The pregnancy of a bitch lasts approximately 65 days and during this period of time different phases can be distinguished that will obviously affect the behavior of our pet, although not all cases show exactly the same changes.
During pregnancy, the nutritional requirements of the bitch change, since they must adapt to this new physiological stage and, therefore, feeding, which is always important, deserves even greater attention in this case. In this sense, it is possible that you have observed a loss of appetite and, therefore, you have wondered why your pregnant dog does not want to eat This occurs in more once, and in this article on our site we help you find the answer.
Loss of appetite due to nausea
This is the most common and physiological reason why a pregnant dog can lose her appetite, since from 3 weeks of pregnancynausea usually makes an appearance, and obviously this desire to vomit will cause discomfort and consequently we will see that our pregnant dog does not want to eat.
How to deal with this situation? While it is true that feeding a pregnant dog is very important, we must understand that no being usually has an appetite for food if she is experiencing a symptom as annoying as nausea. To help maintain caloric intake despite nausea it is recommended that he be fed frequently throughout the day, but with small food portions, this could stimulate her to regain her appetite.
The loss of appetite in this case should be resolved in this way after a few days, if not, it is advisable to go to the vet, especially after the fifth week, since then the requirements nutritional values increase markedly.
Other causes of loss of appetite in pregnant dogs
In addition to nausea, a pregnant dog can stop eating for other reasons that should be known to deal with this situation:
- It is possible that her food preferences have changedand she is expecting more changes in the menu or a more delicious food.
- If there is a sedentary lifestyle, in absence of physical exercise the necessary stimulus to awaken the appetite will not be provoked.
- A pregnant dog can stop eating because she is given an excessive intake of food, in this case she will not respond with appetite to the rear shot.
- Stomach problems, especially if they had already occurred prior to pregnancy.
What can I do to stimulate my pregnant dog's appetite?
Here are some simple tips that will help your dog regain good eating habits despite the different situation that pregnancy causes in her body:
- It is possible change the diet more frequently If we do not want to take this action, it will be necessary that we never change the usual food, only in this way the dog will understand that this is what she should eat, otherwise her behavior will be very similar to that of a child who knows that she is going to be rewarded with a dessert.
- It is important to maintain a routine, that is, always feed him at the same times and preferably after the walk, since this way the appetite will be more stimulated. In relation to this point, you can consult our article on "Walking the dog before or after eating?" and inform you of everything, not only for this stage of your dog, but to establish the best routines.
- We must not leave in the feeder the food that the dog has not eaten, that is, if after 10 minutes she has not eaten more, then it is time to withdraw the food until the next feeding.
If, despite undertaking these actions, the dog's appetite does not improve, it is important to go to the vet, since he or she may recommend the use of a nutritional supplement, which should surely be removed once the animal recovers its normal appetite.
