Hi all, I'm new here (Nikki)

[Nikki_is_baby]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. My name is Jason, me and my family have a 9 year old Yorkie named Nikki (as pictured). He was born on March 10, 2000, we still have the camcorder video of him the week we brought him home. He's been the only one as he doesn't take well to other babies in the house, he gets jealous. For the first few years of his life my parents would take him to the sonic and prop him up on a pillow between them and finger feed him cheeseburgers and bring back outback steak for his birthday and he was so used to getting whole chickens and sliced ham and turkey for breakfast that one morning his tummy was rock hard and he was grunting and hurting so we took him to the vet and we were told he had pancreitis because the meat had too high a fat content for such a small dog, he's just under ten pounds. So he got so mad at us! We couldn't give him anymore meat so we put him on hill's science I/D diet and now his stomach and pancreas are back to normal. We've had a couple of other snags along the way but we have always made sure he had his heartworm pills and frontline plus and all the necessities a small dog would need. We've always made sure he had healthy teeth and kept his claws trimmed back, etc.

He's so smart and I couldn't imagine being without him, he's more like my brother than a pet. Every Christmas we include him like he's one of the kids, we just give him a corner and he starts tearing presents open and playing I love that boy, he's been the best dog I've had in the nearly thirty years of being on this earth. Anyways, just saying hi. Tell me about your babies and their personalities?

Jason

[RDB911]

Welcome to you and your family

[angelakc]

Welcome....

[DiamondsMom]

Welcome! Your "brother" sounds like quite the character LOL

[jmdt]

Your little guy sounds like a great little boy. Aren't they all part of the family. My kids would set a place at the table for them if I let them. Just can't walk by any on them without bending down and giving a hug. They are just so darned cute. We only got our first Coco 2 yrs coming this Sept. I wonder what did we do without him in our life??? Then the other 2 came along. With 4 kids (3teens and 10yr old) and these 3 babies life in our house is not quiet at all. They just go with the flow. It's like haveing 3 more children. I'm back to saying' "no!" and "get that out of your mouth" haha

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. We are a friendly bunch.

P.S. My Trixie was just diagnosed with pancreatitis about 3 weeks ago. We almost lost her. She was hospitalized for 2 nights. She is all better now. Eating everything low fat. I'm kind of learning as I go here.

[Nikki_is_baby]

Thank you all for the warm welcome, I appreciate it.

jmdt, I know what you mean. The pancreitis does die down you just can't cave in and be a softie because they will give you the big brown eyes til you give them frosted mini wheats or ham LOL. They know how to work their magic. After we put him on hill's I/D diet, we gave him dry cat kibble thinking it was okay but after we took him back to the vet because he was constantly throwing up and sick every danged day, they said the cat kibble actually has a higher fat content than the meat!!!! So he now had mild kidney damage so THEN we had to put him on hill's k/d diet for kidney damage and make sure he has PLENTY of cool, clean water to drink in and out of the house. He's doing a lot better now, he's mad because he doesn't get meat or cotton candy but he's healthier. I know the deadliest things you could give these dogs are nuts or peanuts, grapes or prunes of any kind could kill them. Just please oh please, always make sure your babies have their teeth cleaned and don't give them ANY unlean meat or nuts of any kind because they get hooked. One morning my mom made a plate of smoked ham and walked my dad out after she put her ham on the table, she came back in not two minutes later and said 'where's my ham?! I know I cooked myself some!!'. She looked down to see a bone in front of Nikki and *buuuuurp!*. He looked at mama as if to say 'what? I didn't steal it!' and walked off LOL. He is a little ham stealer...

I wish you all the best on your babies

BTW, right now he has the itchies really bad. He has them almost year round but worse after a bath. We've tried oatmeal shampoo for dogs, scalpacin, hydracortizone cream, etc. and very little seems to help. He just itches and scratches and at times bites himself til he has little scabs on his back. Any ideas on this one guys?

[jmdt]

You know I just learned this the other day. It could be the food that is giving him the itchies. Alot of people have said this. you might want to try changing it.

Poor little guy!!

I'm sure there is someone here who is very experienced that could help you.

[PiePiper]

Welcome to YT. Your Nikki reminds me of my Chipper. We had Chipper for 13 years and he would do anything for a treat and junk food. He too developed Pancreitis and had to be put on a special diet. He also had the itchies as he got older and developed a lot of food allergies. He would always still beg with his beautiful brown eyes for all those things he could not have. It was really hard to stay strong when they do every trick in the book to break you down. Chipper eventually developed bladder stones and during surgery they discovered he had bladder cancer and passed on a few weeks later. I now know I was responsible for all his health problems and I learned the hard way how to properly take care of a Yorkie. I now have a new baby girl and she only eats the best foods and I'm a fanantic about what goes in her stomach.

[paulalowe6]

Hi Jason Welcome to you and Nikki

[dlross]

Welcome to YT you will find lots of good information.

Boy your little guy has been through a lot, and survived all the bad food you have been feeding him. Wow and now he has the itch, I would think about changing food, low on fat and protein. Do more research on this site on food and diet you will find great advise

[Lisa and Pic]

Hello and Welcome to YorkieTalk!

[Nikki_is_baby]

Thank you all for the advice, it's been a live and learn experience with Nikki. I love him sooo much, I can't imagine (nor do I want to) a world without him. I was going through so much depression and anger issues and I would be in my room feeling sorry for myself and I would hear *click click click* and here he would come and jump in my bed and snuggle up to me and give me sweet puppy kisses In a very roundabout way, he saved my life and brought me out of depression and now out of a family of six, he is closer to me and my mom than anyone else.

Piepiper, I am SOOOOOOO sorry for your loss!!! I can't imagine something so horrible happening, I would just be beside myself. I will tell my mom what you have said so maybe it will help us be stronger and not give in. He was just mooching for some of my bacon this morning and I remember looking down as I was throwing away the scraps and looked at him and almost considered giving him some but went ahead and threw it away because he didn't eat his good food. I really try hard to be strong, but what you said helps. Still I am so incredibly sorry for your loss.

I think I'll mention the food allergies idea to my mom, she said he's going to the vet this friday to get his yearly shots updated so I will bring this up to her. Thank you all for your help and warm welcomes!

[yorkieluvinmoma]

Welcome to yt it's been a while since i've been on here so it feels new to me too!!! good luck