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Originally Posted by Princessangela3  Thanks for the well wishes and good luck to everyone else who has July litters. I will keep good thoughts for everyone, the mommies and the puppies.
011011 How did you know your momma had eclampsia? What did your mommy present with? |
Here is some information on eclampsia I copied from the internet:
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Eclampsia, or milk fever, is an acute, life-threatening condition which attacks a brood bitch about 3 to 4 weeks after whelping puppies. It is more common in the small breeds of dogs that have had large litters.
Symptoms of eclampsia include stiffness, nervousness and restlessness. The brood bitch will loose interest in her puppies. She will very likely run a fever and have a rapid heart rate. In really severe cases of eclampsia the brood-bitch will have muscle spasms or seizures, and be unable to walk.
Eclampsia is commonly known as milk fever.
It is caused by low blood calcium at a time when the body needs to produce calcium-rich milk. It is treated by administering 10% calcium gluconate injections intravenously, at 0.25-0.75ml per pound body weight per hour. The brood-bitch will usually return to normal in less than fifteen minutes after treatment.
In really severe cases of eclampsia it may be necessary to wean the puppies or place their mother on a calcium supplement for the remainder of the lactation.
People often give their brood-bitch heavy calcium supplements during her pregnancy, however this does not prevent eclampsia, and can actually cause it to reoccur during future pregnancies.
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I always keep Cal-sorb on hand. It can save your dogs life. From my experience eclampsia is most likely to occur early in the morning after the pups have been suckling on her all night. That is why it is very important to make sure the momma eats some food right at bedtime and first thing in the morning. I just feed my mommas a high quality dog food throughout their pregnancy and once the pups are born I add canned Pedigree Lamb and Rice puppy food to their diet plus they get 1/2 a Doc Roy's Healthy Bones tablet twice a day for their calcium.