Is it okay to give my nursing dog Tums for low calcium after birth?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If you are worried a dog will have low calcium the supplement would need to be given AFTER the puppies were born while she is nursing. In order to confirm that is why Millie is sick your Vet should do a Calcium level on her blood. The diarrhea could be making her weak and diarrhea can be from worms. Also a fever from a uterine infection or mastitis can make her sick. I am glad she is eating but if your Vet hasn't examine her I would have that done to be sure that all she needs is the calcium tablets. It is a bit odd to have a low calcium 4 weeks after giving birth. i wish you the best!

If she developed hypocalcemia with previous litters I would recommend giving the puppies a milk replacer formula like Esbilac. Goats milk is not as ideal for puppies. You also may want to consider having her spayed since this is her fourth litter and as you will find out bottle feeding puppies is a lot of work! I would not recommend introducing Hummer to the puppies until they are around 8 weeks old - older dogs often can be rough with very young puppies. This link has good info on orphan puppy care, and you can follow the information on bottle feeding. You can give the puppies back to mom after feeding as long as you supervise them to make sure they don't nurse.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I recommend feeding a pregnant dog puppy food. MOST dogs do not need a calcium supplement. Little breed dogs are at a higher risk of low calcium. Low calcium IF it will be a problem, occurs after birth during the first few days with large litters nursing or in small breed dogs. I wouldn't start a calcium supplement until all the puppies are born. I hope this helps! Good luck!

She needs to continue to eat puppy food which is high in calories and will help keep her from becoming hypocalcemic. She should not need supplemental calcium unless the vet has currently diagnosed her with hypocalcemia. She may be shaking because she is in discomfort from her recent labor. Keep an eye on her for the next 24 hrs and if the shaking continues you may want to give the calcium you got from your vet the last time she had an episode just to hold her over until she can be seen to make sure low calcium is truly the issue here. A simple blood test should be able to sort things out. I hope everything works out well for your pet Snow. Best wishes and take care.

This could be due to fever or pain and I recommend a recheck by your vet as soon as possible. Low calcium levels can cause agitation and tremors but would be unlikely so soon after birth especially when you have started calcium already

It would help to know what specific kind of tablets they were, how much calcium each one contains and how many she ate, as well as how much your dog weighs to give a more specific answer. But in general, I can tell you that a one-time overdose of calcium tablets like Tums or calcium-containing vitamins is usually not a major problem - calcium in this form is poorly absorbed from the GI tract, so most dogs have to eat a truly massive amount of cause any toxicity issues. You may see some mild GI upset, but other problems are probably unlikely. But if you have any concerns, the safest bet is always to have your dog seen by a vet - if she ate them within the past couple of hours, the vet can induce vomiting to help make sure there won't be any problems.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Cookienear! Cookie needs to go to a vet immediately and be evaluated for hypocalcemia, which is low calcium. This is a serious condition after giving birth in some dogs. Once the diagnosis is conformed the Vet will give Cookie an injection to raise her calcium and prescribe medications. I hope this helps and i wish Cookiebear the best!