My Yorkie just whelped a litter and I had a couple puppies with (fading puppy syndrome) and my vet advised to try this method. I declined but I'm wondering if that would have worked? There was some type of Sepsis that they devloped and I didn't have any antibiotics on hand and the vet made me take the pups to the office to get it. The result of that was exposing them to hypathermia twice from coming to and from my vehicle. I was very frusterated and now have a new vet that won't put me in that type of perdicament know. But next time, I will definetly have antibiotics just in case!

Hypothermia? didnt you put them in a box with warm hot water bottle or anything to take them? did the pups survive? its a shame that you declined this treatment as not many vets know about it so in fact your vet was probably pretty up to date with possible treatments

Mo

Also get puppy stim from petmedsuk. Its fantastic stuff if you have a weakling puppy and great to have on hand.
It has a syring device on it but whatever you do do not syring direct into the puppys mouth, the device is difficult to use as its stiff and you could end up drowning the puppy. syringe using a normal plastic syringe.

I can sympathise with anyone who has lost pups through FPS. I now keep a bottle of Nutri-drops on hand. This saved a pup that has just started fading and she pulled back very quickly and in the end was a happy very active little girl. I did actually want to keep her but a lady who has just lost a Poodle was desperate to have a pup, so I let her go on the proviso that they kept in touch as to her progress. She is a healthy happy 1 year old with no health problems at all. I have also used Nutri-drops before when I had a puppy that was caesarian born and the vet at that time did not clean out the womb properly. The mother was unable to feed her baby until a Veterinary hospital had sorted her out this took about a week. The Nutri-drops kept that pup going. She was also fed goats milk until mother was well enough to take over.

hi what is nutri drops? i would love a dedicated vet like that

you can get nutir drops off Petmeds.co.uk: Selling Pet Medication, Royal Canin, Hills Prescription Diet, Frontline Spot On, Feliway, Seraquin, Drontal, Cosequin, James Wellbeloved and more....
Also try petstim this kept two of my puppies alive after the vet simply said theres nothing we can do, some puppies just die. Double check all vets info with people on here because some good advice on here saved my puppies lives when the vet had just told me to expect some of my pups to die. I may switch to goats milk for the tiniest new borns if needed as may be easier to stop colic, however I rotated the pups as per advice on here and that worked well.

Liquid calcium is great for the bitch as its done on weight, this way you know your bitch gets exactly the right amount. xx

Also dogs losing a bit of condition benefit from a bit of raw lamb or beef liver, brings up their iron levels, however eating the placentas will do that too.

I agree with liquid calcium, I have always given it to my bitches after whelping, however, my brood bitch that I have now gave me the shock of my life when she collapsed during her whelp and I rushed her to my vet. She was given two enormous injections under the skin of calcium and whelped with no problems after that. My vet advised me that I should give her liquid calcium 10 days before whelping and for 5 days after whelping.

Thanks for the tip on petstim xx

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DOGS ARE JUST LITTLE PEOPLE IN FUR COATS AND 4 LEGS

with the pet stim don't use the syringe supplied to give it to the pups, its really stiff and too easy to squirt too much into the puppy and drown it. apply with your own tiny syringe. Its a paste so cannot be injested too quickly when given correctly so will not drown the pup or cause phemonia.

I also give my bitches liquid calcium during the gestation. The growing puppies draw calcium from the mum as their own bones are forming. My vet told me that the bitches dont need calcium, they do! don't know where he studied (rogers and brock)?? as my simple Alevel taught me that.

All the best, these guys are great on here.

Actually a bitch needs calcium AFTER pups are born NOT before during gestation unless you want to bring on enclampsia,

Canine eclampsia

Introduction
Hypocalcemia (Milk Fever, Eclampsia, puerpural tetany) is a startling and dangerous condition brought on by extremely low levels of calcium in the blood stream. The presence of a vet is very urgent if you want to save the animal's life.

Causes
The exact cause is unknown, but the condition is related to an imbalance between calcium uptake from the digestive tract and calcium outflow in milk, urine, and feces. It is most often seen in bitches with small litter and excessive milk production. The bodies of some lactating dogs and cats simply cannot keep up with the increased demands for calcium. Highest incidence is with the first litter. Animals with milk fever lack the ability to quickly move calcium into their milk without depleting their own blood levels of this mineral. Possibly eclampsia is worsened by use of calcium supplements during pregnancy.
Signs
Signs of hypocalcemia include neuromuscular excitability and grand mal convulsions. It causes seizures, staggering, convulsions, muscle tremors, restlessness, high body temperature and excessive panting; it can be fatal if not treated promptly with injections of calcium. Your veterinarian will also prescribe oral supplementation with calcium and will recommend an appropriate diet of high quality adult dog food to prevent recurrence. The puppies should not be allowed to nurse the mother for 24 hours after emergency care; they should be hand fed a puppy or kitten milk replacement forumula until they can resume nursing.
Eventually, the dog may be unable to walk and her legs may become stiff or rigid. The dog may have a fever, with body temperature even over 105º F. The respiration rate (number of breaths per minute) will increase. At this point, death can occur if no treatment is given.

Treatment
Dogs with eclampsia usually require immediate emergency care. Treatment usually includes:
• Intravenous calcium (calcium gluconate) given very slowly
• An intravenous or oral dextrose solution to increase blood sugar
• Anti-seizure drugs (e.g. Valium®) if seizures are unresponsive to calcium and dextrose
• Cooling of patients with severely elevated body temperatures
• Removal and hand raising of all puppies
• Oral calcium supplementation when the patient is stable
• Oral vitamin D supplementation to increase the absorption of calcium in the intestines

Prevention
The best way to prevent eclampsia is to avoid calcium supplementation during pregnancy and to feed the pregnant bitch a well-balanced, good quality food. Supplementation of the bitch with calcium may be helpful once the puppies are delivered and are beginning to nurse. Supplemental feeding of the puppies may also be beneficial, especially for large litters.
Once a dog has had milk fever, there is an excellent chance that she will also have it with future litters if preventive steps are not taken. Be sure to work closely with your veterinarian if your dog has had eclampsia in the past and is pregnant again.

In conclusion, it is of great importance for owners of pregnant or nursing dogs to be able to recognize the signs of eclampsia. If you feel your female dog is showing these signs, remove the pups to prevent further nursing and seek veterinary assistance at once.

Mo

Thanks Mo, that was very informative but late for one of my bitches that did suffer dreadfully during her pregnancy and later developed Cushings disease. The brood bitch I have now has to have calcium pre-whelp (in the last week to 10 days) because she suffers from eclampsia when she goes into whelp. You say don't give the bitch calcium suppliment during her pregnancy, I can see the logic in that. My problem is the dog I use throws large puppies and this takes it out on my bitch. I have just ordered some collcallD which is what she usually gets pre-whelp and it does help her to whelp, without it she has to be rushed to the vets for injections under the skin of calcium. Now my question to Mo, is giving her calcium with vitamin D pre-whelp going to harm her? This has been done for the last whelp and all went well considering she whelped 2 days late.

Now for another question (sorry) the last litter were late and all the placentas were green, it looked nasty but the vet was not worried and said that it was because she was late. Is there a danger when the placentas are green? This was the first time I had seen green placenta. All except one pup really did well and even that one little one pulled round after being given Nutri-drops twice.

Laura

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DOGS ARE JUST LITTLE PEOPLE IN FUR COATS AND 4 LEGS