them yet?

andreac

You need to have her on a good quality puppy food as that has all the extra nutrient requirements she needs while feeding pups.

andreac

How many pups did she have? Time to start weaning the pups too off her.
You need to get a good quality weaning puppy food, not just normal dry food to feed them.

lorebringer

Bitches do have a tendency to lose weight quite quickly after having pups, especially if it is a larger litter. Some do so more than others, and it can be a bit shocking to see it falling off them (particularly when they go from heavily pregnant to very thin) but it is great that you have brought her to a vet for a check up and all is ok!

A good quality puppy food is what you need to feed her - it will have extra calories and nutrients that she will need while feeding a brood. If she is picky, mixing it with a wet puppy food is fine. She may not put back on the weight, or only a little, until weaning is finished/nearing end but you can stop her losing any more condition and help maintain weight.