What can I give my bitch to dry up her milk?
and
your
VET
By Merry Fitzgerald, DVM.
Lactation, or milk production, in dogs usually lasts for 4-6 weeks. Milk production is at its peak 3 weeks after the puppies are delivered. Milk will continue to be produced as long as the puppies are nursing. When the puppies are weaned, it can take 1-2 weeks for the milk production to dry up. Most bitches stop lactating gradually as the puppies begin to eat solid food. For a mother that produces excess milk, or in the case of a pregnancy with no surviving puppies, there are a couple of things you can do to help speed the drying up process. Sage contains a natural form of estrogen and can decrease the supply of milk. You can buy sage at the health food store or use the spice from your kitchen. When using the dry sage, you can put ½ teaspoon of sage into her food twice a day for a 15 pound dog, and 1 teaspoon for a 30 pound dog. Sage can also be made into tea by adding 1 teaspoon of sage to 1 cup of hot water and letting it steep for about 15 minutes. You might want to add some milk or honey to it as the sage can have a bitter taste. One full cup every 6 hours will usually dry the milk up quickly in large dogs. Sage works best if you use it along with cabbage leaf compresses. Cabbage leaf compresses are a remedy that has been used for over a hundred years to reduce milk production in both human and canine females. Here are some directions for their use: Buy plain green cabbage. You can use either green or red cabbage, but the red cabbage is more likely to stain the fur. The cabbage leaves need to be cold, so after rinsing and drying the inner leaves, put them in the refrigerator. When they are chilled, carefully cut out the stem from the center of each leaf. Wrap the leaves around the breasts, leaving the nipples exposed. Ace bandages can be used to secure the leaves in place. Change the cabbage leaves every 20-30 minutes or sooner if the cabbage becomes warm or wilted. This can be done several times a day. Bitches will usually dry up within 1 week after they have stopped nursing.
Why do I have to x-ray my dog’s elbows before I can breed him? Similar to hip dysplasia, dogs should be cleared of elbow dysplasia before being used for breeding. This is a developmental abnormality that occurs in the elbow joint of dogs, mostly in the medium and large breeds. There are three problems that may be called elbow dysplasia, which are an ununited anconeal process (UAP), a fragmented coronoid process (FCP), and osteochondritis dissicans (OCD). Dogs with elbow dysplasia typically only have one of the three conditions. It is rare for a dog to have all three components of elbow dysplasia. The elbow joint is composed of 3 bones; the humerus of Continued on page 104
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