Here is the dosing for CMPK as described by Sue Reith in her hypocalcemia article. In your case you are following the oral dosing BUT PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE at the Saanendoah site as well. There is a lot of good info in the article especially for prevention in the future. Sue does not wish for anyone to just copy portions of her articles. In this case I hope she will understand.
http://www.saanendoah.com/hypoca.html
"Now letâs turn to the primary problem, hypocalcemia. The fact is, we all need calcium for muscle tone. The heart is a muscle, and to keep it beating right the doe has to get enough calcium. So as soon as sheâs been treated to prevent ketosis, start her on replacement therapy to bring her calcium level back up to normal. If youâre having a vet help you with the repair process he may want to use Calcium gluconate for that. But CMPK will do a better job, because while calcium gluconate is just calcium, CMPK also has magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium in it, and they all work as a team to make the calcium available faster and more efficiently to the body, speeding up her recovery. Also, thereâs a risk in using calcium gluconate by itself to treat hypocalcemia. âToo much of a good thingâ can be harmful, and giving it too fast or in too big a dose will make her heart beat too rapidly, which could cause heart failure. When CMPK is used instead, the potassium in it slows down the heart rate, balancing out the calcium so the heartbeat will stay normal as the calcium gets returned to her system. Important! Warm CMPK to body temp before injecting it!
CMPK injectable is given sub-cutaneously (just below the skin) in the area between the last rib and the pelvis, at the rate of 30cc SQ, about every 2 hours until the calcium the doe needs has been replaced. We dose this way so we can continuously watch for improvement and easily tell when her system has returned to normal. To check her progress, we compare her heart rate to that of a normal doe (70 - 80 beats per minute). At the beginning of the hypocalcemic doeâs treatment her heart rate will be slower than that of the normal doe because sheâs so calcium deficient. When her heart rate is back up to the same speed as that of the normal doe, and she appears bright and alert and wants to eat again, things are going well. However, giving your hypocalcemic doe just a single dose, or a few doses, of the CMPK will ONLY balance her calcium level FOR THE MOMENT, but as those babies continue to grow theyâll drain more and more calcium from her, so after her heart rateâs back up to normal itâs very important to keep giving her DAILY MAINTENANCE DOSES OF ~ 30cc (1oz) of CMPK UNTIL SHE FRESHENS. If you see signs that sheâs weakening again any time before then youâll have to increase the dose, but only temporarily, until sheâs OK once more.
In my view the injectable form of CMPK is the best choice for treatment of the debilitated doe, because with it she can be dosed accurately, without a struggle. The problem is that while this form is the easiest to use and relatively inexpensive (about $4/1000ml in the catalogs), it requires a veterinary prescription. The down side of this is that most veterinarians donât seem to know anything about hypocalcemia, nor understand why your doe needs continued doses of calcium. So being somewhat cautious they will only want to prescribe or provide a single dose, or perhaps two. Thatâs like trying to fix a leaking dam by putting your finger in the hole. All the more reason why you might want to share this article with your veterinarian of choice.
(Editorâs note: Many owners report their veterinarians refuse to even read this information. In that case, to save the life of your doe I urge you to go online fast and order the oral CMPK gel from a livestock catalog. The gel, a non-Rx item readily obtained OTC and in catalogs, is a paste, and once placed in the doe's mouth will sit there until swallowed. One tube of 400gm (~14 oz) CMPK gel (~ $4) will provide a hypocalcemic doe with about fourteen 30cc doses. If unable to find that, order the oral liquid CMPK or MFO instead, as they will both work well, dosed with a 35cc syringe. An udder canula attached to it will turn it into an oral dosing syringe. One word of caution: When using the oral liquid CMPK, itâs important to dispense no more than one swallow at a time to keep the doe from choking, which could lead to aspiration pneumonia. Either of these products can be shipped to you by next-day-air. If you need information about online catalogs contact me at
[email protected].)
Once you get her calcium level back to normal and she starts eating again, your doe will probably still refuse grain for a while. Donât worry, because sheâs still instinctively trying to fix her calcium-deficient condition, and sheâs the best judge of that. Sheâll want to eat it again soon, and when she does itâs wise to give her just a small amount of it at each feeding. If sheâs not eager at first to eat her hay again either (grass is OK to start with if that's what you have available, but alfalfa or alfalfa pellets would be a really good choice now) itâd be a good idea to bring her some of her favorite browse... I feed Salal and wild huckleberry up here in the Northwest, both of which stay green all winter... In your area there must be something yummy, and non-toxic of course. If you don't know her favorite, offer her a variety and let her choose."
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