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Nutrigel & Calcium Supplement During Labor?


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I had a litter last night and used both. Used the nutrigel because my girl hadn't eaten for over 48hrs prior to whelping and as it was a large litter wanted her to have some energy.

Had the calcium syrup on hand just in case, I used it three times, only when I thought the time between pups was too long.

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I had a litter last night and used both. Used the nutrigel because my girl hadn't eaten for over 48hrs prior to whelping and as it was a large litter wanted her to have some energy.

Had the calcium syrup on hand just in case, I used it three times, only when I thought the time between pups was too long.

Does she eat the placentas?

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I use calcium tablets 1 after the first pup arrives then 1 an hr till whelp completed

Why?

Always been led to believe it helps with contractions ??/correct me if i am ill informed :)

Doesn't do a thing & can upset the bitches natural calcium production if given before or during labour..

It is not the same as a vet giving an injection of oxytocin. Opinion has changed on calcium use now.

After the birth is finished is fine.

Re the Nutrigel. For those that have had children themselves

Did you want food during labour ? :) Last thing on your mind.

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If your bitch is in good nick and you allow her to do what comes naturally and eat the placentas you are better off giving her nothing more than fresh water.

When the dog is understress like during labour she needs her parathyroid hormone to cut in because the way calcium operates in the body is that it lays down calcium in the bones when things are easy and takes from it when things get rough .To do this the parathyroid hormone needs to cut in when she needs it but if you suppliment her body isnt used to the natural process and the parathyroid hormone doesnt cut in. Because of this giving her calcium supps orally is quite dangerous - its completely different to a calcium injection which goes straight to the blood stream and used if the bitch is showing signs of eclampsia because her body forgets how to go after its natural source to stabilize the calcium needed. Rather than increase contractions it helps nerves relax, and is very important in the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The calcium level in the brain and spinal chord is kept constant no matter what is happening to the calcium levels in the rest of the body. If you give her nutrigel - Simple carbohydrates tamper with the hydrochloric acid in the stomach and the body needs the hydrochloric acid to fully metabolise the calcium. There is also other issues relating to how calcium needs other nutrients to assimilate and if you give too much of one without the other you can get a variety of problems.

Trust the bitch - she knows whats best for her and just as at most when a human is in labour they suck on ice and dont get sweet vitamin pastes given to them or loads of calcium to help contractions the dog doesnt need it either especially as the enzymes and hormones + nutrients she needs are in the placentas which she eats during the whole process.

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I had a litter last night and used both. Used the nutrigel because my girl hadn't eaten for over 48hrs prior to whelping and as it was a large litter wanted her to have some energy.

Had the calcium syrup on hand just in case, I used it three times, only when I thought the time between pups was too long.

Does she eat the placentas?

yep gobbled them down, I didn't let her eat them all, and she didn't want them all but think she had 4.....or 5

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If your bitch is in good nick and you allow her to do what comes naturally and eat the placentas you are better off giving her nothing more than fresh water.

When the dog is understress like during labour she needs her parathyroid hormone to cut in because the way calcium operates in the body is that it lays down calcium in the bones when things are easy and takes from it when things get rough .To do this the parathyroid hormone needs to cut in when she needs it but if you suppliment her body isnt used to the natural process and the parathyroid hormone doesnt cut in. Because of this giving her calcium supps orally is quite dangerous - its completely different to a calcium injection which goes straight to the blood stream and used if the bitch is showing signs of eclampsia because her body forgets how to go after its natural source to stabilize the calcium needed. Rather than increase contractions it helps nerves relax, and is very important in the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The calcium level in the brain and spinal chord is kept constant no matter what is happening to the calcium levels in the rest of the body. If you give her nutrigel - Simple carbohydrates tamper with the hydrochloric acid in the stomach and the body needs the hydrochloric acid to fully metabolise the calcium. There is also other issues relating to how calcium needs other nutrients to assimilate and if you give too much of one without the other you can get a variety of problems.

Trust the bitch - she knows whats best for her and just as at most when a human is in labour they suck on ice and dont get sweet vitamin pastes given to them or loads of calcium to help contractions the dog doesnt need it either especially as the enzymes and hormones + nutrients she needs are in the placentas which she eats during the whole process.

thanks steve, explained well, and yes, eating the placenta is natural and helps the bitch immensley. This was the first time I used calcium and nutrigel, but obviously didn't need to.

Edited by Bokezu
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If your bitch is in good nick and you allow her to do what comes naturally and eat the placentas you are better off giving her nothing more than fresh water.

When the dog is understress like during labour she needs her parathyroid hormone to cut in because the way calcium operates in the body is that it lays down calcium in the bones when things are easy and takes from it when things get rough .To do this the parathyroid hormone needs to cut in when she needs it but if you suppliment her body isnt used to the natural process and the parathyroid hormone doesnt cut in. Because of this giving her calcium supps orally is quite dangerous - its completely different to a calcium injection which goes straight to the blood stream and used if the bitch is showing signs of eclampsia because her body forgets how to go after its natural source to stabilize the calcium needed. Rather than increase contractions it helps nerves relax, and is very important in the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The calcium level in the brain and spinal chord is kept constant no matter what is happening to the calcium levels in the rest of the body. If you give her nutrigel - Simple carbohydrates tamper with the hydrochloric acid in the stomach and the body needs the hydrochloric acid to fully metabolise the calcium. There is also other issues relating to how calcium needs other nutrients to assimilate and if you give too much of one without the other you can get a variety of problems.

Trust the bitch - she knows whats best for her and just as at most when a human is in labour they suck on ice and dont get sweet vitamin pastes given to them or loads of calcium to help contractions the dog doesnt need it either especially as the enzymes and hormones + nutrients she needs are in the placentas which she eats during the whole process.

thanks steve, explained well, and yes, eating the placenta is natural and helps the bitch immensley. This was the first time I used calcium and nutrigel, but obviously didn't need to.

As a modern breeder its really tempting to go with what we think will help but part of the problem is that the access we have to real studies which would help us to be sure we arent doing more harm than good is virtually non existent. We rely on word of mouth and we love our girls and want to do anything we can to help them and make the process go without a problem. Sometimes we are made to feel that the more we do and the more we interfere the better the breeder we are.

That is debatable because at the end of the day we arent doing our dogs or our breeds any good if we set them up to where they cant do the whole show without us.

I hear the argument that our litters are precious , that we work too hard and wait too long to get these beauties on the ground and we cant take any risks - but how do you know whether you are increasing the risks rather than decreasing them. So before we venture into doing things we think will help we need to carry that a step or two further and be sure that we get what we are aiming for and not a bigger pain in the neck.

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  • 1 month later...

This is an interesting debate........and more so for me at the moment as we have a litter due shortly.

I totally agree with Steve on this however I will add what my repro specialist vet told me a couple of weeks ago (which is almost what Steve is saying anyway).

He said the calcium is totally not nessasary BUT the sugar in the calcium suryp can help a bitch in the later stages of having a large litter to help give her a little more energy and works a bit quicker than giving a high carb feed as many bitches do not and will not feel like feeding at this point so the suryp is easy to administer to help with a little pick me up in those later stages.

He also said (about Nutrigel) this is primarily used to help newborn pups suckle (if they are one of those difficult sucklers at first) put the tiniest droplet of Nutrigel onto the newborns tongue and watch the little one start sucking

Just thought I would offer this info from our vet :confused:

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Thanks Steve for your informative post.

Can you please link the research study? For my own interest.

What research studies are you after? The ones about what happens with calcium when the bitch is under stress?

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