Introduction
Basic nutritional requirements of a pregnant dog include increased levels of protein, fat, and minerals in the diet. While it may be tempting to give nutritional supplements or vitamins to a pregnant dog, it is best for the dog to gain all of her extra nutritional requirements through her diet.
Dietary Changes for Pregnant Dogs
A maintenance diet for an adult dog should include 18 percent protein and 5 percent fat. However, a pregnant dog requires a diet that is approximately 22 to 30 percent protein and 8 to 15 percent fat. The increase in dietary protein should include a rise in natural amino acids (e.g. arginine, histidine and leucine) in the diet as well.
Pregnant dogs require a slight increase in dietary minerals calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and chloride. Adult maintenance diets for dogs require a minimum of 0.6 percent calcium, 0.5 percent phosphorus, 0.06 percent sodium and 0.09 percent chloride. However, a pregnant dog requires a diet which includes a minimum of 1.0 percent calcium, 0.8 percent phosphorus, 0.3 percent sodium and 0.45 percent chloride.
The caloric requirement for pregnant dogs depends on the size of the dog, but pet owners should feed their pregnant dog at maintenance levels for the first two thirds of her gestation period. An increase in food should not occur until the last third of her gestation period and at this time her food intake should increase approximately 50 percent more than her previous dietary intake.
Pet owners are advised to feed their pregnant dogs a high quality pet food (e.g. Eukanuba Premium Performance Formula) that has a high degree of digestibility. Nutritional supplements and vitamins should be avoided and may be detrimental to the dog’s health; calcium supplements during pregnancy may interfere with the dog’s biological ability to release calcium during lactation and can cause dangerously low calcium blood levels after birth.
If you are unsure of what type of food to feed your pregnant dog, or if you have questions about your dog’s nutritional health during the gestational period, talk with your veterinarian.