My Toy poodle is 46 days pregnant, and is never a big eater, she is not skinny but you can feel her ribs.

She has 1/2 tray of naturediet puppy food (over course of a day) but never finishes its , just takes as bit here and there.

Are there any extra 'treats/food' I can give her just to get some extra calories in her, her belly is still quite small and she was scanned with three.

Many Thanks

__________________

Have you tried giving her some cooked chicken or mince beef ?? Mine will always take that but, then they are greedy bu**ers anyway to be honest Perhaps a little cod liver oil on top may make it seem more appealing.
Perhaps she just doesnt want to have to battle the bulge after having her babies, bless her

She will happily beg for human food all day, (she doesnt get any!) so its not like she is not hungry, she just wont eat what she is supposed to eat

__________________

Well perhaps she will fall for the pretend it's yours trick LOL.
As long as she looks well and isn't losing any weight I wouldn't worry too much ;-) It sounds as though she is taking full advantage of being pregnant ;-)

TBH - as she gets nearer her due date (and in particular after whelping) - she is going to need as much nutrition / energy as you can get into her - so I think you are going to have to place your "not human" food aside for now.

Her meals as she gets closer to her due date need to be smaller and more frequent - by 8 weeks I would have my girls on around 7 meals a day of a good quality dried puppy food.

If you are going to perservere with the ND route (obviously much tastier than Kibble) - complement it with shreds of chicken - oily fish mixed in, some cheap cooked beef etc - ANYTHING that gets her eating - she is going to need every single scrap of energy and nutrition to whelp and raise those babies.

I also keep goats milk - get some glucose in ready for her whelping and possibly some Lactol (but give during / after whelping - not before - as I understand it - too much calcium before whelping can quickly lead to pre-eclampsia.

I've obviously got a much bigger breed than you, and therefore probably bigger litters - however, 1/2 tray of ND doesn't sound a great deal for a 7 week pregnant bitch and now is the time you need to be upping her food.

To give you an idea of what my bitches eat in the first few weeks post whelping

• around 1 kilo of quality puppy food
• A whole chicken (boned)
• A litre of Lactol for the 1st week or so
• Oily fish
• Rice Pudding
• Goats Milk

They get fed whereever and when-ever they want it

I am not in any way saying you should be feeding your little on the same, and hopefully someone with a small breed can give you some guidance as to quantities etc - frequencies you are going to have to work out with your bitch.

Are you sure she is definitely in whelp? whilst I wouldn't necessarily expect my girls to have put on a huge amount of weight by now, I would expect them to be pretty much visibly pregnant if they had around an average sized litter for the breed in there.

__________________
What you need to know before buying a Labrador puppy

As long as she's not too thin I wouldn't worry too much about her eating at the moment - basically because she's so small that any additional food in the whelps may make them too big to be born naturally, so you don't want any extra weight on her or them... plenty of time to up the food when she's delivered and is lactating... this was advice given to me for my shelties, basically because they're greedy and would pile the pounds on if fed extra. Molly ended up like a barrel of lard when the pups were weaned so had to go on a diet... your girl is a fussy eater, but is still small and the whelps are bigger in relation to her than the bigger dogs who may give birth to 'fat' whelps more easily.

__________________
Penny
Funfastquick Agility Dogs

I feeds my girls royal canin, so once they hit 5 weeks I start changing onto a the mini mother and babydog food, and every one of my dogs adore it- it even mushes down to a mousse/pate (sort of half way between) consistency which I'd add the glucose to during the birth, and a whole scrambled egg a day post whelp (but as swarthy says absolutely no extra calcium until prewhelp- which sure is preaching to the choir!) as the calcium- vitamin ratio is perfect for optimum calcium absorption- for toy breeds anyway.
Even though it's fomulated for pregnant and nursing bitches, kuki was eating up to 200g a day along with bits of beef, chicken, liver- she's normally a hellish fussy eater, but loves the RC food- and her extra bits! She hit 6 weeks and started to lose weight a little (and I panicked) because when they are so ickle you notice the appearance/disappearance of every ounce, so if you can see or feel Any difference, adjust amounts accordingly.

You could try making some Brussels pate ( only a little!) into a gravy and pouring over a little dry? That's how I got missy to eat before i found she loved the other food...
As soon as my girls are mated, they eat better than I do!
(hope this doesn't just sound like ramblings!)

__________________
"...She will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of her heart; you owe it to her to be worthy of such devotion..."


'You know, I've given the matter some thought, and I think I would be willing to be a house pet to a race of super intelligent aliens; the learning opportunities would be abundant. Additionally, I like having my belly scratched.' Dr Sheldon cooper. *

haha - not at all, and glad you think along the same lines

I wouldn't say my girls eat like that from the point they are mated, I try to keep them as lean as possible until the last few weeks - then - it's free for all - and when they are feeding a litter - well - mmmm - the balance definitely shifts in our house

__________________
What you need to know before buying a Labrador puppy

Well, not right from day one (shouldn't have exaggerated Quite that much- pologies!) but from a week in they start to refuse their own food- so get lovelier stuff, but not quite that much of it... Then gradually bringing the amour up until I give up with little and often and just free feed, but my others know not to touch the mommas food- or noses could be lost!
In fact, there have been a few occasions when I've cooked for them (chicken and rice etc.) I've ended up making extra and sharing their dinner
Was pretty darn good though if I do say so myself!

__________________
"...She will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of her heart; you owe it to her to be worthy of such devotion..."


'You know, I've given the matter some thought, and I think I would be willing to be a house pet to a race of super intelligent aliens; the learning opportunities would be abundant. Additionally, I like having my belly scratched.' Dr Sheldon cooper. *

Thanks for the replies, she was 3.65kg before mating, so quite small framed. I had agood feel of her today and she ok, not underweight, so will keep a close eye on her.

She is defiantly in whelp, belly growing slowly and felt movement last night

She is day 49 now, I will stock up on some goodies for her this afternoon, whelping kit packed and ready now just have to wait!

__________________