Eclampsia
Eclampsia occurs when the calcium in the blood supply of the bitch is
depleted, the symptoms include restlessness, extreme excitability,
aggressiveness, picking up the pups, killing and eating them. an
injection of liquid calcium will fix the problem 2–4 ml, always keep a
supply on hand and watch for a re-occurrence of the problem.
Mastitis
Check the teats for hard lumps regularly, several times a day, if you
find that Mastitis is developing in a teat the bitch needs anti-biotics,
before the bitch whelps ask your Vet if he will sell you a bottle of
Procaine Penicillin, keep the pups off the teat that has Mastitis.
Keeping the puppies alive in the first 2 or 3 weeks entails sleepless
nights, tube feeding, keeping the puppies warm, checking the bitch for
Mastitis, watching the bitch for signs of Eclampsia.
We can rear puppies without the mother, but having the bitch feed and
clean the pups makes it a lot easier but she can bring infection in to
her pups from when she goes outside to urinate etc, we have a half
filled bucket of water with a splash of disinfectant in it to wipe her
teats, feet and bottom before we let her nurse the pups.
We do not let the pups stay with the bitch until she willing cleans
them.
If the bitch has had Caesarian she will probably be on Anti-biotics for
5 days, Anti-biotics kills all bacteria both good and bad, we think it
is important to feed the puppies Acidophilus, several times a day to
restore the good bacteria to their gut, whether it is in powder form or
natural Yoghurt depends on the age of the pups.
Acidophilus is live bacteria, do not put into Microwave or hot water,
introduce into the puppy milk at blood temperature.
It is important to realize that the coldest part of a room is at floor
level, that is where the pups are so we use a low wattage infra-red
light to keep the pups warm, ( pups that get chilled usually die ).
