Day 33

I will now continue Siska's diary on the blog as and when the mood strikes me. 

Siska was on hunger strike till 9pm yesterday, she then ate a whole meal. This morning, breakfast was rejected, but she ate it all and polished the bowl at lunchtime. I'll go with her rules now, what she wants and when.

It is important we get a closer idea of how many puppies are cooking in Siska's belly. I haven't been able to confirm a date for the second scan, but Sharon (who owns Lucca) is off on a Wednesday and wants to come with me if possible. Of course, there is a lot of curiosity, but there is also a valued reason for knowing. If she's carrying 4 or fewer puppies, then I will not need to change/increase her diet significantly. Small litter puppies take all the nourishment and space and can get too big to be born naturally, it's often said a singleton is like a fish growing to fit the bowl! With more than 4 puppies, then I would need to adjust the diet accordingly from 6 weeks. I must confess I have ordered some James Wellbeloved Turkey and Rice puppy food already. I was looking through Zooplus and found 24kg on offer for £68 instead of £80. I remember Jill Hubbard telling me years ago that Turkey was far better for dogs than chicken and I found this interesting. "As a white meat, turkey is full of goodness and is very gentle on the digestive tract. Turkey is a better white meat choice than chicken for a hypo-allergenic food because some dogs are known to have already developed a chicken hypersensitivity; a sensitivity to turkey is less likely because turkey is not used as much in pet food, so dogs will not have been over-exposed to it." 

The reason I'm changing Siska to puppy food is to give her more nutrients in a smaller quantity. It is higher in energy, protein, and certain vitamins and minerals including calcium and phosphorus compared to an adult food, nutrients that are vital for her and the little ones during the third trimester. She's not as greedy as previous generations of females and puppy food is more nutritionally dense, I think having smaller regular meals will suit her better. A useful guide is feeding an extra 10% per week until birth. (From 6 -9 weeks) 

If you open the top photo you can see a tiny bit of a belly making her skirt stick out at the back. She is not 5 weeks till Sunday (From ovulation) so I wouldn't expect her to be much bigger, but for those who believe the crystal pendulum has been spinning from day one and has always maintained more bitches than dogs. (5 - 2 - and yes always spinning for 7 puppies) Now that will be interesting won't it!