Is Orijen Dog food & Cottage cheese enough for nursing mom?
 

Our little girl who weighs 4.4 lb delivered 4 healthy puppies yesterday. I just want to make sure that with nursing such a large litter that she gets everything her body needs.

Prior to pregnancy and during she was free fed on Orijen and thrived on it, I have now added a couple of scoops of cottage cheese to her Orijen dog food and offer her a bowl of this morning and evening in addition to having a bowl of dry food out throughout the day.

1) Am I doing enough to prevent eclampsia?

2) And should I be adding something higher in fat to her diet for her sake since she is naturally quite skinny and four babies is a lot to feed?

Are you giving her a calcium supplement. She will definitely need one. I recommend Pet-cal or Doc Roy's Healthy Bones from Revival. I give my females 1/2 tablet in the morning and one 1/2 in the evening. It is also essential that the momma eats about 4 meals a day, the last meal being right before bedtime.

I am not familiar with Origen dog food so I can't comment on it. I always give my mommas dry Chicken Soup puppy food mixed with canned Pedigree puppy food.

Be sure you have Oral Cal Plus on hand just in case the momma has any problems with eclampsia. You can get it from Revival also.

BTW, congratulations on your new litter.:)

At times no matter what we do we can't keep eclampsia at bay.....but, making sure that she is eating adequately receiving calcium supplement at the correct ratio in relation to vitamin D.
Keep the following on hand in case of an emergency:

Breeders' Edge&#174 Oral Cal Plus - Revival Animal Health
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.

In attempts to keep eclampsia at bay 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.

Mary, do you feel that Oral Cal Plus is just as effective as the Calsorb? It has been over 5 years since I had a female experience eclampsia and I know that the Cal-sorb saved her life. I want to order the Oral Cal Plus but I want to make sure it will be just as effective. I know it is suppose to taste better but I am more concerned with the effectiveness.

The ingredients of the Calsorb says
170 mg per ml of calcium in a gel base

The Oral Cal Plus says:
Calcium Carbonate, Miglyol, Silicon Dioxide, Natural Flavors, Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate (source of Vitamin E), Magnesium Sulfate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D Supplement.

I can find where it says how much calcium is in the Oral Cal Plus. I wonder if it might be best to have both on hand for an emergency.

It is just as effective. What is different is that it doesn't make your bitch vomit (how effective can that be if she isn't ingesting it) ....it tastes like malt. I spoke to the vet on duty at Revival; who highly recommeded it. I recently had some sent to a friend of mine in Las Vegas; she had been using CalSorb on an eclamptic bitch; she'd vomit everytime she gave it to her. Anytime her girl began exhibiting wierd signs she administered the Oral Cal Plus and it kept it at bay.

I agree that the Oral Cal Plus sounds much better. I just was not sure if it delivered the same amount of calcium. I have only used the Calsorb for that one emergency situation and it did make the female throw up but it did bring her out of a severe eclampsia attack. Her pups were about 5 weeks old and it really caught me off guard. I was just thankful I had the Calsorb on hand. It is a very scary thing to experience.

I swear by ora cal plus, I ALWAYS have it on hand while I have a lactating mommy.. Ora Cal plus saved a malamute bitch life two weeks ago... thank GOD i had some here at home, a friend of my mentor had an emergency and our mentor was out of town,she gave her calsorb but the bitch vomited and an hour later she had another attack, by then my mentor had called me and asked me if I could drive the ora cal to the other breeder, I did and Gezz I am glad I had it, the bitch was already running a high temp and acting funny. I think after that she order a case of ora cal plus...LOL
dam is doing great now, with 9 little one, well not so little anymore...LOL

It is a good thing you were able to help. I think most people don't realize how dangerous eclampsia is. You can't let a momma miss a meal or she will be at greater risk of getting eclampsia. From my experience most of the time it occurs in the early mornings after the momma has been letting the pups nurse on her all night. That is why I always make sure my mommas eat a good meal before bedtime. I think the calcium supplement is essential also.

Orijin Dog Food
 

Besides Yorkies, we also raise Min Pins. Just recently, one of my Min Pin puppy owner's e-mailed me that their puppy had been horribly sick and was going into kidney failure with elevated numbers. The puppy had been on Orijin for 6 weeks and her vet told her that small breeds can not handle the high protein amount in some of these new brands of food. My friend's daughter has a Rhodesian Ridgeback (large breed) puppy that is doing great on this food. After using another new brand of food pushed by a pet store salesman, our 2 3/4 lbs. Yorkie has had health problems and they are putting her on a prescription diet. I have not used Orijin so I have personally not had a problem with it; however, after several discusions with people, I'm starting to understand why some breeder's will only do a health guarantee if a puppy is on the food they recommend.