I have a small breed dog who is currently 5 and a half weeks pregnant and she's not wanting to eat very much. I know that with her being pregnant and all her appetite won't be the same but before she got pregnant she would only eat if I was in the room with her and if I got up for any reason she'd stop eating and follow me until I came back to the room to eat. Lately she hasn't been wanting to eat at all! I changed her food like 3 times and shell eat a little here at first then nothing for almost a week! I don't want to do the whole "if she's hungry shell eat" thing because she's pregnant and the puppies need to have their nutrition as well. I have about 4 different types of dry dog food that she ate but is no longer interested I've also given her boiled chicken which she will eat but also only a little bit of it. One of the foods she has is soft and moist brand because I thought maybe the dry food was too hard on her teeth but she will only eat a little bit of it a day. She's supposed to be eating a lot more being pregnant and all but she's getting very picky. I had to kind of force feed her a few minutes ago because she hadn't ate since yesterday morning. I put a piece of kibble in her mouth and she ate it then I brought some over in my hand and she looked very interested and ate up about a handfull and was done. She's 10 years old not overweight and we go on mile and a half walks everyday. My other dog passed last year of old age and when he was around she never did this. It just started happening within the last couple of months so I don't think it could be her grieving as its been a year. I'm worried for the safety of the puppies. She has an appt at the vet next week but I'm spazzing out! Can anyone help?

She's 10 years old and pregnant!

What possessed you to breed a ten year old dog? That's like a 70 year old woman having a baby. No wonder she's not herself.

You really need to get her to the vet. The best option would be a spay abort, I'd talk to your vet about that.

She's way too old to be having puppies. This is putting a lot of unnecessary stress on an old dog.

I forgot to mention... I KNOW SHE'S OLD! And no she wouldn't be 70 she's more like 56 yrs old in "human" years. I didn't breed her on purpose I'm not dumb and spay abortion is not an option she's way too far along. I've already talked to my vet about that. And I don't breed I'm not a breeder this is the first time something like this has EVER happened.

Is your vet aware that she's not eating? Has he recommended anything?

You said that you've switched food a few times. That's very hard on a dogs stomach. Did you mix the new food with her old every time you switched it, and gradually replace it, or did you just go cold turkey with the old and bring in the new? If you did it's likely that she's had a very upset tummy from all the food changes.

Have you tried making your own food? I could recommend a few recipes, all home made, that may get her to eat.

The only real option is to talk to your vet about this. If she's losing weight and refuses to eat then he may have to intervene and get nutrients in her some other way.

Feed satin balls.

http://www.amysacres.com/docskingshe...satinballs.pdf

It helps with weight gain on skinny dogs, but your dog could use the extra nutrition.

I understand the want to not abort the puppies... I'm not keen on that idea either. However, you are going to have to make sure she is extra strong and a bit chunky for either the birthing of those pups or the c-section. The pregnancy part is not the scary part, it's the whelping part that is scary. Hopefully you took good care of her throughout her life and she is strong.

I've seen pregnant mamas pick and not want to eat. I don't want to say its normal, but its not unheard of either. Try the satin balls.. It should stimulate her appetite and give her calories that count.

Try not changing her food. You should make one more change, and that should be to puppy food. Its higher in fat and helps give you nice, plump puppies.

Keep in mind, everything you give to her, goes directly to her puppies..

I have also heard that slightly warmed cottage cheese *spoonful* will help stimulate her appetite.

Do you know how many puppies she's going to have? Due to her age, you need to be there for her when she whelps. She might get too tired and stop, which is not good...

Good luck!

Thank you I will try the satin balls. I don't know yet how many she is going to have she will go for her x-rays next weeks as well when she's 45 days. She's always been healthy the entire time she's been with me and I have her whelping area set up, the towels, heated blankets, and whelping box. I've also bought puppy formula and bottles just in case she gets tired or feeding them all because of her age. I started her on the puppy food this week and she just nit picks. I don't think she's stressed out as all she does is sleep then go for our walks. Thanks for all the help it gives me some peace of mind till we see the vet!