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Why is my pregnant dog producing green milk so early before birth?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Japanese Akita Inu | Female | unspayed | 4 years and 4 months old | 60 lbs

My dog already start producing milk 3 weeks before giving birth. Her milk was green pus and was very thick. 1. Is it normal for a dog to start producing milk before her puppies arrive especially if its very long like 3 weeks? 2. What is the cause of this infection that made my dog had green pus bloody milk? I remember she ate worms during her pregnancy and poop. And had severe diarrhea since then. 3. How to avoid this in the future. The puppies all died and the vet told me she has mastitis

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Tomasz Wnuk

Veterinarian

Published on May 17th, 2020

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Answering your questions: 1. It is not normal to produce milk 3 weeks before giving birth. Some dogs start producing milk 2-3 days before the labour but not longer than that. Green / thick discharge suggest mammary gland infection, not natural milk production. 2. Mammary gland infection is almost always caused by bacteria from the skin getting into the mammary tissue. I do not think it is related to eating a worm by Kaya. 3. To avoid mastitis you should keep the nipples clean. You should wipe them with baby wipes 2-3 times a day. Also, Kaya should be on good quality food and get exercised regularly. Once she has the puppies you should make sure that they feed from each nipple, latch them on the nipples that are 'full' or express milk from the large and very hard nipples. Using antibiotics prophetically is not recommended, but if Kaya is producing green, thick discharge she will need a course of antibiotics now.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Lauren Jones VMD

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 26th, 2020

    The timing of milk production and leakage in dogs is highly variable. It's perfectly normal for dogs to begin leaking milk either weeks before whelping (giving birth) or not start to produce milk until when the pups are born. There's nothing concerning about the fact that Betrix is leaking milk 3 weeks before whelping! As a result, there's nothing that you can or should do to stop it. Leaking milk does not make dogs more likely to develop ascending infections. From the picture, the milk looks like a pretty normal yellowish-white color. I understand that sometimes the color in pictures can be a bit off, so if her milk does look more green in person, you can ask your vet to look at it under the microscope for the presence of extra white blood cells (there are normally some present) and bacteria. I hope that all goes well!

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    Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 24th, 2020

    Green discharge coming from a nipple is not normal. Without examining the dog and seeing it for myself it is difficult to say. Do not give dogs cat canned milk. Stop doing that. A pregnant dog should be on a high quality puppy dog food while pregnant and that is all. If you give too much calcium during pregnancy you are going to cause more problems. I suggest you speak to a vet in person so they can examine your dog and tell if she is normal or if she has a problem.

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