Raw feeding for pregnancy and lactation?

[bridgie_cat]

Hey guys!

 

I am looking seriously at trialling raw feeding with a couple of my dogs, but wondering what sort of considerations need to be made with the breeding girls?  

 

Would love any advice or recommendations on resources to look at on this topic  

 

Thanks!

 

Bridget 

[The Spotted Devil]

I feed a mix. 

 

Normally Em has Artemis dry, yoghurt and twice weekly I substitute this with chicken frames, lamb necks, turkey wings or similar. Every now and again I toss in a whole egg (home grown!) or tinned sardines and for training she gets cheese, 4 legs, chicken, lamb hearts etc. 

 

During pregnancy I increase the quantity depending on her body condition. I'll tend to increase protein too because she gives everything to her babies so a quarter raw chicken rather than a frame. 

 

Em's babies are currently 5 days old. Normally her dry food ration is 1-1.5 cups per day. At the moment she is having 2 cups dry plus yoghurt topped up with water for breakfast. Lunch is raw - so quarter chicken OR lamb neck OR chicken frames stuffed with forequarter beef mince/lamb hearts OR turkey wings. Dinner is 2 cups dry food plus yoghurt and something extra - egg, sardines, mince, hearts etc. I will likely add a 4th meal in soon. 

 

The main thing with her raw meals is that they they are low fat and high protein. I take the skin off the chicken etc as with the amount of food she just gets the runs. 

[Rebanne]

you need to be prepared to change whatever your feeding at the drop of a hat! Phoebe has never been a chow hound but she'd have 1/2 kilo of minced chicken carcasses fro breakfast and 2 cups of dry for tea, with various add ins. None of that was good enough for her when pregnant ( same time as Em, Phoebe's 4 babies are 4 days old ). She lived on Chunkers or dog roll with some cat food thrown in. Now she is on 4 feeds a day but two of those are milky ones - goats milk with icecream or custard added in and an egg once a day. The other two meals are cooked chicken mince. Won't touch raw, Chunkers, dog roll or dry.

 

With a full raw diet I believe you have to be very careful not to overload on calcium. Google would be your friend I think or Raw feeding groups on FB. I don't have any links though as I don't feed full raw and currently not feeding raw at all!

[The Spotted Devil]

Good point @Rebanne I am blessed with a bitch that will eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in sight. I have never seen her refuse a meal. That makes my life a whole lot easier. She's on AB's for mastitis and the vet asked how I was going getting the meds into her. I literally laughed out loud  It's just another excuse for something disguised as mince! Then I gave Em a biscuit for lying so quietly for her ultrasound. She devoured it in a nano second and the vet finally understood what she was dealing with  

[sandgrubber]

They're all different, but especially with a large litter, be prepared to up the quantity in the last weeks of pregnancy, and after a week or two post partum, as the pups are drinking a lot and not yet taking solids.  I have Labs, all good eaters who will happily go to obese.  I usually try to prevent weight gain...that relaxes during pregnancy.

I specially like chicken frames due to high bone content.  At other times I try to avoid fatty raw foods (and a lot of stuff sold as raw is very fatty).  Not with a heavily nursing bitch.  Dog milk is very high fat, and a nursing bitch can do with fatty foods.  

Some girls loose their appetite as the day draws near.  But I've had girls eat a frame or two between pups while they're delivering.  I had one girl who favored the wild approach to puppy feeding...she ate extra and then puked it up for her brood.