Best Food To Feed Nursing Dog
Feed your pregnant dog the amount suggested on the food package and keep feeding her puppy food until her puppies are finished weaning.
Best food to feed nursing dog. Be diligent with the weekly checkups and work with your vet closely to feed the best food to your dog after she gives birth. According to the aspca a nursing mother has special nutritional needs including vitamins and minerals that a homemade diet might not meet. The best diet for a lactating dog is high quality dog food fed free choice and supplemented with nutritious treats. New nursing mothers need a large quantity of food to keep their puppies fed.
It s crucial that pet owners understand and know what to feed a pregnant dog or what to feed a nursing dog to produce more milk for puppies. How much to feed a nursing dog. Are there special instructions for feeding my pregnant or nursing dog. Even if you normally feed a homemade or raw diet when your dog is nursing it s best to go with a commercially prepared food.
If your dog is pregnant or has just given birth talk to a vet about her nutritional needs. Check out all our dog food reviews here your mama dog needs plenty of protein and calcium while she s nursing to help prevent eclampsia or milk fever a potentially fatal condition in which the mother s body pulls too much. Sometimes even 2 5 or 3 times more food than usual. Feeding a nursing dog the right food in the right amount is vital to the health of the adult dog and her pups.
Let us discuss nutritional needs of a new mother and also the best homemade food for nursing pets. Some trainers and vets even suggest that a nursing dog should have a bowl full of kibble accessible at all times. On day one of weaning withhold her food allowing the puppies to eat their food while they are away from their mother. In order to avoid stomach upset mix the puppy food with the dog s normal food for the first 3 4 days.
Raw diets contain bacteria that might not bother a dog with a healthy immune. Each dog pregnancy is unique and hence the nutritional needs are also different. On day two of weaning separate the pups from the mother and feed her about 25 of her pre breeding portion of her regular food instead of the puppy. Puppy foods are most recommended in this period and we have created a list that will help you to narrow down your choice and pick the right one.
This will help the mother dog to adjust to the puppy food. Feed the mother dog the food amount suggested on the puppy food packaging but make sure to give multiple meals throughout the day or just let the dog graze on the food constantly. The food of choice for all pregnant or nursing dogs regardless of breed is science diet puppy food in varieties listed above. Nursing dogs need twice the quantity of food that they regularly eat.
While lactating dogs have a high energy demand and require a much larger amount of calories and fat than they would normally. Here s a brief guide on the diet for pregnant dogs.