# Feeding nursing mother



## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

Ashley, the small breed dog we are fostering, now has four puppies and the pups are back with their mom. We are feeding her Iams smart puppy food. I was reading the package and now notice it says not to feed to pregnant/nursing dogs. The shelter director says it's ok, to keep feeding it to her. Why would it say this? 

How much should we be feeding her? We can't free feed because I am mixing milk replacement with the food, so she needs to eat it all at once.

To compound things, now I also notice that we bought _large breed_ puppy food and have already been giving it to her. Is this going to hurt her? Should I donate it and go buy more (it's a big bag)? Or is it going to make any difference if we finish the bag?


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Wow, who told you to put milk replacement in with the puppy food for the dam, that is a new one for me, though it might work. 

Iams is not really great food, but I think switching it at this point will do more damage if she is eating it. eight weeks on it won't kill her. 

What I do with my girls, is feed many meals per day. Four at least. I feed the regular amount of kibble divided into four meals, so if I am feeding 6 cups of kibble by the end of the pregnancy, each meal will contain 1.5 cups of kibble x 4 meals. Each meal contains some cooked or raw chicken or beef. Each meal contains something with calcium cottage cheese or yogurt. I add a hard boiled egg to two of the meals -- could be in liu of the meat. 

Your bitch is small. Evanger's sells organic chicken cooked in the can with well water, 13 ounce cans, at about 1.35 /can. Mixing this with your kibble -- maybe 1 can per day, should be helpful. Merrick and wellness have good canned foods as well. 

The main thing is to weigh the puppies twice a day and keep a log. keep it through three weeks, though after seven days, you should be able to weigh once a day at the same time. If the pups are gaining weight the dam is probably going to be doing ok. Probably. Keep giving her yogurt or cottage cheese through 3/4 weeks until the pups are weaned. Once the puppies start eating solid food, you can reduce the extras. 

I would not have chosen a large breed food, but if it is only part of the diet I think it will be ok. 

Good luck. Someone who has had more experience with small dogs, someone who breeds chinese crestids maybe, (we have someone on the board) will have better advice for you.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I would HIGHLY recommend you get mom off the Iams (which is pretty crappy food IMHO) and get her on something alot better - like Innova or Solid Gold.

She should NOT need milk replacement unless she is underweight and having a hard time providing enough milk for the puppies.

They should be weighed at least once a day to make sure they gain weight each day. Some pups might stay the same weight for a day or two but anything more than that and they may be having problems.

As the pups grow so will Mom's appetite. You can mix in some canned food to help her maintain the calories she needs to feed herself AND the babies. You can even mix in a raw egg a couple times a week.


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## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

Thank you for your reponses. We did lose two more of the puppies over the weekend. Ashley is now not in the picture for the puppies, as she wasn't taking good care of them. She was too stressed out, I believe because of her history and also because of the size of the litter. 

So, we are now down to two puppies and we are bottle feeding them and they are doing great! Another volunteer is actually babysitting them during the week while we work and then we will get them back on the weekends. I suppose when they are weaned, we will have them full time. Ashley is doing fantastic too. For the first couple days, she cried a lot and looked for the puppies, but now she is becoming just a regular little dog. She will be spayed soon and then adoptable, so we have work to do. She is now walking on a leash well, almost completely housebroken. I want to teach her a few training commands with hand signals, and she is very smart, so should catch on quickly. She already knows sit and come. Also, I plan to get her out in the community so she can be seen and get her picture on the shelter's website. We love her and wish we could keep her, but she really needs her own home and family.


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## Bridget (Apr 5, 2004)

P.S. We are now feeding Ashley the same food our dogs eat (Native) with deer and Solid Gold toppers. She likes it and seems to be doing well on it.


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