lactating dog

Question
Our puppy had 7 puppies. She is barely a year old and we had no idea. Usually, we get our puppies fixed at 6 months. She was given to us and was supposedly fixed. Anyway, she's been a great little mom, but her puppies are 3 weeks old and her breasts are so red and swollen. She is not nursing as much and the puppies do scratch her sometime while nursing. Should I be putting cream on her. How do I know if she has mastitis? We've doubled her food and changed food to high protein, high fat, but she still looks thin and seems always hungry. We give her treats between meals. Is this normal? I can take her to the vet,but don't want to look stupid if this is just normal? We're first-time puppy-parents and we're nervous. Holistic is great with us. Any advice?

Answer

Hi Rose,

Your best bet is to have your dog examined by a vet, rather than guessing as to whether or not your dog has Mastitis. Mastitis can be a painful condition that usually is fairly localized, although some animals may become systemically ill or even septic (bacterial infection in the blood). It can be a very serious condition, and even fatal. Like they always say, "There's no such thing as a stupid question.", this goes double when there's a possibility that your dog could die! You should always go to your vet first, rather than waiting for a response from an online message board when it's a medical question!

A nursing dog IS always hungry. You should be allowing her to "free range" feed, rather than sticking to a set meal time. She should be allowed to eat as much and as often as she pleases. Always have clean water available to her too.

At just 3 weeks old, the puppies are too young to be weaned, and they still need to nurse. It may be necessary for you to hand feed the puppies if your dog can't supply her litter with milk. Your vet can show you how to do this, and you can read about how to bottle feed the pups, here:

http://leerburg.com/bottlefeeding.htm

http://www.sniksnak.com/doghealth/orphaned.html


Best of luck,
Patti