Ask Dr Claire

My Chihuahua is currently pregnant and has a week left till her due date. Today she isn’t coming out of her box and isn’t eating at all.

In the final week of pregnancy the uterus is large and is pushing on the dogs stomach, so it’s not uncommon for pregnant dogs at this stage to have a reduced appetite, or occasionally not want to eat at all.

Feeding small amounts often may help.

After whelping due to the demand for milk to feed the puppies the appetite increases again.

Changes in behaviour like this are common but, given her pregnancy status, a hands-on examination as soon as possible from your local vet would be a great place to start and make sure that all is ok with mum + pups.

If you’d like to chat in person, you can get a vet on a live video call or start a chat to discuss in more detail now.

We’re here to help!

Chat soon,

Dr Claire