Natural Pet Health

Our 2-yr-old Chihuahua, Brandi, gave birth to her first litter of pups last week on Dec. 16th. She had FIVE pups (huge litter for a Chihuahua!) – 4 little girls and one poor, outnumbered little guy.

The birth went very smoothly, all pups are healthy and Brandi is a wonderful mom. Yesterday I noticed that Brandi wasn’t nearly as attentive, the babies were crying more than usual, and she was restless and panting. When I picked her up I saw that her front legs were both in spasms. Worried, I called her vet and made a trip to the clinic. It turns out that Brandi was suffering from a very common postpartum condition in her breed called canine eclampsia.

About Canine Eclampsia

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.

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.

Canine Eclampsia, also erroneously called “milk fever”, is a startling and dangerous condition brought on by extremely low levels of calcium in the blood stream. Also called hypocalcemia and puerperal tetany, I consider these episodes emergencies so the patient is admitted as soon as possible.

Most commonly seen in small to mid-sized breeds a few weeks after whelping, this condition should be watched for closely.

Signs of Canine Eclampsia:

* Muscle tremors, restlessness, panting, incoordination, grand mal seizures and fever as high as 106

One of the causes of Canine Eclampsia is excessive milk production – When pups require large amounts of milk (10 to 30 days post whelping) the bitch’s ability to maintain proper amounts of calcium in her blood stream becomes stressed. Milk production has priority over the blood stream for calcium!

According to our vet, due to the fact that Brandi had a very large litter for her breed contributed to the early onset of Canine Eclampsia. She is now on a calcium supplement (which she thinks is a treat!) and is back to her old self and is again very attentive to her pups. I was also instructed to begin supplementing the pups’ feeding at the age of 4 weeks instead of the normal 5-7 weeks stage.

Treatment options for cases of Canine Eclampsia that are further along:

1. I. V. Catheter for a slow, careful injection of a calcium solution under the close supervision of the veterinarian. Give too much and severe cardiac arrhythmia may occur.

2. I.V. dextrose for quick energy. By this time the bitch will be thoroughly exhausted due to the muscle tremors and a quick supply of energy is very helpful.

3. Mild sedation may be required.

4. Cool bath to lower body temperatures to normal.

Preventing Canine Eclampsia:

1. High quality meat-based quality food but don’t over supplement with all sorts of Calcium or unbalanced meat products.

2. Add a balanced source of calcium, phosphorus, and Vitamin D to the bitch’s diet beginning about mid-term. The best sources are milk (withdraw if this causes a loose stool) or cottage cheese. DO NOT add calcium alone!! It MUST be used with phosphorus and Vitamin D. (Remember that optimum ratio of Calcium to Phosphorus of 1.2 to 1!)

3. Sometimes cortisone is very helpful in preventing Canine Eclampsia – ask your veterinarian about having some on hand prior to the next whelping.

4. Supplement the puppies’ intake with a milk replacer as soon as possible to decrease the milk demands on the bitch.

5. Wean the pups as soon as possible.

It is almost a certainty that if your dog experiences this condition in one pregnancy, she will battle it in all future pregnancies.

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