The usual pregnancy period in female dogs is indicated at about 58 – 65 days, the average is 63 days. In case of the nutrition of a pregnant female, possible changes in diet can be likened to the changes in diet of pregnant women. Pregnant female dogs should have quality food and rations should be increased in proportion with the approaching date of the delivery. The phrase “in proportion” is quite crucial in this case, since an overweight female dog may have issues during delivery.
Nourishment
If you’re using a quality pet food, it isn’t necessary to change it in any way during the pregnancy. Only at its very end, which is from about two weeks up to ten days before the planned delivery, it is appropriate to transfer the female to the food that you then want to feed to the puppies. On one hand, foods intended for puppies contain greater amount of nutrients that will help the puppies in the uterus to finish growing, and on the other, these nutrients will come in handy for the female during nursing. Not in the least, after the lactation is over, the puppies will get used to the pet food that bears a familiar scent and taste more easily.
A female dog at a higher stage of pregnancy should be rather fed several times a day with smaller rations, since growing puppies in the uterus may repress other organs in the abdominal cavity including the digestive tract and logically, then it can only hold smaller amount of food at one time.
Exercise
Immediately after mating, the female dog should have a more relaxed regimen. The fertilized eggs aren’t quite firmly attached in the uterus yet and as a result, they are vulnerable. About three weeks from the mating, it isn’t appropriate for the bitch to jump excessively or to engage in any more extreme physical frolicking. However, this does not mean that you should lock her inside. Regular walks are naturally ok. After the stated three weeks have passed, the female can be put under normal stress.
As the term of delivery is getting closer and the female is getting rounder, the walks are becoming more demanding for her. The female is slower, less agile and she doesn’t feel like frolicking as much. She should avoid e.g. running up and down the stairs or jumping and other activities where she could be threatened by a fall or an injury.
Preparation for the delivery
About two weeks before the end of pregnancy, the female starts getting ready for the delivery. She seeks calm places, her mammary glands are getting bigger, she drinks more and she needs to pee more often. Few days before the delivery, the female may show signs of nervousness and she may show lesser interest in food. Immediately before the delivery, she may refuse to go out, she wants to be with her master, she may start digging and preparing the bed for the delivery of the puppies. I am going to write more on how such a delivery looks like and what you should know about it in one of the future articles :-).
If you’re using a quality pet food, it isn’t necessary to change it in any way during the pregnancy. Only at its very end, which is from about two weeks up to ten days before the planned delivery, it is appropriate to transfer the female to the food that you then want to feed to the puppies. On one hand, foods intended for puppies contain greater amount of nutrients that will help the puppies in the uterus to finish growing, and on the other, these nutrients will come in handy for the female during nursing. Not in the least, after the lactation is over, the puppies will get used to the pet food that bears a familiar scent and taste more easily.
A female dog at a higher stage of pregnancy should be rather fed several times a day with smaller rations, since growing puppies in the uterus may repress other organs in the abdominal cavity including the digestive tract and logically, then it can only hold smaller amount of food at one time.
Although it might appear that the cat doesn’t give a tail about you and it is indifferent towards you, maybe you will still find some displays of affection in its behaviour. Do you know how cats show such affection towards a person?
Cats love grass. They nibble at it if it's to clean their belly from hairs or just for fun. In addition, if you get a cat its own flowerpot, you can hope that it will leave your other plants alone :).
Whether you remove a tick from a dog’s or cat’s fur the right way might affect whether the animal will become infected with Lyme disease or another malign disease transmitted by ticks. Have you got the right technique and tools?
Just like with people, also in dogs, Lyme disease is a very grave illness. There are an estimated 20% of ticks infected in the Czech Republic. And because despite the use of antiparasitic agents, your dog might get a tick from time to time, it’s good...
I’ve already written about cat mint, today, we’ll take a look at another, lesser known drugs. Since not all the cats respond to all of them and they don’t respond to everything the same way. Therefore, if you didn’t succeed with cat mint, maybe you’ll...
Every cat owner has certainly already heard of cat mint, catnip or catswort. Under all these names hides a herb that makes most of the cats “high”.
When your family grows by a new (human) member, it isn’t necessarily a happy event for everyone. For many dogs, it’s very difficult to come to terms with such situation, therefore, it’s better to start preparing them already before the baby is born....
I’ve already written about the fact that you’re not supposed to leave your dog closed in a car on summer days or on how to prevent hyperthermia in cats and dogs. So you have mastered the prevention already. But it is also necessary to know how to...
Without a question, chinchillas are beautiful and cute furry animals with large ears, a long tail and distinctive eyes. Do you know where they actually come from, what their name means and that we almost succeeded in nearly exterminating them before...
You have probably noticed that cat tongues are quite unique. They are rough and somehow scratchy. It seemed weird to American biologists and therefore they decided to look deeper into it.
What should I say, the cats are simply different. Since the time immemorial, they have been surrounded by mysteries and secrets. Most of them behave as if they were the master of the world and as if they don’t need the human at all. A couple of...
It can be quite a task to choose the right pet food precisely for your cat. To even understand the contents... That’s why we’re going to take a look today what to focus on, what to look for in the contents and what you should rather avoid.
