Foods and Feeding 



rich beef broth over her meat and crackers will be 

 beneficial, cereals and vegetables may be given to 

 some extent. 



About the twenty-first day the bitch often develops 

 eclampsia. This may to a certain extent be pre- 

 vented by giving the bitch good food which is easy 

 to digest, plenty of exercise, and by taking pains 

 to keep the bowels open. In eclampsia it is in- 

 variably noticed that the puppies have been draw- 

 ing pretty hard on the bitch, they are usually fat 

 and growing fast, and so if this condition fe ob- 

 served in the early part of the third week, it is well 

 to keep the bitch away from her brood for periods 

 of two or three hours in order that she may have 

 an opportunity to rest. 



Inflammation of the breasts occasionally occurs 

 in the early period of nursing. If immediate treat- 

 ment is given, the bitch can usually go on feeding 

 the puppies. 



Care of the Puppies. — ^The mother usually takes 

 all necessary care of her brood. She attends to 

 their cleaning and to the bowels and urine. It is a 

 very common practice with bitches to desert a puppy 

 should it become sick. This % probably to attract 

 the attention of her master. The sucking pup fre- 

 quently suffers from constipation and colic. The 

 abdomen will be found distended, hard and pain- 

 ful to touch. An en^ijia of olive oil with a medi- 

 cine dropper will relieve the condition. A quarter 



iP3 



