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Nursing mothers can become depleted and sometimes need veterinary help to recover from giving birth.

What is Eclampsia?

Like any new mom, your dog or cat must put in lots of work to care for their babies. Mothers use a large amount of calcium to grow their puppies or kittens and to produce milk. This can lead to hypocalcemia (low calcium levels in the blood), especially in pets that have not received calcium supplementation during pregnancy.

Homemade diets rich in organ meat can also cause hypocalcemia. Severe hypocalcemia leads to eclampsia, a serious condition in dogs and cats who have recently given birth. This condition is most commonly seen in small-breed dogs with large litters but can happen in any breed with any litter size. Eclampsia rarely occurs in cats.  

Signs

Calcium is important for balancing blood pressure and for creating muscle contractions.

The signs of eclampsia include:

• Muscle spasms
• Difficulty standing
• Shaking
• Seizures in severe cases

Early signs of eclampsia can be less obvious and include:

• Panting
• Restlessness
• Pawing at the face
• Paying less attention to their puppies or kittens

The period when eclampsia is most common is from the last few weeks of pregnancy to about four weeks after birth. During late pregnancy, the puppies’ or kittens’ skeletons are forming, requiring calcium from the mother to build their bones. At birth, muscles work hard to contract, using even more calcium. After birth, lactation requires a large amount of calcium, further depleting the mother’s stores in her blood.

Diagnosis

Your veterinarian will perform a physical examination of your dog or cat to look for the common signs above. Signs of eclampsia can vary based on the severity of calcium loss, so diagnosis of eclampsia will also require blood testing to examine calcium levels in the blood. Low blood calcium is the only definitive indicator of eclampsia in dogs and cats. Your veterinarian may also note a high heart rate or temperature in your dog or cat, which can further support the diagnosis.

Treatment

Intravenous (IV) calcium is given in serious cases to stabilize a pet with eclampsia, which will then be followed by oral calcium supplementation. The goal of treatment is to raise and stabilize calcium levels in your pet’s blood, which should quickly reduce eclampsia signs. Your veterinarian may want to use an ECG to monitor your pet’s heart rate and heart rhythm during this treatment. Additional medications for seizures and tremors may be given if needed.

An important part of treating eclampsia is weaning puppies or kittens as soon as they are old enough, reducing the mother's calcium demands. Calcium supplements (such as Tums) are also sent home to provide additional calcium. A growth diet is often recommended for the mother. You will need to watch for signs 1-3 weeks following treatment for eclampsia, as it can happen again during the lactation period.

What to Expect

With early diagnosis and treatment, your pet should be stable and ready to go home within several hours unless complications require additional tests or treatment.

It may seem counterintuitive, but supplementing calcium during pregnancy can actually increase the chances of eclampsia after birth (during lactation). For this reason, only supplement calcium during lactation or under the guidance of a veterinarian.

Repeat cases of eclampsia with future litters are possible, so calcium supplementation during lactation and feeding a properly formulated growth diet are important for prevention.