Hello.

I did a thread about a deformed puppy a couple of weeks ago, my bitch then went on to have an infection.

A week after she first got the infection, she went off her food and I rushed her to the emergency vet with eclampsia. She was having her normal raw food with cottage cheese, eggs, goats milk, lactose, sardines and anything else I could get into her. So they kept her in the vets all day on a drip and her levels came back to normal. They sent me home with some rc mother and baby dog kibble to give her. I've left a bowl full of this down all the time. She picks at it but isn't over keen. I have tried mixing it up with other nice stuff but she picks round it. She has been eating plenty of her normal food aswel. I have also been giving her crushed up calcium and vit d tablets twice a day. I had been waiting for collo cal d which finally arrived today.

I was also supplementing the pups with one milk feed a day to help her out, which the vet advised.

So, last night she started trembling again, didn't eat her tea. I tried all sorts to get her to eat or drink and she wouldn't have it. So took her to the vets and again they put her on a drip to get her levels back up. They were just the low side of normal this time. Where as last time they were low. Vet advised to take pups away which I have been doing, I've been feeding them milk and then letting have their little comfort suckle and mum cleans them up.

Today she's much brighter, but she's wont eat! She's had some barf this morning, and I've had to make the dried food into a sloppy paste and force it into her. She's also had a bowl of lactose to.

Please, has anyone got any advise, I don't know why her levels seemed to drop again...she was doing so well. Pups are quite chunky and very enthusiastic eaters. She's not as bothered with them today as usual.

This is turning into a nightmare....

Thanks in advance.

Rachel 

I don't know WHY it happened so severely (nobody does) but the mother of a dog of mine (not bred by me but I know the breeder well) went down with terrible eclampsia, to the extent that the owner had to inject her with calcium at home (from the vet, obviously -her vet reckoned it made more sense than the bitch having to be rushed in so frequently) on a daily basis for several weeks, large doses. Even then she went down frequently. The pups were weaned very early and the bitch won't have pups again, but it's still a mystery why it happened.

I certainly won't be putting her through this again.

She had a full haematology blood test done and everything else is fine. I can't understand why she keeps dropping her levels like this. She's a toy breed (but a good sized bitch 7lbs normaly), the pups are 2 weeks old now and ill have to start weaning them early at 3 weeks I think. I feel like I'm watching her like a hawk, every little movement she does I'm checking she's not trembling.

If she had Eclampsia the vet should have prescribed a CALCIUM VIT D like CALOCALD.  A bitch I whelped for friends had double doses of this until pups were weaned as her Calcium levels were very low and resulted in slow labour and half a litter having to be born by C section.

My vet didn't prescribe us anything. I asked if there was anything I should specifically give her and they said to just use the royal canin food which she hates.

You can order Calo Cal D from Hyperdrug and other pet chemists, I would certainly give it to her as her levels have fallen twice.

the bitch I used it on happily reared her litter, though I started weaning by 2 weeks (I normally start about day 18), but Mum was able to feed pups as long as she wanted.  I did have to hand feed her 4 times a day as she had no appetite.

I have the calo d. It arrived this morning. I've been hand feeding her to she just doesn't want to eat. I'm also springing the rc food into her mouth 3x a day.

Ill also wean at 3 weeks instead of 4.

Thanks for your replies

This bitch had Gastroenteritis at 6 weeks in whelp, and as a result was not in ideal condition by whelping, probably the reason for the issue.  (I had to hand/force feed her from last three weeks in whelp until pups stopped feeding).

She only ever had this one litter, but two of her daughters were bred from, and granddaughter, with no problems with Calcium levels.

I also think this has stemmed from when she was ill with the infection just after she whelped :(

I won't breed from her again, although she flew through her last litter with no problems at all. It's all a big mystery to me

have you tried minced up raw chicken wings?

After 2 episodes I would be weaning now, she could have another drop during the night and you miss it leading to her fitting or worse, put a babygro on her so she can still care for the pups without them getting to suckle and she will gradually dry up.

Is the litter larger than you would expect for the breed which would explain why her body is not coping with the drain on her calcium levels?

Did you give extra calcium during her pregnancy?

The RC mother and baby must be the new name for the Reproduction Starter I have used in the past,Mum starts it at 6 weeks through to her being back into condition, pups are weaned on to it till they are 8weeks old, I used to soak it in warm broth to encourage my girl to eat it and then leave some dry within reach 24/7, as the pups got older and had teeth they would go and try some out of Mums dish.

A handy source of calcium is Tums indigestion remedy, I have heard many mention giving them to bitches in labour, I prefer Calciboost but if not available then I would give the Tums a go.

I hope she remains stable from now on and the pups continue to thrive.

Louise, she won't entertain a chicken wing. I've smashed it up and tried feeding it bit by bit, she won't even sniff it. Just turns her head away :(

Rhonda, this is an average sized litter but the puppies are big. She has done an amazing job so far and they are happy chunky little things. I've found a baby grow of from my daughters dolly (lol) which I'm going to try and use on her. And I'm going to try and persevere with the bottle feeding. They are not keen but I've been getting a fair amount into them.

So far she's had 2 bowls of raw, some lactol and 3 60 ml syringes full of royal canin made into a paste. The last one just now she actually lapped it instead of me forcing her to have it. Ill get another one into her before bed and ill give her another when I get up to feed pups. Pups are in a pop up pen with a zip on lid so she can't get into them but can still lay next to them which she seems to be coping with at the moment.

Just to add.

I didn't suppliment with any extra calcium through out her pregnancy, and I gave her tums whilst she was whelping. Since then she has had crushed up calcium and vit d tablets, with her food  whilst the collo was on order, that arrived today and I've given her a full dose of it.