hello, i have a query with regard to calcium tabs, my breeder has suggested that i put my girl on calcium tabs at around day 60. My vet is dead against them saying she has a good complete diet (hills puppy at the moment) and won't need them - i have heard the stories for and against from various vets but i was just interested in what everyone else does ?
Thanks in advance !

I would agree with your vet and strongly advise against.
Hormones regulate the calcium levels and this natural process is upset by giving supplements. Your complete diet should contain all the calcium needed and oversupplementing causes serious problems like cartilage and bone deformation. It also hinders the absorbtion of zinc which is needed for a strong and healthy immune system.

I guess we're talking about you inwhelp bitch, aren't we?

Whatever you do, don't add extra calcium BEFORE she starts whelping. The body needs to be able to mobilise its own calcium reserve when it's really needed (i.e. when the pups come). If you add calcium before, the system becomes 'lazy' (for want of a better term), and can't get calcium when it needs it.

You then risk eclampsia (milk fever), which can be fatal.

We get in a bottle of Collocal-D (colloidal Calcium) which we give as soon as secondary labour starts in earnest - just little drops as you feel the bitch can cope - then the full daily dose once she has finished whelping. Mind you, we tend to have fairly big litters (when we don't have just one) so there is quite a strain on the calcium reserves.

A good complete feed should have more than adaquate calcium for pregnancy anyhow, but it might reassure you to ask the manufacturers.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

that was quick I thought i was the only one awake this early on a saturday !!
Chloe has one week to go more or less ! to be honest i wasn't going to give any supplements as i am aware of the problems over supplementation can cause, i was suprised about the amount of people who commented that chloe should be recieving them when i 1st got her (by fellow vet nurses !!) and i find it appears to be an old school theory ? i am only worried as the breeder is having one of the pups and i suppose as she has an interest i need a good case for disagreeing with her.

Hi , I was also a little confused whether to give Calcium Tablets , My bitch is due 26th. I did try to give a little bonemeal ( half the recomended dose )with her usual complete food but she did not like it . I think I may try again when she has the puppies .
Paul

Hi I feed my bitches a high quality complete diet and they always have extra Calcium AFTER they whelp, like Jo said, but NEVER before. I get pink tablets that you crush into food, from the vet or some people prefer the liquid ones. I would definately recommend that you use Calcium after whelping and for a week or so after weaning, unless maybe you have a very small litter of one or two puppies. Jo, would you give extra calcium for a single puppy in a litter, or do you give them extra Calcium regardless of litter size? Eclampsia, which is a direct result of a lack of mobilised calcium, is a condition that one should do everything to avoid, it can be very dangerous to the bitch, and even if she recovers, can mean that you need to hand rear the puppies. Good luck with the whelping.

I have never given extra calcium as a supplement after whelping regardless of whether the bitch has had one or eleven pups nor have any of my bitches suffered from Eclampsia - just hope having said that they now I feed raw I don't suffer it with the next litter <g>

Christine

I don't supplement with calcium before or after whelping either & haven't had a bitch with eclampsia for 15 years now. The one & only time we had a bitch suffer this condition, we had made the mistake (following another breeder's advice) of giving calcium tablets during pregnancy - never again!! I feel as long as a bitch is given a good, balanced diet in the quantities she needs, both during & after whelping, then there is no need for supplementation - just my opinion based on my own experience :-)

Jane

Cheers WL - I wish she'd get on with it - you know, up in the middle of the night to go for a pee, then not back to sleep again - tells after a bit.

I really don't know the lower limit (terminology?) for supplementing during lactation; I haven't (yet) had a f/c litter under 10 pups. I never supplemented the Kerries (average 6 pups) and never had any problem, but had eclampia once with my f/c - 11 pups - me a bit slow off the mark with the Collocal-D. Very very frightening - vet visit at 2.30 in the morning to collapsed bitch isn't much of a joke.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Have had 3 litters x 14 pups in each litter of Munsters, never supplemented the bitch except with Vetzyme 1-a-day conditioning tablets. No problems during whelping or bitch after, she does however get half pint of Welpi to drink everyday or Lactol, if I can't get Welpi. Throughout pregnancy and then feeding pups Miranda has been on Nutro, used to be Choice Plus now Performance. Suits her and pups to a T.