We almost lost Roxi today
 

Okay guys I've just had the worst day. Roxi had puppies three weeks ago tomorrow. Everything was going great, the puppies are gaining well, Roxi has done a supper job with them. Then today, right after I got back from picking up a horse at the vet, Roxi started to act funny. She threw up about five times over the next hour. Then she started to just shake, and couldn't walk straight. At this time I took her temp and it was normal. But I decided to take her to the vet. Before I took off to go to the vet she started panting. Then in the car ride (25 miles to the closest vet), her muscles started twitching and she was just laying there panting very hard, eyes open wide, and legs out straight. I run into the vet office and tell him this is an emergency so he comes right out and looks Roxi over.

Her heart rate is over 180 and she is in irrethmea (sorry spelled that wrong). He says that she has something, I was in shock by this time, anyway what she has is a calcium deficentcy due to the babies taking so much from her. And their hearts can run right with out enough calcium in their system and the babies are taking too much from her system. So he starts an IV with some calcium something or other in it. With in minutes Roxi is doing a lot better. Her heart rate dropped and she is acting better. They are keeping her over night to watch her. They think she is in the clear. Now we are at home trying to feed the babies (vet thought that would be best that way Roxi can get a little break and maybe her milk supply will go down some).

Anyway it has been a very emotional day here. Please keep Roxi in your prayers tonight.

What she had was eclampsia. I've read about it in the breeding books. sounds pretty scarey.

Hugs to Roxi.

Hugs & Prayers for Roxi....:(

I'm so sorry to hear about your ordeal. The first thing my vet did when Chloe got pregnant was put her on Calcium. Hope all goes well!

I know you were mortified!! Please give little Roxi hugs from us and we will keep her in our prayers!

Good thing you got her in - that's very scary - 25 miles was an awful long way to drive with her having eclampsia from what I've read - but you saved her and that's what counts !!! All the best to her and I hope she feels better really fast poor baby....

Gosh, that sound like that was a scarey situation for you both. I have heard that they need calcium too. Hope all is well now.

Awww Poor girl. Im so glad you got her to the vets. I lost a mommy dog from this same thing, years ago. Keeping her in my prayers.

Hope your Roxi is all better by morning, i bet that was scary !

We have you and all of your fur family in our prayers!!! :aimeeyork

Hope Roxi is all better soon!

Best wishes on getting better to Roxi!!:)

eclampsia is frighten, be thankful you caught it ...it depleats the natural calcium. Mom will be good as new by the time you pick her up tomorrow, actually theyre fine once they get the calcium under the skin (within minutes) You can still have the babies nurse with mom but only on regulated times dont leave her in for long period of times.

You can wrap mom in a onesie when she's not nursing allowing her to preen and nurture her babies, only let her nurse 4-5 brief feedings a day and wean you pups early once teeth are budding.

Give mom 1/2 tums morning and 1/2 at night also feed her a lot of natural calicum.

I hope this helps

I thought you weren't to give calcium supplement until AFTER the pups were born...that too much calcium can deform the pups. I mixed up the post whelping receipe and mix it in the food. Tiah LOVES it. I also give her an occassional Tums and occassional Nutri Cal. I am so glad you got Roxi to the vet in time! OMG, that must have been absolutely horrible!! They really have a big job there taking care of their puppies. Please update us when she gets home.

The puppies did great last night. They actually slept all night. I'm just getting ready to call the vet to check on Roxi. I know I could have left the puppies with her, but the vet and I agreed that if she didn't feed them for a while it would give her a little break and she might not produce as much milk when she gets back. It seems that she was producing too much bc the babies are really fat and have gained a little more weight than normal.

Julz your babies were born the same day and weighed about the same when born how much do they weigh now? At three weeks mine are right around 17 oz, but they look a lot fatter than the pictures I've seen of your puppies.

I can start them on soft food next week right?

Here's a couple of pictures of the little fatties, and a couple of Roxi loving them up. They are just too sweet. They are really starting to get personalities. They wag their little stubby tails when they see our kids and us.

I just LOVE seeing the pictures of Roxie with her babies. She seems like she is such a fantastic mother! How scarey it must have been for you yesterday. I am so glad that you took her to the vet and got her treated. When are you picking her up today? Please let us know how she is doing once you hear something.

The pictures are sooo cute! I'm glad you posted your story it may help someone else that finds themselves in the same situation. Glad to hear Roxi is doing good.

I'm going to go get her in about an hour. Vet called and said she is doing great. He said our best bet would be to half wean the puppies with us doing half the feeding by bottle (my kids will love that). He said that she was hypercalcimic (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) and when she gets home she has to be on an extra calcium suppliment. I can't wait to see her. I feel so bad that she had to stay in a cage all night.

I know how scary that was for you. I'm glad she's doing better.

I have experianced eclampsia 2 times never want to again.One time with a rat terrier and the other time a yorkie.I have had it right after birthing though.Vet thinks it is drawn out during whelping?
Josey is on calcium tablets from the vet,he did not think tums would be good enough and did not want her to have any problems so he said to cover all bases he felt better with the calcuim tablets.It is a little grainy but I mash it well then mix it with the pudding 2 times a day. Only about 20 dollars for a months supply.I had pups a few days before you and Julz. 4 pups and they are about 14 oz now.
Mine are starting to eat a little gruel as they have been found in moms dish more than once, so I have been offering a puppy gruel 2 times a day and they love it gives mom a break also. Yours may or may not be ready for food yet,you could try as that would help your momma alot.
A couple here raisies springer spaniels and she had eclampsia with her 4 pups they kept her for 2 days (at the vets) then sent her home told the owner the pups can nurse ,and she was back in 2 days later for another IV treatment they had to take the pups off her,they wrapped mom up so they could not feed and left the pups with mom to tend to.The mom was much happier that way also her babies were not taken from her,they could just not nurse.
It is a very scary thing and pretty easy to recognize if you know your female.Mine have never had the staggers just the dry mouth ,breathing fast and uneasyness you can see it in their eyes also,and usually a high temp.
Glad things turned out okay.Good luck mom will be glad to see her babies!!!!

That's funny you mentioned mine...I saw your new pictures and thought "wow, her pups are just as chubby as mine:D ". Mine were born like 3 days late....:p ....lets take THAT into consideration.....ummmm, also, they tend to frequent the buffet that is open 24 hours a day....ummm....remember, a LOT of it is baby fat....ok,
:aimeeyork :aimeeyork weigh 1 pound 7 ounces, :aimeeyork weighs 1 pound 8 ounces, and little Ruby :aimeeyork weighs 1 pound 5 ounces.

So glad to hear Roxi is doing great! I can only imagine the fear you went through! Your pups are absolutely adorable!!!!!

yeah, my best friend comes over and swears that there is no way that these puppies came from these parents. She thinks they're going to end up being 12 lb full grown.

I mixed some of the puppies formula with a little soft puppy food (made it pretty runny) then gave it to the puppies on a spoon. They thought it was pretty great.

Roxi is doing great. However, she needs a bath so bad. She smells like a vet kennel. But I think that I'll wait till tomorrow.

Thanks for all your support.

I am glad your Roxi is OK and so are pups. They are chubbies, very cute!! Mine were born on same day, too. They weigh 15.1 oz, 13.1 oz and 12.1 oz!!
I started them on soupy food like that yesterday, just to start them.

Hope all continues well for you and doggies!!

This is true, 98% of vets and breeders do not give calcium supplements until after whelping because they believe it will actually cause eclampsia, not prevent it. Never heard of deformities just the eclampsia.

Annaschaben,
Those are the cutest little butterballs I have ever seen. My puppies are healthy, but not quite that healthy! Just curious - during pregnancy did she eat a puppy formula, did you give calcium supplements, feed large amounts of calcium rich foods or have to feed her homemade preparations to get her to eat? Seeing those pups it probably is just the large production of milk, but I like to keep learning anything I can about how to avoid eclampsia and other things.

I hope all is well at your house this evening, your pups are adorable!

I gave her puppy food, with yogurt as an ingredient. I also gave her a little cottage cheese, until I was advised not to give it to her until after she welped. So after the puppies were born I started giving her cottage cheese again and she also gets a half of an egg a day.

Everybody is adjusting pretty well to our new schedule. We go in and get the puppies and feed them some soft dog food mixed with puppy formula. Then we let Roxi clean up any they didn't eat. Then we stick them back in their box and let Roxi go in and clean them up and nurse them a little bit, and she usually sleeps with them for a while. Then when she comes out we lock her away from them until it's time to do the whole thing over again.

The puppies are eating really well out of a bowl. And it's amazing how much personalities they have. Two of them get full and come over to me and climb up on to my lap to sleep and the third just wants to play. She growles at you and puts up her paws and bats at you and tries to bite you. It is so funny. Earlier this evening she was growling at the door frame:D

Sounds like you did everything right, must have been the overproduction of milk.

oh your babies are adorable ... our thoughts are with you and Roxi .... Calcium is more important than we think ... we women need to supplement our diets with it alwayz ... (they say we lose a tooth for every child b/c of the calcium depletion.)