Is It Normal For A Mother Chihuahua To Consume Her Placentas?

December 5, 2006 on 7:30 pm | In Chihuahua Articles |

Although some female Chihuahuas who give birth turn up their noses at the placenta, most take to it as though it were a deluxe pizza. The slippery sac containing the pup is torn, the baby licked and cleaned. Then the dam turns to the task of eating the placenta. Others eat it first, chomping and slurping, before they tend to the pup. In those cases, you tear the sac. Occasionally, it may be consumed as the pup is delivered, with you never seeing it.

Consumption of the placenta, with its hormones, stimulates the milk flow, facilitates delivery of the following pup, and aids reduction of uterine size after delivery. Before domestication, dogs ate the evidence of a fresh birth to hide the litter from predators. Opinions concerning placentas differ. Some breeders allow the mother to consume all of them; others let the dam have two or three and dispose of the rest.

The wisest course is to allow the Chihuahua to follow her instinct. Do not get into a hassle over this issue, upsetting her. If the situation can be managed calmly, let her consume a few. Too many increase the discharge or result in diarrhea or indigestion. However, it is better to cope with diarrhea than a frantic mother who has been thwarted in her efforts to do as nature is telling her.