maternal nutrition - lactating bitch/queen

Question 1

water requirements

Answer 1

≥ 120 ml/kg of BW per day (2-3x higher than maintenance, which is 60)

Question 2

When to begin feeding a gestation-to-lactation diet (puppy diet) to the bitch versus queen?

Answer 2

Bitch: @ 4 weeks gestation

Queen: @ breeding (

Question 3

RER

Answer 3

70 x BW(kg)^0.75

Question 4

What diets should be avoided in bitch/queen?

Answer 4

Low-CHO diets! (non-fiber CHOs like starches)
- dam hypoglycemia
- incr. stillbirth & perinatal mortality (fetal energy)
- decr. maternal behaviors
- decr. milk quality & duration of lactation (lacking the substrate for lactose)