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Originally Posted by Princessangela3  Yes we have a whelping box with all our supplies all set up for her in our bedroom as we have other animals. So far she has spent very little time in it. She goes to bed on her doggie bed outside the box (her wish) and then in the middle of the night she whines until I put her in bed with us. She is with us 24/7 as she will not have it any other way and neither will we. We have it worked out for this entire week that my son (18 year old), bf, and I have rotating work shifts and the only time one of us will not be able to be with her is for 2 hours and I have called in my best friend who knows Bella well to come sit. I am able to leave work the SECOND anything looks like labor is pending. I live 7 minutes from work.
I have Nutra-drops, I have beef liver in the freezer, I have Tums, I have goats milk, I have whelping pudding supplies, I have vanilla ice cream, yogurt and cottage cheese. I am in the medical field so I have made a full blown whelping kit and I am not squemish. I read old posts back even years and if anyone suggested it I bought it. I wanted to be WELL prepared for this and do right by my girlie. I have the vets number and UCD on speed dial! I have probably over done everything but better safe then sorry. I just need patience now which I have NEVER had. 
Oh and Bella did keep getting under the bed but my bf blocked under the entire bed with wood much to Bella's dismay! |
I got this information from another exhibitor/breeder: after I saw your post on tums and because I know you want everything to go as smoothly as possible, I thought I'd share it.
Eclampsia/Calcium
Revival Animal Health - Oral Cal Plus #160-210
new product from revival, same as calsorb with out the nasty taste, does not make them vomit.
If you must give calsorb, put it on your finger, and rub in bitches mouth, gums, inside of mouth, underneath tongue, then follow with nutrical, don’t just squirt a blob in their mouth. Even if they throw up, it HAS absorbed (not 100%.. but a lot) because the bloodstream picks it up immediately through the mouth..it does not have to be digested to work. Give calsorb or Oral Cal Plus if bitch is exhibiting signs of eclampsia. Some signs are very subtle. My bitch would dig like crazy when I took her outside, then try to climb up the side of the wall of the house…that was her first sign she was going south for me.. and we’d treat with calsorb immediately. Anything “odd” should be taken as a sign…especially, panting, pacing, restless behavior etc… understanding of course that bitches pant after delivery anyways for a few days.
Okay to hold it at bay, so it never comes at all… forget everything about giving tums, cottage cheese, cheese, icecream.. etc. It’s useless. The body needs the calcium to be delivered with the correct ratio of Vit D and Phosphorus or it doesn’t absorb it, it’s useless. Pet Cal has this correct ratio. Another thing that has it is, believe it or not.. a scrambled whole egg! Of course everyone knows not to start calcium until the litter is whelped.. no giving it to PG bitches… I do give some calsorb during whelping If things slow down on a larger litter, but never before whelping. Make it a general practice to scramble your bitch an egg every day, and depending on weight, give ½ to a whole pet tab per day. I gave it to a 8 lb bitch ½ in the morning ½ at night…this is the “daily dose” for about a 20 lb dog who was NOT nursing a litter…so just fine for ½ the size, but nursing a litter. I would grind up the pet tab in the food processor and put the powder in the egg when I scrambled it.
Also, check your dog food for Soybeans, soy protein, or anything related to soy in any way. For SOME reason that is not completely understood by me (many menopause supplements contain soy, or are soy based, so this seems to be a contradiction).. soy protein can interfere with the absorption of calcium in dogs. If your food has soy of any sort, change to a food that does not for the duration of the weaning of the litter.