My bitch had pups 18 days ago, this morning she is panting very heavily and is very restless.

I don't know whether I am being paranoid or not?

if you are unsure first of all give her some food with calcium in it or a calcium suplement. At a push something like rennies with calcium carbonate.
Symptoms are a high temperature. panting, staggering round, collapse.
has she been eating well and getting plenty of calcium in here diet?

I would expect her to be panting heavily after whelping, the bitch I have now sounded like a steam train.  But it is calming down now.

drover, if she was mine, I would only be comfortable with a quick vet check.  I am not the type to panic, but would err on the side of caution.  JMHO

Jean

ALso I would take her to a vet asap. If it reallly is eclampsia she will almost certainly need intravenous calcium. The good news is treated right they are back to normal with almost miraculous speed.

She was panting after whelping but it settled around a week ago, I have just given her a dish of whelpi. She is whining and panting and pacing and occasionally looks at me with a stressed look on her face.

She is fed a good quality puppy food and has been eating fine.

I think I will pop her down to the vets for a quick check.

You are doing the right thing.  Let us know how you get on at the vet.

> You are doing the right thing.  Let us know how you get on at the vet.

completely agree.

I agree; I hope she's okay Drover!

I would get her checked too if you have a 'feeling' somethings wrong.
My bitch was like this though.  Puppies have sharp little needle teeth so although the over-riding instinct was to be with them, they were beginning to hurt her.  And they are little podgy pigs by that stage too so it's like snuggling up with 5 little hot-water bottles.  My girl would lie outside the whelping box but she was never 'settled'.  And when she was in feeding, 9 times out of 10, she was panting.
But still, get her checked if you are not 100%.  Better safe than sorry.

I had this question right about the same days.  The panting had calmed then all of a sudden she started again.  But there were absolutely NO other symptoms of eclampsia and I popped a note up on our breed forum (there were a few of us with litters within the same few days) and the response from the long term breeders was it was normal, but obviously if concerned take her in, and the response from the others who whelped close to the same dates was that their bitches were all doing the same.

At the end of the day trust your gut, and if you're not sure, take her - it's worth the cost of a vet visit to put your mind at ease if it's nothing, and worth the cost if it does turn out to be something.

In my case I didn't go and just kept an eye on her and it was nothing.  They do get hot while feeding the pups, and also get hot (and it probably hurts as well) when they're milk is re-filling.

Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone, my fantastic vet has put my mind at ease...again! He has just said she is probably a little warm, and as she is very conflicted (she wants to be with pups but they wont leave her alone and she has a sore belly) so a little stressed.
He has taken blood just to be sure.

It was the look she gave me- the same look she kept giving me when in labour! Bless her.

I'd say that was likely to be low calcium levels as this is the most likely time for it to happen approaching peak lactation. 

You can give a daily easily absorbed liquid supplement from the Vet or on-lien pharmacy, like Calo Cal D.

It is important to have a calcium and vit D balanced supplement for it to do any good.

A bitch I whelped for a fellow exhibitor had to have this right through to the end of lactation past 6 weeks.

Glad she's ok & hope blood tests come back ok. You mention she's got a sore belly, have you trimmed the pup's nails yet? If not, now might be a good time, can make a real difference to mum's comfort :-)

Forgot to update this. Her blood results came back with what my vet described as "slightly low levels". She is now on a calcium supplement and also i'm giving her two bowls of whelpi.

She seems fine now.

Also, I have been keeping the pups nails trimmed but she is still sore and very reluctant to feed them now, particularly during the day.

wonderful news Drover.  My bitch had the calcium test just to make sure - I was surprised at how comparatively cheap it was - the vet badgered me into it despite all being well, but it was a big litter, but unlike most tests, there was no extra 0 on the end!  can't remember how much now, but do recall it being cheap and more importantly, peace of mind.

Enjoy the little ones - they'll be making you swear before very long!!! :-)

>She seems fine now.

Really pleased to hear your news.  My pups are making mum sore as well, and I do start clipping ends off quite early on.  It's amazing how hard they pull on her too!

>Enjoy the little ones - they'll be making you swear before very long!!!

They already are! LOL.

I trimmed their nails for the first time at around a week old. I feel sorry for my girl when I see them sucking like their life depended on it...especially now they have teeth!

Mine have had theirs trimmed each week but somehow it makes it worse, they're even sharper now and my bitch is getting sore when feeding them and a little reluctant too. :(

Drover, TEETH? Mine are still gummy, oh dear, now I know I'll have that to look forward to!

Yes, mine have a full set of gnashers now!