Postpartum hypocalcemia often occurs in small female dogs, which is a serious metabolic disorder. Its morbidity is high and its mortality rate is high. For precious dog breeds, if they are not treated in time, the loss will be very large.
<h1>A real case of postpartum hypocalcemia in a female dog to share:</h1>
The dog breed is Pomeranian, weighing 3.4 kg, and gave birth to 3 pups before the 20th. The female dog is currently breastfeeding, where she has been fed pork and a small amount of rice. The main complaint observed in the early morning of the same day that Bo Mei's spirit began to be depressed, loss of appetite, and then the limbs twitched, the whole body trembled, the muscles stiffened, especially the upper body showed paroxysmal spasms, and then fell to the ground, so he came to seek medical treatment.
Through consultation, palpation, and visual examination, it was found that there was a small amount of foamy liquid at the corner of the mouth of the female dog, cyanosis of the conjunctiva of the eyes, the maximum body temperature was as high as 41 ° C, the number of breaths was 123 times / min, the heart rate was 125 times / min, the consciousness was impaired, and the incontinence was urinary and urinary.
Laboratory tests, blood extraction, centrifugation and plasma extraction, found that the blood calcium content of the female dog is 1.95 mmol / L, significantly lower than the normal value, after the medical history investigation, clinical symptoms, laboratory reports can be diagnosed as postpartum hypocalcemia.
After intravenous injection of calcium gluconate solution, significant improvement was obtained.
Fortunately, the owner paid close attention to the female dog, otherwise the consequences would be terrible.
If postpartum hypocalcemia can be treated in time, the situation can be greatly improved. However, if it is invalidated in the middle, the female dog will start to have a seizure again after a few hours or a few days, and the symptoms of the second attack will be more severe than the first.
The question arises again, what exactly is postpartum hypocalcemia? Why does it sound a little scary, how should novice owners prevent the first time they encounter a female dog pregnancy?
Don't worry, the content is simple and easy to understand, let me explain it in detail. Without further ado, get started right away.
Author's note: This article is originally published by the author of The Three Dogs Science Popularization, and unauthorized reprinting, washing, and plagiarism are prohibited.
Female dog onset
<h1>First clarify what postpartum hypocalcemia is</h1>
Postpartum hypocalcemia may be called postpartum eclampsia or lactational convulsions. It usually occurs within a few weeks (within 40 days) of the delivery of the female dog, i.e. the lactation period is a high incidence period.
It rarely occurs during pregnancy or childbirth.
Simply put, the level of calcium in the blood of the female dog decreases. The parathyroid glands are glands responsible for regulating parathyroid hormone. It is a gland that specifically regulates calcium levels and controls the amount of calcium stored in bones. Because the parathyroid glands do not send a signal to stimulate the release of calcium from the bones into the body, the female dog urgently needs a large amount of calcium after giving birth to the puppy but does not get the timely supply, causing her body muscles tonic spasm contraction.
The disease mainly occurs in small dogs aged 1-3 years, of which chihuahuas, miniature poodles, Mexican hairless dogs, Finnish Pomeranian hairy dogs, and Spino are high-risk breeds.
Fortunately, puppies are usually not affected by the mother's eclampsia after childbirth because their calcium needs are met by the mother.
<h1>How is postpartum hypocalcemia caused? </h1>
In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, the female dog lacks calcium supplementation during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
★ On the one hand it may be due to the uneven ratio of phosphorus to calcium during pregnancy. Secondly, the diet is single, the novice owner has no experience in taking care of the female dog, and after childbirth, it is simply feeding dog food, and a female dog who has just given birth is completely insufficient for a little calcium component in the dog food.
Because the puppy is breastfeeding, the demand for lactation of the female dog is greatly increased, and the calcium content consumed during the lactation period is much more than the calcium produced in the female dog's body, and the calcium supplement is not supplemented in time, so that the female dog is in a state of loss.
On the other hand, due to their small size and small amount of food, toy varieties naturally cannot withstand a lot of breastfeeding, so they are very susceptible to the disease.
When puppies develop in the mother's fetus, the formation of bones requires a large amount of calcium from the mother itself.
★ Other causes include inadequate sun exposure, lack of outdoor exercise, and stress conditions such as weather changes.
The lower the calcium content, the more severe the spasmodic reaction.
<h1>Postpartum hypocalcemia is a serious disease, how should I detect it? (Emphasis</h1>).
Yes, postpartum hypocalcemia is easily fatal if left unattended.
Therefore, I recommend that novice owners should be aware of some of the relevant complications after the female dog is pregnant. Most of these diseases do not have any prodromal symptoms and usually manifest themselves suddenly.
★ The following symptoms can be recognized by the owners:
The female dog will feel restless, breathless, and sometimes a little excited. The owner will notice that the female dog is walking stiffly, the muscles are trembling, and the hind limbs are most pronounced convulsions. Hyperthermia, up to 40 ° C, difficulty breathing, disorientation, visible mucosa congestion or bluish-purple, eyeballs upwards, pupils dilate, the corners of the mouth begin to spit out white foam, severe cases will fall unconscious, limbs will swag in a swimming manner. The duration can range from 15 minutes to 12 hours.
If treated promptly, symptoms can be significantly improved.
If it is too late to treat the misdiagnosis, the female dog can die of convulsions within a few hours.
<h1>Is it difficult to diagnose postpartum hypocalcemia? </h1>
As a first step, the owner needs to provide the veterinarian with a clear health history of the female dog until the symptoms appear. Whether the female dog is provided during pregnancy with details about pregnancy supplements, or feeding diets.
The second step is to check the physical condition. Laboratory standard tests: blood biochemistry, complete blood count, blood electrolyte test,
Step 3: The veterinarian will also continue to rule out other conditions that may have symptoms similar to postpartum hypocalcemia.
These similar diseases also include: hypoglycemia, conditions caused by poisons/toxins, and neurological disorders that can cause seizures, uteritis, and mastitis (inflamed breasts), all of which can cause irritability and increased body temperature.
Therefore, it is crucial for the owner to monitor the behavior of the female dog in the first few weeks after childbirth.
In addition to low levels of calcium, most female dogs may also suffer from low magnesium and low sugar levels in the blood. Veterinarians will provide the female dog with adequate supplements to compensate for these deficiencies.
If the blood calcium concentration is less than 7 mg / dL, (normal blood calcium is 9.0-11.5 mg / dL), the female dog will be diagnosed with postpartum hypocalcemia and immediately given calcium supplementation.
<h1>How is postpartum hypocalcemia treated? (Workaround</h1>).
As mentioned many times in the previous section, this is a serious disease that should not be taken lightly. If it is detected early and treated in time, the prognosis is very good. Conversely, the longer the delay, the worse the situation.
The principle of treatment of postpartum hypocalcemia is to supplement calcium as soon as possible, and different methods should be used for different symptoms.
For example, if a female dog has a fever, she can choose to use compound aminopyrine 0.13-0.4g/kg; hypocalcemia can be secondary to hypoglycemia, so glucose should be supplemented at the same time as calcium supplementation, and 10% calcium gluconate and 5% glucose injection can be selected. The drug must be administered slowly and with great care to detect cardiac changes in the female dog, which can lead to heart rate and arrhythmias; for female dogs with persistent spasms, anticonvulsant therapy should be selected. When the previous measures are not alleviated, the veterinarian will consider choosing a 25% magnesium sulfate solution of 0.1 mL/kg to improve the situation; when the female dog vomits, the gastric reassurance can be selected 2mg/kg; the inlet rate should not be too fast, otherwise there will be suffocation.
Female dogs should not continue to feed puppies for 12-24 hours after treatment. The two must be separated, and if possible, they can be weaned as soon as possible, and artificial breastfeeding or other appropriate nutritional supplements can be replaced.
When things improve, adjuvant therapy consists of oral vitamin A and vitamin D, one in the morning and one capsule in the morning and one in each evening, and it takes 1-4 days to show any changes.
Most female dogs have significantly improved their symptoms after half an hour of medication, manifested by a decrease in body temperature, a significant decrease in the number of breaths, and a decrease in spasms throughout the body.
<h1>Can postpartum hypocalcemia be prevented? </h1>
Excessive calcium intake during pregnancy or lactation is generally not recommended, simply because doing so inhibits the production of parathyroid hormone and increases the risk of developing hypocalcemia.
All pregnant female dogs should be fed a high-quality diet specially formulated during pregnancy and lactation, rich in essential vitamins and minerals.
In order to prevent the onset of the disease, pregnancy and postpartum dog food must add a certain amount of additives, and at the same time feed vitamin D to meet the female dog's calcium needs, effectively prevent the occurrence of the disease.
Increase the amount of outdoor activities, the female dog usually exercise more, more sun, to assist in calcium absorption. Feed more bone broth, greens and other foods that contain more calcium and vitamins every day.
It is recommended to avoid foods high in phytic acid, such as soybeans, barley, rice, wheat bran, and wheat germ, as foods high in phytic acid can interfere with the body's absorption of calcium.
< h1 class="ql-align-justify" > summary</h1>
After each control of the disease, if the female dog breastfeeds the puppy again, it is very easy to recur hypocalcemia. The dose of vitamin D is given according to the weight of the female dog, and the overdose can cause poisoning.
It is reported that most of the sick female dogs eat mainly meat. This can easily lead to hypocalcemia due to too simple nutrition. The owner carefully cares for the pregnant female dog and gives them a good pregnancy and breastfeeding condition.
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