Reviewed By Joana Garrido DVM
What to feed mother dog after giving birth must be given serious thinking. Lack of proper nutrition has potentially life-threatening and irreversible consequences for the dam and her puppies.
It weakens their immune systems and leaves them highly vulnerable to catching an illness. Nutritional insufficiency also impedes the normal body development of puppies, which greatly contributes to poor health.
As a pawrent, it is your responsibility to ensure that both the mother dog and her offspring receive the right diet to remain strong and healthy.
Special Diet for Mother Dog After Giving Birth
A mother dog will lose weight after giving birth. Feeding her calorie-, fat-, and protein-dense food will help her gain back the pounds she lost. Most importantly, it provides her with the energy to care for her pups and to generate high-quality milk.
Giving her puppy food, which contains higher protein, fat, and calorie levels compared to standard commercial dog food, is recommended during and post pregnancy for most dogs.
Here is a guideline of what to look for when choosing puppy food for a mother dog:
- The protein content should not go lower than 20% on a dry matter basis (DMB). Look for products containing around 29% to 30% protein DMB.
- The ideal fat levels of puppy food range between 17% and 20% DMB. Make sure that it comes from premium fat sources that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, such as flaxseed oil, salmon oil, and chicken fat.
- The puppy food must use natural and highly digestible ingredients for better absorption of nutrients. Avoid products that contain artificial flavoring, preservatives, and additives.
Do not feed a mother dog puppy food for large breeds after giving birth. It has a different formulation of calcium and phosphorus, which can negatively impact her milk production and also cause nutritional imbalance in puppies.
If regular puppy food does not provide a sufficient amount of nutrients to a mother dog, supplementation of puppy formula powder might bring balance to her diet. However, only do this with the veterinarian’s approval.
Should You Give a Mother Dog Supplementation After Giving Birth?
Some mother dogs can benefit from taurine, omega-3 fats, or folic acid supplementation after giving birth. However, approach a veterinarian and inform them about this idea before putting it to fruition.
While supplementation may help keep dams and their pups healthy, it can cause health issues if used inappropriately. So using them without an expert’s input is highly discouraged.
What to Do If Mother Dog Refuses to Eat After Giving Birth?
It is not uncommon for some mother dogs to lose appetite after giving birth. This can be easily solved by mixing small amounts of highly palatable foods into her diet, such as:
- Canned tuna
- Cottage cheese
- Wet dog food
- Egg yolks
- Lard
You can also try soaking dry puppy food in warm water since doing so improves its taste and flavor. During the first 12 hours after whelping, only offer small portions of food to the mother dog for easier digestion.
Be warned that prolonged inappetence is a sign of health complications in the mother dogs after giving birth, such as an infection in the uterus or mammary glands.
If the dam’s lack of appetite persists for more than 24 hours, get her checked by the veterinarian immediately.
Provide Enough Hydration to a Mother Dog After Giving Birth
Mother dogs produce more milk than humans. They approximately make 900 grams of milk in 19 days and more than 1000 grams in 26 days.
For a dam to produce a normal amount of milk for her pups, she needs to drink a sufficient amount of water aside from eating balanced and complete meals.
Keep the water bowl close to her at all times and make sure it never runs out of fresh water. Encourage her to drink by mixing low-sodium chicken broth with the water.
Always throw out stagnant drinking water every night since it will taste stale. Wash the water bowl first before replenishing it to get rid of any harmful bacteria living on its surface.
How Much to Feed Mother Dog After Giving Birth?
The energy requirements of a mother dog significantly surges around 20 to 30 days after giving birth. Do not be surprised if she eats 2 or 4 times more than her regular food consumption.
With this in mind, it is vital to increase her food intake until her appetite goes back to normal by around 8 weeks postdelivery.
The rule of thumb is to increase a mother dog’s amount of food by 25% per puppy per day.
For example, the mother dog usually consumes 4 cups of food each day pre-pregnancy and now she has a litter of 3 puppies. 25% of 4 cups is 1 cup. Multiply that by 3 puppies will get you 3 cups. Add this to the mother dog’s normal amount of food consumption so you will get 7 cups per day.
Read: Vegetarian Diet for Dogs
How Often to Feed Mother Dog After Giving Birth?
Free choice feeding is ideal for mother dogs with a large litter of puppies. Carry this out during the first 3 to 4 weeks of lactation. Then you can transition to feeding them small amounts of food every 2 to 3 hours.
For obvious reasons, do not use the free choice feeding on mother dogs prone to obesity. This also applies to dams with only 1 or 2 puppies in a litter since it abnormally increases their milk production, which can lead to milk gland inflammation or mastitis.
Feed them 3 small meals throughout the day during 1 to 3 weeks of nursing. During week 4, their milk production will be at its peak. So it is recommended to offer up to 4 meals daily.
Changing a Mother Dog’s Diet During Weaning Period
Around 4 to 5 weeks after birth, most puppies are ready for weaning. They will start to eat more solid food and drink less of their mother’s milk.
During this period, the ravenous appetite of dams will begin to taper back to normal. It is a good time to gradually minimize their food intake until they consume the same amount of meals before pregnancy and lactation.
This will help stop them from producing milk and it is also the appropriate moment to transition them back to regular dog food. Here are the general steps you should take for this process:
- Start by reducing the quantity of the puppy food given to the dam by ¼.
- After 2 to 3 days, lower it to half of the amount she used to eat pre-pregnancy.
- Continue decreasing her meal portions over 15 days until you reach the regular amounts.
- From there, you can start transitioning the mother dog from her lactation diet back to her pre-breeding dog food.
Do this by mixing her old regular food with her lactation meals. Gradually increase the former while decreasing the latter until she is solely eating her pre-breeding food.
Food transitioning is usually done in around 1 week. However, it is okay for the process to take longer. Remember that your main priority is not speed but ensuring that the dam does not experience stomach upset when introduced back to her old food.
Keep in mind that allowing puppies to nurse during this timeline should be prevented. Otherwise, the mother dog will experience delays in the stoppage of milk production.
FAQs About What to Feed Mother Dog After Giving Birth
1. What Is the Best Food to Feed My Dog After Giving Birth?
The best food to feed your dog after giving birth is puppy food.
Compared to commercial diets for adult dogs, it is more dense with proteins, vitamins, minerals, and other key nutrients essential for helping her gain weight and promote normal milk production.
Choose a product that is predominantly composed of high-quality natural ingredients for easy digestibility and nutrient absorption.
2. What Not to Feed a Nursing Dog?
Avoid excessively feeding nursing dogs foods that have high levels of calcium. Overdosing on this mineral can lead to a life-threatening condition called eclampsia.
It refers to the sudden drop in blood calcium levels. This ailment is commonly observed in nursing mothers.
Work with a veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist to closely monitor what foods are appropriate to feed a lactating dog.
3. How Soon Should a Mother Dog Eat After Giving Birth?
Since the whole ordeal of giving birth can cause appetite loss in mother dogs, it may take them several hours to find the urge to eat.
Encourage a dam to consume her meals by adding small amounts of enticing foods in them, such as wet dog food, cottage cheese, and canned tuna.
Ideally, a mother dog’s appetite will return within the day. If her refusal to eat food goes beyond 24 hours, she needs to be checked by the veterinarian for an underlying illness.
4. How Often Should a Nursing Mother Dog Eat?
Nursing mother dogs with a large litter of puppies can be free-fed in their first 3 to 4 weeks of lactation. Afterward, switch to scheduled feedings. Give them small meals every 2 to 3 hours.
On the other hand, mother dogs that easily gain weight as well as those with small litters should be given controlled meals.
Offer them 3 small meals per day during weeks 1 to 3 of nursing. Increase it to 4 small meals every day once they reach the 4th week since their milk production is in full swing around this time.
Summary
Dog owners should put a lot of thought into what to feed a mother dog after giving birth. Providing the right diet keeps the dam and her puppies healthy and free from health problems.
The most ideal choice is puppy food since it contains higher levels of nutrients compared to regular adult dog food diets. Sufficient hydration must be also maintained to ensure normal milk production in mother dogs.
Supplementation of any sort of nutrients is not recommended unless the veterinarian says so. Improper use may facilitate the development of debilitating and fatal health conditions such as eclampsia.
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