If anyone out their is familiar with eclampsia please respond. It is when a bitch's calcium gets too low during the end of pregnancy, during labor, or while nusing and can lead to seizure, tremors, and death if not treated quickly. My lab had eclampsia in her first pregnancy but luckily i work for a veterinary center and after treatment she and the puppies were fine. I need to know if this often recurs. Even though i work for 5 vets, eclampsia is not something we normally see and all my vet tells me to do is spay my female. I would like to breed her one more time. Any ideas???

I'm sorry but I have no idea about this kind of problem but I think I would have to agree with your vet and have her spayed rather than risk the chances of possibly losing her the next time as this does sound like it is really dangerous to mess with for both her and her puppies. Good luck on your decsion and hope you doggie is ok.

Even if your bitch was a CH, I would spay her for fear of losing her for a litter.

Depends what the risk is worth to you I suppose.

***Edited By: MafiaPrincess on 7/16/2005 7:57:56 PM***
Reason: sp

well my female is a FC but i love her dearly, i just am trying to figure out if the last time was a freak occurance or if the condition will occur in all later litters

Cool, I want to get into flyball.

In actually looking online.. I don't think this is nearly as dire as the vet does.. can you easily get another opinion?

Prevention seems not so tough..

Prevention:

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.

taken from: http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/ec.html

I found this link which MAY provide some answers for you. Not sure if they are the ones you hope to hear, but perhaps it will explain it better than we can.

This is from the Vet Med program at LSU
http://www.vetmed.lsu.edu/eiltslotus/theriogenology-5361/canine_surgery.htm

many thanks to both of you,

eclampsia - see trembling, weakness, convulsions, fever 2-4 wks post partum. usually small breeds with large litters. Tx Ca gluconate and vitamin D

this is all i saw about eclampsia on the LSU website, did it say anything else about it??

my vets say i should spay my female but got one of my lab puppies, go figure!!!!!

Eclampsia has n othing to do with the qquality of the p0ups, it is a condition suffered by the mother. I'm sure the pups were beautiful and healthy. I can only relate this to human eclampsia. My sister in law nearly died giving birth due to this. She had her tubes tied as the docotr feared further births could kill her.

my comment about my vet getting a pup had nothing to do with teh hypocalcemia, they tell everyone to adopt a homeless dog.... but most of teh vets i owrk for have dogs obtained from breeders...

Sorry, misunderstood your post.

I read somwhere that if your dog had that before than she'll most likely get it with her other litters.

You really can't prevent it either even if you give the right amount of calcium supplements it can still accur, if you give too much calcium it can also cause her harm.

It's up to you if you want to risk losing her the next time but if it was me, I wouldn't breed her again. At least you got a pup from this litter and she survived.

Okay, this is from a breeder that has been breeding for over 30 years and what she has to say about Eclampsia and her experience with it. I got this from debbiejensen.com (not website promoting but giving credit to her since I took it off her website).

-----------------------------------------------------
Eclampsia ( Milk Fever )
Eclampsia can occur before delivery or up to 6 weeks after delivery. Often it appears in the first 3 weeks after delivery.
It is caused from a deficiency in her body own natural calcium supply or from receiving to high a dose of supplemented calcium.
Symptoms, are glassy eyes, restlessness, nervousness, whining, muscle twitching, rapid heat beat, shivering and teeth chattering. If nursing is what is causing her calcium supply to become depleted, puppies must be removed and hand feed. If you are giving her a supplement of calcium at to high of a dose, you may have caused eclampsia. Severe cases are treated with serum calcium injections by your Vet. Careful medical supervision of the treatment is important as an overdose or to rapid administration can cause her heart to stop.
This condition often recurs with each litter. Bitches who have had eclampsia in the past may be given calcium injections prior to and after whelping.
My dog Hoghead had eclampsia. I was laying on the floor late one night, I was watching TV and eating potato chips with my dogs. A little later, I heard a loud, roaring noise, I couldn't tell what the noise was but I thought it must be a plane getting ready to dive bomb my house. Then I figured it was the furnace getting ready to blow. I ran to the furnace ( not thinking just what I planned to do if it was my furnace getting ready to blow ) I stopped and found Hoghead laying on her side stiff, with her teeth chattering so loud it scared the _____ out of me. First I thought she was having a convulsion from a potato chip lodged in her throat, then it hit me....Eclampsia. I picked her up and flew to the Vet. Thank god he saved her in time. He gave her calcium intravenously and when I brought her home, she wasn't allowed to nurse her pups anymore.
Hoghead had 5 litters since, but with calcium added to her diet ( at just under the recommended dose ). I usually took her pups away at birth or a after a few days. Some I gave to other mothers, and help them with the additional load by periodically hand feeding. Hoggy never had Eclampsia again.
Hoghead is retired now and spoiled rotten with love.



Hope this helps!
Good luck with everything!

***Edited By: lovekelsey on 7/16/2005 9:22:22 PM***
Reason: add

I would equate this to being similar to gestational diabetes or eclampsia in humans. Women who have shown the signs of it in one pregnancy are likely to do it in the next. I think that if it ware my dog, regardless of her lines, I'd get her spayed for her own safety.

I spayed my baby on Tuesday and she is recovering great, thanks again for all the info. No more worry of hypocalcemia for her!