New baby with Hypoglycemia

[avemike]

Hello Everyone..
I have previously had two yorkies I lost to old age..and now have a new baby for nearly two weeks ..She was 8wks old when I got her and weighed in at 18.34 ounces. She has one little brother who was roughly the same size.

We got home late afternoon and she ate well. The next day she ate fairly well but had her first glucose drop during the early hrs.She then went onto to have a least one everyday.She had come to me with a larvae infestation which in her first week needed treating for 5 days as well as antibiotics & probiotics.. I had only know very soft stools to loose with blood and mucus. I lived at the vet which couldn't have been good for her. I also tried a honey& water solution syringed at home which did help. But last week fri we had a day out planned..we couldn't avoid and she became HG again. I stopped at the vet on the way home who admitted her for the weekend. At this stage he started talking about 'liver shunt' as a possibility. I was devastated to hear this.. he said due the the up and down pattern we were seeing with her glucose levels..
The vet put her onto recovery soft diet and later a/d prescription soft diet with her soften 'Hills' kibbles. I also had to feed her every 2hrs. Which I did..but she often wouldn't eat! We are still at this point where she shows no interest in what I offerer. I let her change kibbles to Royal Canin which she loved for two days but today very picky.
She is a happy perky little thing most of the time, at times seems super charged, and will run at high speed chasing our older dachie.
Then I spoke to another breeder who lives near by and she said you dont need the vet! Just syringe the glucose sol when necessary and eating is not negotiable. If she wont eat her meal, liquidize it and syringe it but no more then 2mls at a time every two hrs. So now I have had to do this. For most of the time she has been with me she hasn't put on any weight! Her little brother has had no problems, eats 3 meals a day of hard 'Hills' kibbles and has formed stools. Another little girl different parents same breeder went at six weeks and was much smaller then mine and she has had no problems.
has anyone had this experince with there new baby. Would love to hear.

[yorkieluvme2]

We had bouts with it for the first few days. Give the puppy nutrical when she won't eat. It really works.

[smartpuppiepets]

Wow... big story ... not fun !
Well, first of all, a breeder letting small puppies go home to young, either inexperienced or doubtful responsibility.
Parasites such as Giardia and or coccidia could explain all the symptoms you are experiencing and the fact that she went to you way too young. Not every puppy will stress out to the point of having these parasites overgrow and show those symptoms, so the fact that the siblings did not show any stress signs is not a good reference.
The other breeder gave you great advice as far as the feeding. Not feeding is definitely not an option, she needs to be fed round the clock every 2 hours and the "a/d" food is a great choice. You liquefy it and syringe feed it . Honey is not the best option, nor it is sugar. the more you give, the unstable she will be. Do you know anything at all about insulin levels in the blood and how it is better to get it stable rather than having "peaks" of it , that eventually will cause diabetes?
The thing with smaller yorkie puppies is this: Once the insane cycle of stress and sugar lows is started it is hard to stabilize it. But not impossible.
You need to offer 3 things basically:
1 - energy stability ( sugar stability) by feeding her on a schedule a very good quality food. For now a/d will do fine and as she stabilizes she will show more and more interest on the dry kibble of your choice.
2- You need to free her from the parasites. 5 days of meds probably did not do the trick. "Albon" combined with "Flagyl" for 9 days and "Panacur-C", These 3 meds for the 9 days is what you need to give. Of course you must get these from your vet and i am surprised they have not done this protocol yet.
3- She needs routine and rest. Plenty of rest. 20 mins of play and attention followed by 40 min of rest. She can not handle too much noise, new environment and different people handling her. She needs a quiet routine until she gets that adrenaline rush under a controlled balance and slowly get introduced to different things, new people and all.

From what you describe, this is a tiny yorkie puppy under a whole lot of stress. The fact that she seems happy and it is like a fireball sometimes just confirm this. Too many distractions, too much activities.

Hope i gave you some insights.
Blessings.
XOXO

[Yorkiemom1]

I use NutraCal but I love Dr.Millers Pet Nutra Drops...it is a red liquid vitamin/glucose/calorie packed syrup...the dogs love it and it not nearly as messy/sticky/hard to give as NutraCal.....You can give 2cc of this every 4 hours and you are delivering more "good stuff" per dose with this stuff than with the NurtaCal. You can google it and buy it on line...I think it is about 14.00/bottle...the bottle is about 16 oz, I think....it will last a long time.....Just because a baby has issues with hypoglycemia does not automatically mean liver shunt...alot of these babies have that issue, but as they get older (3-4 months old) and get some size on them (usually around 3#) alot of them grow out of this....of course, if youhave one that starts out with hypoglycemia issues, you can not let them ever go long periods of time without eating...like all day long at a groomer....wait for more confirmation validated by tests, and resolve the parasite issue, before you start to worry about the dreaded "liver shunt"....

[avemike]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

I use NutraCal but I love Dr.Millers Pet Nutra Drops...it is a red liquid vitamin/glucose/calorie packed syrup...the dogs love it and it not nearly as messy/sticky/hard to give as NutraCal.....You can give 2cc of this every 4 hours and you are delivering more "good stuff" per dose with this stuff than with the NurtaCal. You can google it and buy it on line...I think it is about 14.00/bottle...the bottle is about 16 oz, I think....it will last a long time.....Just because a baby has issues with hypoglycemia does not automatically mean liver shunt...alot of these babies have that issue, but as they get older (3-4 months old) and get some size on them (usually around 3#) alot of them grow out of this....of course, if youhave one that starts out with hypoglycemia issues, you can not let them ever go long periods of time without eating...like all day long at a groomer....wait for more confirmation validated by tests, and resolve the parasite issue, before you start to worry about the dreaded "liver shunt"....

Thank you so much for you reply with interesting info. Yes your right about the 'Liver Shunt'. But the vet did say its a possibility he must consider and watch for. I'm not sure if we can buy those drops here but there must be some equivalent . Otherwise I will look on line. Her stool tests have now been clear but remain loose..no shape but not diarrhea . Thank you

[Yorkiemom1]

They should be able to ship them to you?? They are worth the effort! And yes, the liver shunt is kind of on the back burner, so to speak...just dont think it is a foregone conclusion that is your baby's problem!

[avemike]

Originally Posted by smartpuppiepets

Wow... big story ... not fun !
Well, first of all, a breeder letting small puppies go home to young, either inexperienced or doubtful responsibility.
Parasites such as Giardia and or coccidia could explain all the symptoms you are experiencing and the fact that she went to you way too young. Not every puppy will stress out to the point of having these parasites overgrow and show those symptoms, so the fact that the siblings did not show any stress signs is not a good reference.
The other breeder gave you great advice as far as the feeding. Not feeding is definitely not an option, she needs to be fed round the clock every 2 hours and the "a/d" food is a great choice. You liquefy it and syringe feed it . Honey is not the best option, nor it is sugar. the more you give, the unstable she will be. Do you know anything at all about insulin levels in the blood and how it is better to get it stable rather than having "peaks" of it , that eventually will cause diabetes?
The thing with smaller yorkie puppies is this: Once the insane cycle of stress and sugar lows is started it is hard to stabilize it. But not impossible.
You need to offer 3 things basically:
1 - energy stability ( sugar stability) by feeding her on a schedule a very good quality food. For now a/d will do fine and as she stabilizes she will show more and more interest on the dry kibble of your choice.
2- You need to free her from the parasites. 5 days of meds probably did not do the trick. "Albon" combined with "Flagyl" for 9 days and "Panacur-C", These 3 meds for the 9 days is what you need to give. Of course you must get these from your vet and i am surprised they have not done this protocol yet.
3- She needs routine and rest. Plenty of rest. 20 mins of play and attention followed by 40 min of rest. She can not handle too much noise, new environment and different people handling her. She needs a quiet routine until she gets that adrenaline rush under a controlled balance and slowly get introduced to different things, new people and all.

From what you describe, this is a tiny yorkie puppy under a whole lot of stress. The fact that she seems happy and it is like a fireball sometimes just confirm this. Too many distractions, too much activities.

Hope i gave you some insights.
Blessings.
XOXO

Thank You for all your advice & very interesting info.
I must just mention in SA if we waited until 10/12wks old we wouldn't get a pup. They would be sold to some one else. Especially little girls. But I hear what you are saying..
Hollee had stool tests immediately & this particular parasite was found. She was given 5dys of panacur & 3 days of antibiotics. her stool was tested again doing two 'floations' and I was told she completely clear. It now seemed to be that her bowel lining/flora needed to be restored. Which is why she is on the recovery/a/d diet.
I agree with your point that she needs quite routine and rest. We thought the other day when we saw her racing around that we should stop her and calm her.

She is small. But what I question is that the next day after I got her she had soft stools and a glucose drop. The parasites were picked up very quickly and she was treated. Going to vet as often as i did will have stressed her I'm sure..but I was so worried and not familiar with the glucose drop in a yorkie. Both my other yorkies came at 8wks. One passing away at 16yrs and the other two months ago at 11yrs. I never had to deal with this kind of thing. There is just my husband and myself at home. We are retired. Hollee has a quite unrushed life. We make a plan to go out when the other is here to stay with her. I have had two friends visit since I got her so that she is not passed around among many people. We were supposed to make a 6hrs car journey with her yesterday to celerbrate my brother in law's 70th birthday but cancelled it as we said we couldn't subject Hollee to such a long car trip. We have one other dog which is an 11yr old dachie. She is sweet and gentle. Hollee loves playing with her, sleeping with her and generally annoying her daily.
I don't understand why she should be so stressed out in this environment.

i think I am dealing with a small pup who came with an infestation. This is what set her back. vet visits , very soft stools with no shape, lots of meds equals stress ..we are now building her flora again ..until then I am battling with her weight gain as she has frequent loose stools. I am at a loss sometimes when she just wont eat or eats such a little. that's when I have to syringe her..which I hate as I feel this stress's her. I am worried this may become a permanent situation in that she becomes diabetic. The vet said to give her a small amount of honey to lick off a teaspoon once a day..Oh dear..its quite a tough one Ax

[avemike]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

They should be able to ship them to you?? They are worth the effort! And yes, the liver shunt is kind of on the back burner, so to speak...just dont think it is a foregone conclusion that is your baby's problem!

Yes, your right and I don't want to dwell on that diagnosis as it so shocked me when I first heard.
I will order some of those drops immediately. Thank you so much Ax

[avemike]

Originally Posted by yorkieluvme2

We had bouts with it for the first few days. Give the puppy nutrical when she won't eat. It really works.

Hi
How old is your baby now? How long did it take to get her right? What are you feeding her and how often? Does she just eat by her self when offered food? Mine eats some feeds very well and then others not much. I am so scared to leave her when she doesn't eat much in case her BG drops. She is such an adorable little baby..Would love to hear your thoughts.

AX

[Lovetodream88]

One thing to be careful with is if you give them nutrical (sugar) and then don't get regular food in them they will crash again. Good luck with your pup. This is why in America we have the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America who says pups need to stay with mom until 12 weeks.

[Yorkiemom1]

If you have baby food (chicken) available to you, when necessary, you can put chicken baby food in a suacer for her to eat.....sometimes, they want to just lick it off your finger.....later, you can add it to whatever you are going to be feeding her, for example, over her puppy kibble, or over boiled chicken and rice, just to get food into her, and get her to eating what you will be feeding her consistatly...that will stabilize her sugar levels and not just provide a spike in her sugar level. You will get through this....she will be right, probably about 3-4 months of age, I suspect!

[superchick8912]

When I first got my baby Sammy he didn't want to eat AT ALL! It didn't matter what I put in front of him it was a no go... I started to get nervous about his lack of eating so I ended up giving him the nutri cal once a day and he definitely loved it! Unfortunately it didn't get him to eat his kibble at all, so I began mixing a little bit of the nutri cal in with his food. This worked really well for me, but I did have to be very careful because if I didn't mix the goo (which is what I started calling it lol) well enough with the kibble he would just lick it off and not eat any kibble! My sneaky puppy... So good luck and I hope things get easier!

[smartpuppiepets]

Originally Posted by avemike

Thank You for all your advice & very interesting info.
I must just mention in SA if we waited until 10/12wks old we wouldn't get a pup. They would be sold to some one else. Especially little girls. But I hear what you are saying..
Hollee had stool tests immediately & this particular parasite was found. She was given 5dys of panacur & 3 days of antibiotics. her stool was tested again doing two 'floations' and I was told she completely clear. It now seemed to be that her bowel lining/flora needed to be restored. Which is why she is on the recovery/a/d diet.
I agree with your point that she needs quite routine and rest. We thought the other day when we saw her racing around that we should stop her and calm her.

She is small. But what I question is that the next day after I got her she had soft stools and a glucose drop. The parasites were picked up very quickly and she was treated. Going to vet as often as i did will have stressed her I'm sure..but I was so worried and not familiar with the glucose drop in a yorkie. Both my other yorkies came at 8wks. One passing away at 16yrs and the other two months ago at 11yrs. I never had to deal with this kind of thing. There is just my husband and myself at home. We are retired. Hollee has a quite unrushed life. We make a plan to go out when the other is here to stay with her. I have had two friends visit since I got her so that she is not passed around among many people. We were supposed to make a 6hrs car journey with her yesterday to celerbrate my brother in law's 70th birthday but cancelled it as we said we couldn't subject Hollee to such a long car trip. We have one other dog which is an 11yr old dachie. She is sweet and gentle. Hollee loves playing with her, sleeping with her and generally annoying her daily.
I don't understand why she should be so stressed out in this environment.

i think I am dealing with a small pup who came with an infestation. This is what set her back. vet visits , very soft stools with no shape, lots of meds equals stress ..we are now building her flora again ..until then I am battling with her weight gain as she has frequent loose stools. I am at a loss sometimes when she just wont eat or eats such a little. that's when I have to syringe her..which I hate as I feel this stress's her. I am worried this may become a permanent situation in that she becomes diabetic. The vet said to give her a small amount of honey to lick off a teaspoon once a day..Oh dear..its quite a tough one Ax

I just saw that you are in South Africa, Beautiful country ! I was just there for 2 weeks this past July
Anyway, I understand all you mean, from an owner point of view.
Being a 3rd generation of breeders I can tell you that just the home change is enough change to make a tiny yorkie stressed. Somehow, the continued medication for the full 9 days stabilizes the fecal form. I would avoid giving the sugar, it is only gonna make your problems worse as you mentioned yourself, she may become a diabetic.
I have raised so many tynies ! I have it on my blood lines.
You do what you think it is better of course. But you need to get this puppy stable as fast as you can. Rest, excellent food ( source of stable energy ).
And i would re-peat the meds.
understand different cultures and how they work. Not every single puppy stresses out, but because some do, i hold mine with a deposit until they are ready to go home at 12 weeks or soo... easy transition.
Well, wish you all the best and hopefully we will hear good news soon !
XOXO

[smartpuppiepets]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

If you have baby food (chicken) available to you, when necessary, you can put chicken baby food in a suacer for her to eat.....sometimes, they want to just lick it off your finger.....later, you can add it to whatever you are going to be feeding her, for example, over her puppy kibble, or over boiled chicken and rice, just to get food into her, and get her to eating what you will be feeding her consistatly...that will stabilize her sugar levels and not just provide a spike in her sugar level. You will get through this....she will be right, probably about 3-4 months of age, I suspect!

Good adivice too !
XOXO

[JaniceE]

Have a look at my website...I stock the nutridrops in South Africa and they really are fantastic. Gladly give you some guidance in this.
Yorkie-Porium: Welcome to Yorkie-Porium!
Kindest Regards
Janice