Why won't my golden retriever eat at 6 weeks pregnant? Is it normal?

Poor girl! I would offer her a home cooked meal of plain boiled chicken and rice to see if this helps to entice her to eat. If she after a few days of being on vitamins and she still isn't acting right then I would contact your ve to do additional diagnostics. If your vet hasn't already I would ask them to do a fecal to check for intestinal parasites and blood work to make sure everything else looks ok. If she is close to the end of her pregnancy this could all be normal in preparation for labor. A lot of dogs will have a decrease in activity and appetite in the last 3-5 days of pregnancy. The normal gestation period is 62-63 days. I hope this helps!

I'm sorry that Ginger is not feeling well. It is concerning that she is not eating well for the past two days. You could try to feed her a mixture of plain boiled chicken and plain white rice to see if this will stimulate her appetite. If she does start eating it and there are no other signs of illness, then I would start to transition her to a puppy food. She should eat puppy food throughout her pregnancy and while she's nursing the puppies. If she still refuses to eat, i do think you need to take her to the veterinarian. They will most likely recommend doing some blood testing and possibly x-rays of her abdomen as there are many things that can cause a decreased appetite. I hope this helps and that Ginger gets feeling better soon!

Just keep offering a variety of things to see what she likes best. It may be a good idea to have her examined by a vet to see if she is sick, anemic, low blood pressure, or having any other medical issues with her pregnancy.

I would recommend trying boiled chicken and white rice. However if she will not eat it could be a sign of an issue with her pregnancy. The uterus and fetus can become infected and cause severe anorexia I would make sure you are weighing her every few days to make sure she is not loosing weight if she continues to. It eat or looses weight I recommend taking her to a veterinarian for evaluation.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Lucky. Golden retrievers typically have voracious appetites. So a sudden change is worrisome. I recommend that she sees her veterinarian to ensure there is not a health problem. For example, an upper respiratory tract infection can cause a change in appetite. If she is even mildly congested then it will be harder to smell the food. This can lower the appetite. I hope this information helps!

Hi, and thanks for your question. This is a quite generic but concerning presentation. Differentials are many, from gastrointestinal diseases (infection/inflammations often dietary related) to any disease that can spread systemically (causing lethargy for example) like infection, and anything that can cause pain/discomfort. It could be related to the pregnancy as the puppies are occupying more space in the abdomen. The approach must be logic, starting from offering different kind of food. A check up is needed if inappetence lasts for more than 24hours. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

If Karma is vomiting occasionally, then it might just be "morning sickness" from pregnancy. If she is vomiting consistently throughout the day and isn't keeping food down, this is concerning. Typically nausea during pregnancy is over by 4 weeks, but it is possible to last a bit longer. However, if this continues there may be another cause. You can try giving a small meal right before bed, and consider trying a bland diet like white rice and boiled chicken for a few days to see if that helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.