Puppies may deplete your dog of calcium after whelping.
If your dog is pregnant, it is important to prevent eclampsia, an acute life-threatening condition commonly taking place one to three weeks after giving birth. Eclampsia, also known as puerperal tethany mainly occurs when nursing dogs are depleted from calcium, and therefore develop hypocalcemia, the medical term for low calcium levels in the blood. Fortunately, eclampsia is easy to diagnose since most affected dogs develop typical signs such as restlessness, panting, stiffness, difficulty walking, tremors and high temperatures. However, as for all medical maladies, it is best to prevent the disease rather than treating it.
Instructions
1. Provide your female dog with a high quality, meat-based diet.
Feed your pregnant dog a well-balanced, high quality food. You need to check in particular that the calcium and phosphorus ratios are properly balanced. You want 1.2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus. Vitamin D must also be present in the dog food in adequate amounts. If unsure, ask your veterinarian about a good, meat-based, quality food to give during pregnancy, many vets recommend giving puppy chow.
2. Supplementing may do more harm than good if done incorrectly.
Avoid supplementing your dog with calcium supplements during pregnancy. It may sound like providing calcium would be a good idea but it is not, as supplying calcium alone will actually predispose your dog to post-whelping eclampsia. If you really want to supplement, you can ask your vet about supplementing with a balanced source of calcium, phosphorus and Vitamin D. This should be added in small amounts to your dog's diet starting around mid-term pregnancy.
3. Weaning the puppies early may help prevent eclampsia.
Wean the puppies as early as possible, especially if your dog is a small breed and this is the first time she gives birth. This will put less strain on the mother and may help prevent post-whelping eclampsia. Puppies can be introduced to puppy mush as early as 3.5 weeks in age. Post whelping eclampsia may also be prevented by supplementing the puppies' milk intake with a milk replacer.
Tags: calcium phosphorus, during pregnancy, help prevent, high quality, , post-whelping eclampsia