Has She Stopped Growing?

[Lelyon]

4 Weeks ago, I took my yorkie to the vet when we found her almost lifeless. She suffered from hypoglycemia then although we thought she has been eating well. She was 6 months then and weighed 1.1 pounds. We've known that she was kind of small for her age but thought that she would eventually catch up and grow bigger. She stayed at the vet for about 3 days.
She is now home but we still constantly watch her to make sure she eats well. At 7 months of age now, her weight has increased to 1.5 pounds and she is now around 4 inches tall on the shoulder.
The doctor is unsure whether she will grow bigger although she agrees that she is very slow in developing. Her hair has already started changing it's color but she still has her babyteeth.
As for her eating, we feed her about 3-4 times daily and, also, I have been giving her a lot of the high-calorie supplement called Enervite in between.
Her weight and size still remains a constant issue though. Last week, when I took her to the vet, her weight went down to 1.25 lbs. Although that's still better than 1.1 pounds ( the weight she used to be 4 weeks ago), my family and I are still concerned for her health.
I want to know if any of you have experienced this kind of problem before and see if you can give me some advise. Should we be overly concerned about her weight and size and try to get her bigger? Or should we let her remain small? I am afraid that if we keep on feeding her ( in the hopes that she will grow bigger and less delicate) that she might develop some health problems too just because we want a larger Yorkie.
We love her big or small but at this point, we want to make sure we are doing the right thing by feeding her a lot (and perhaps much more than what she needs).
Thanks.

[Bitsy]

I am NO Yorkie expert at all, but it seems to me that if she is that small, and if she suffers easily from hypoglycemia, then I would feed her as much as she could handle. If she seems to be getting too wide for her height, then you can always cut back a little.

I'm glad to hear that she is doing better. I think they can continue to grow for almost a year, but I'm not sure. What size were her parents, do you know? What she the runt of the litter? Do you know anything about her family history or how the other litter mates are doing?

I wish you the best. Please keep us posted. And share some pics if you can.

[jesscruz]

did your vet check for any kind of worms? when i asked my vet about worms he said the affects are weight loss and them having difficulty gaining. so i'd check into that. oh, but i do hope that she gets better coco is 4lbs and i could just imagine how fragile she is at that weight. pls tell her that coco hopes she feels better soon ruff. ruff. p.s. pls. keep us posted on her progress.

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

Wow! That's really tiny!! Little ones have to be careful all their lives with low blood sugar. She should have food down all the time and be allowed to eat at will. They can usually only eat a small amount at a time and they should eat frequently throughout the day. It sounds like you almost lost her and you don't want to go through that again. Missing just one meal can be life threatening for her. I don't think, especially at this age, that you should be at all concerned with her eating too much. I don't think that's possible. She is still a puppy and she needs a lot of nourishment because she is still growing. I think they continue to grow until their adult teeth are all in. I say let her eat as much as she wants to. Better that than risk another hypo episode.

You sound like a great mommy and I am sure she will be fine!

[chachi]

I agree with everybody else. I would not limit her food at all. Hypoglycemic attacks sound very scary to me. I have a little pup also so I worry about it too. I hope she continues to grow and get stronger so your worrys will be less. Take care.

[Lelyon]

No, she doesn't have worms... She stayed at the vet for 3 days and underwent all sorts of tests. And everything came out negative. I bought her from a friend whose Yorkie gave birth for the first time, and she was the only pup her dog gave birth to. Her mom is a regular size Yorkie (a 4 pounder) but her dad is 3 pounds.
She probably took after the dad but, judging from her size right now, she might end up smaller than him. I called my friend and she said the dad weighed more than 2 pounds at 6 months. So, I don't know if she will grow bigger than him.
As of now, we are doing all we can to make sure she stays healthy and alive. It can be hard work but we love her, perhaps even more now especially since she almost died.
I just posted a picture of her taken just this evening immediately after I posted my first message. It was quite difficult to take one for she kept moving. Oh well... But she is now my baby.
Thanks for the responses guys...

[aimee]

She is just precious! I'm glad that she has such a good Mommy! I also wouldn't worry about feeding her too much.

[Chelsie1978]

You are having the same problem that I have with my yorkie,Lady.She is at 2lb´s at amost 17 months old and we also have had her on a high calorie suppliment for months now.I must warn you that the tiny yorkies like the ones we have,DONT grow out of hypoglycemia due to their size,which is why its wise to leave food out 24/7 and make sure they eat a few times during the day.You arent over feeding your baby because if they arent hungry they dont eat,so dont worry about that.We feed Lady alot,she has puppy kibble out 24/7 and has her high calorie canned food 3 times a day.Her weight drops every time we have taken her off of the high calorie food,so my vet has decided that we should give it to her permanently.This last time her weight dropped to 1lb 11 ounces.She is very fragile and quite thin so there is no harm in her eating the high calorie food at all.Also,your vet may recomend that you never take your baby off of the puppy food either because is it richer than adult food,this is also my case.Because your baby is small,it doesnt mean that she will be sick Lady is tiny but she is full of life and has never had any problems at all Our vet wants to keep her weight at 2lb´s+ because he thinks its better than weighing under 2lb´s...your baby can still put weight Lady weighed quite a bit under 2lb´s until she was about a year old,then we started her on her high calrie food and her weight went up to 2lb´s so your baby still has a few god months of growing time
If your baby still has her teeth baby teeth at 7months old,you may want to ask your vet about having them pulled.Lady had to have almost all of her baby teeth pulled when she was spayed because the smaller yorkies CAN have problems losing their own teeth and sometimes they need help.I hope Iv helped you out Dont worry too much about your baby being small,it DOESNT have to be a problem at all,infact,apart from their size,they dont have to be any different than one of the bigger yorkies (I also have a 1 year old yorkie who is at 7lb´s).I would leave food out or your baby 24/7,make sure she drinks and eats regularly and give her lots of lovin Im sure she´ll be fine

[Lelyon]

I really appreciate all your responses. I have never had a dog this small before and it's good to learn from those who have experience with them. I am attaching a picture of my yorkie and in the second pic, you will notice that the fur on her left leg (that will be the right leg in the picture) was trimmed. They inserted IVs to her leg when she was at the vet and also took tissue samples by scraping some flesh off her neck. Thank God her fur will cover the scar if ever there will be one.
If her teeth doesn't fall out by next month, I will definitely bring her back to the vet to have her babyteeth pulled out. She is 7 months now, so she should be losing them any time soon now.
I like the idea of feeding very small dogs, who are prone to hypoglycemia, with high-calorie dog food. It just makes sense to me. And I guess I don't have to worry about over-feeding her, as you guys stated.
I have started running my finger accross her teeth every now and then to get her used to having her teeth brushed, but I wonder if that's ok since her babyteeth has not come off yet.
With her size, I also wonder if it will be ok to leave her in our garden unsupervised. Our garden is secure and free of poisonous stuff, but her size makes me worried. Even our next-door neighbor's cat is bigger than her. And also, I am worried of the hawks and eagles that might prey on her. Probably I am just worrying too much. LOL.
Anyway, she is due to be weighed again next week. Hopefully she will weigh more by then.
Thanks again. I am so glad to have found this website.

[yorkiegal]

i don't think that you should leave her unsupervised. i read a story in the newspaper about a yorkie being taken away by an owl... worst case scenario, i know, but i don't think that your fears are silly... i'd be worried, too.

my yorkie is 3.5 lbs and i consider HIM very small! i think you are doing the right thing with the high cal dog food and also with being extra careful!

good luck! she is too cute!

[luvdorkyyorkies]

Lelyon,
My vet put my little puppy on Lixotinic. You may want to ask your vet about it. I was routinely giving her nutracal because of her small size. She eats well but went to 11 ozs and stayed and stayed. Her energy is really up too. I just weighed her and she has gained 2 ozs in 4 days!
Its just a thought and Im impressed with the stuff! Its a high calorie iron supplement, has alot of other vitamin and minerals. SHe gets 1/2 cc a day.

[Lelyon]

Thanks... I will inquire about Litrionic (probably got the spelling wrong) with my vet. Normally she has good appetite. But I've noticed that she tires of eating the same thing over and over again so I alternate 4 dog foods then sometimes I mix different kinds. Sometimes I even mash some of her liver treats and mix it with the food.
So far so good.
Anyways, thanks...

[orinskye]

do you have any pictures of her next to something i can compare her too???? maybe someone holding her??? or a coke can??? i am curious to see how tiny she is

[Lelyon]

Here is a picture I just took just now. She kind of looks bigger in her pictures, probably because of her fur which still kind of sticks out and up. The only way I could take the picture of her standing still is by putting some Enervite syrup, which she loves, on the can. She weighs close to 1.5 pounds now cause we keep on feeding her all the time. We are hoping that she will be at least 2 pounds by the time she is 8 months old (that is on April 19, 2005) in less than 2 weeks. However, the last time I took her to the vet her weight went down again to 1.25 pounds. I am just assuming she weighs 1.5 now cause we have been feeding her like crazy.

[Olivier]

Mine are 3 pounders and I always let them eat as the want .