Need advise!!

[julver30]

My 7 pound yorkie had 6 pups a week and a half ago. She had a litter last year and I had her at the emergency vet for hypo calcimia. I tube feed the puppies last time for two weeks and then she was able to continue nursing with no problems. When I decided to breed her again my vet told me if I did certain things this time she would probably be ok. Well she isn't.....I had her at the emergency vet again. Her calcium level instead of being 7.9 was 2.9, I left her overnight and she seems fine now.
My problem now is that my normal vet says that after this treatment that she should be fine and be able to continue nursing. The emergency vet told me not to even have them in the same house together because he doesn't mom's milk to let down. I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO????
I don't want to hand feed 6 puppies....I work full time but I don't want to lose my dog either. Anybody ever dealt with this issue and have any advise??
She is on calcium pills and puppy food.

Thanks,
Julie

[Patti]

Hope some of our helpful breeders will see this and give you some help.

[gemy]

I've sent some messages out to the breeders that are on this forum now.

I think you are going to have to make a decision on what vet advise to listen to.

which vet has the most experience with Reproduction? It is the weekend I would hand feed, look up whelping pudding recipe on this site, and feed to dam.

Maybe book a couple of days off work, until you can get a handle on Mom and pups. Actually someone should be with the babies 24/7 for many wks at least 4-6 wks, hopefully your assistant is on hand to help you out.

[Woogie Man]

Originally Posted by julver30

My 7 pound yorkie had 6 pups a week and a half ago. She had a litter last year and I had her at the emergency vet for hypo calcimia. I tube feed the puppies last time for two weeks and then she was able to continue nursing with no problems. When I decided to breed her again my vet told me if I did certain things this time she would probably be ok. Well she isn't.....I had her at the emergency vet again. Her calcium level instead of being 7.9 was 2.9, I left her overnight and she seems fine now.
My problem now is that my normal vet says that after this treatment that she should be fine and be able to continue nursing. The emergency vet told me not to even have them in the same house together because he doesn't mom's milk to let down. I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO????
I don't want to hand feed 6 puppies....I work full time but I don't want to lose my dog either. Anybody ever dealt with this issue and have any advise??
She is on calcium pills and puppy food.

Thanks,
Julie

I don't think there's an easy answer for you. You know what your choices are. If you left the Mom alone with the babies, you could lose her while you're gone. On the other hand, feeding 6 babies around the clock is hard to imagine....it would be an enormous task.

To add to it, the babies will only eat more until they're weaned, which will drain your girl even more.The only middle ground I can see is to take a few days off work and closely monitor the Mom and see how she does feeding them. If she seems to be doing well, maybe someone could check on her throughout the day and feed her. I wouldn't just leave her alone all day in any case after what's happened.

I've never had a girl with low calcium but did have a litter of 6 this past February from a 5 1/2 pound Mom. She did fine with them but I watched her like a hawk and fed her A LOT. She was eating 5 full meals a day once the pups really started draining her.

She was a picky eater at first, like many are, but I got her to eat by feeding her boiled chicken, canned food, kibble, goat's milk and boiled beef liver. She also got 1/2 of a calcium tab twice a day. The tabs were for a 20 pound dog.

I made sure she got liver every day and I think that was the key in her maintaining her strength. I also kept the juice from it and poured it over her food. She did amazingly well and one thing I noticed was that she kept a good coat through it all. So often a dam will lose a lot of coat at that time. The only thing I can attribute it to was the liver. I had used it before but not on a daily basis and it really made a difference.

Hope this may be useful to you and best of luck.

[laci32]

Originally Posted by julver30

My 7 pound yorkie had 6 pups a week and a half ago. She had a litter last year and I had her at the emergency vet for hypo calcimia. I tube feed the puppies last time for two weeks and then she was able to continue nursing with no problems. When I decided to breed her again my vet told me if I did certain things this time she would probably be ok. Well she isn't.....I had her at the emergency vet again. Her calcium level instead of being 7.9 was 2.9, I left her overnight and she seems fine now.
My problem now is that my normal vet says that after this treatment that she should be fine and be able to continue nursing. The emergency vet told me not to even have them in the same house together because he doesn't mom's milk to let down. I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO????
I don't want to hand feed 6 puppies....I work full time but I don't want to lose my dog either. Anybody ever dealt with this issue and have any advise??
She is on calcium pills and puppy food.

Thanks,
Julie

The only advise I have is don't breed her no more. I know your life is busy and you don't want to feed these puppies but at the same time it was a risk you knew you were taking after the trouble from the last pregnacies. I'm not trying to be mean I just don't see where you have any other choice than to just take over the responsibility

[gardenyorkies]

I have had this problem before with a bitch... I have found that giving my bitch Oral Cal Plus solved this problem for me...My bitch was able to care for her pups and keep her Calcium levels at a normal level...I buy the Oral Cal Plus from Revival Animal Health, the link below...


Oral Cal Plus


I give this every night before bed to my bitch until they wean their pups...You do NOT want to miss a dose...I would recommend taking her back in a couple of days after you start to have her calcium levels checked to make sure they are staying where they need to be....

Eclampsia is life threatening and not something to take lightly...Your bitch can die from this and I doubt that calcium pills will be enough to keep her calcium up considering the demand that 6 pups will put on her...

If you leave her alone all day while you are away at work I would suggest having someone that you can trust that will know the symptoms of eclampsia to check in on her...

Hope she does well...Good Luck!

[Cares4Dogs]

I wouldnt take any chances by allowing mom to feed anymore and hand feed the pups here on out. She may be okay to feed a little bit with calcium supplementation but you should supplement feed the pups regardless since she's already had a bout of hypocalcemia. I think either way your going to have to feed these babies yourself. If you dont have time then find someone who can.

I personally wouldnt allow her to breed again. I hope you dont take this the wrong way, but if you cant devote 100% of your time to the pups when they need you then you should consider not breeding anymore.

[JeanieK]

The puppies will be old engouh to start to supplement with Goats milk and baby rice cereal, at 3 weeks old.

I agree that I would load her up on calcium and watch her very closely for a few days. And then supplement the puppies when you are home, and get them to eating the goats milk as soon as you can.

And then spay her.

[topknot]

You got some good advice on the suppliment. It is tough to have to go through this. I would stay home from work - it is totally needed and work will have to wait. I know it is hard, but she has to be watched by you that knows her well. This is the reality of breeding. It is not easy. I would also make sure she gets spayed. You may lose her next time.

Some vets will say it might be okay - since they do not know for sure if it will happen for real or she might do okay. They just do not have the crystal ball. If my vet tells me it might happen or not - I just do not want to take the risk even if there is a slim chance. I do not like any percentage when my baby is involved.

[BamaFan121s]

No one wants to have to hand feed pups. But sometimes, it's what has to be done for the sake of the pups AND the mom. If it were me, I'd bit the bullet and hand feed them. Your female obviously is going to continue having problems and the fact that this is s larger litter doesn't help. Follow your vets advice, even though it may not be what is the most convenient for you. (Breeding rarely is "convenient".)

[Teresamag]

Having a momma with Eclampsia really sucks!!! (pardon my french). Once this happens to a mom they are at much higher risk to do it on subsequent pregnancies. While I haven't lost a mom to eclampsia I almost did once and it was the scariest thing I've ever seen (she had a seizure when the 5 puppies were 5 weeks old). Luckily we saved her life and hand raised all the puppies. It was alot of work but 5 weeks old was much easier than with 1 1/2 week old puppies. It also seems that small Yorkies (mine was just 5 lbs) with large litters are more susceptible to low calcium. How much does your girl weigh?
You have to weigh the pros and cons of handraising vs letting the mom nurse the puppies. Handraising is exhausting work, very time consuming, and you have to worry about work. However it will save the life of your momma. Mom raising the puppies is easier on you, cheaper, will not interfer with your work but potentially dangerous to the mom - it could kill her. If you decide to let the mom raise them you will have to be committed to feeding her many times a day foods with high amounts of calcium and watching her closely. Is there any way you could have a retired or unemployed friend or neighbor help you feed the puppies while you work?
In cases where I have to make decisions about my dogs/puppies I often go back to why am I doing this? What is best for the dogs/puppies I am responsible for? As a breeder it is my job to take care of the Yorkies the best I am able to, all my decisions about the dogs revolve around them. How would you feel if your momma died? It is the worst feeling in the world for a dog that you are responsible for to die, I would not wish that on anyone.
One last thing - please spay this girl to prevent this from happening again. Once dogs have Eclampsia in one litter they are at higher risk of it happening again, your girl has had it in two litters in a row. I would think she would have a 100% chance of this happening again, you might not be lucky enough to save her a third time.
Good luck with your puppies. I wish you the best.
Teresa

[Jemma]

Garden Yorkies gave some good advice on the Oral Cal Plus. I would definitely supplement the pups but at the same time I think they should still nurse a little with Mom. Sometimes I think dogs are like people. Mommy and babies bonding. Nursing...the perfect way to do it.