New Worried Momma...

[T&G'sMomma]

Hello all. I was looking for some advice on our newest member of the family, Gracie. My husband and I recently welcomed Gracie into our family. We are thrilled to have another Yorkie in our home. Our other baby, Tucker is four years old and the love of our life. Gracie is itty bitty. She is about 13 weeks old and weighs 1.8lbs. She had a cough when we got her and I expressed my concern to the vet when I brought Gracie to see him the first afternoon we had her. He told us to wait 48 hours and if the cough hadn't gone away to bring her back in. He said she appeared to be in great health(she had a normal temp., alert eyes, clean ears) and dewormed her(even thought her stool check showed no signs of worms). That evening Gracie was playful and very energetic. She ate some that first day, but not a lot. I didn't think too much about it then, because the vet had also given her nutracal that day. That night went okay. She didn't want to be in her kennel, she wanted to be in bed with her mom and dad and big brother. So, needless to say, we all didn't get too much sleep. The next day Gracie lacked the energy she had the day before. She ate and drank heartily but wanted to sleep the day away. She still also had the cough. That night we all slept soundly. Our second morning of having Gracie she was still unenergetic and soon into our day she had a seizure. The seizure lasted about 20 seconds(but felt like an hour). During the seizure she urinated and vomited. Needless to say I panicked. I called the vet and then the breeder, who informed me to give her honey or syrup thinking the seizure was brought on by hypoglycemia. I gave her some syrup and then tried to interest her in food. She drank quite a bit of water, but refused the food. The breeder asked that I bring her in so she could take her to her vet and observe her for a couple of days. When I met up with the breeder, she gave Gracie some baby food, which Gracie ate heartily. She said she would probably be fine and would let me know what was going on with Gracie soon. I am really worried about Gracie! The breeder said that she probably was just stressed and had low blood sugar. I am worried that everything is not okay with her. How do I know if this won't happen again? The breeder said she would outrgrow the threat of hypoglycemia when she reaches sixteen weeks. My husband and I are already so attached to her. We would love to believe that she will be just fine and live happily healthy after, but how do we know? In my overall observance of Gracie, she seems to very fragile. Tucker was such a hearty puppy. We never had any problems with him and he had ten times the energy Gracie has. It seems she may be, unfortunately, unhealthy. The breeder told me that if we would like to get our money back or have another puppy we could, but we want Gracie! If I knew she would be just fine, and not have any other relatable health issues I wouldn't think twice. Our vet adviced us to get another puppy because of the health problems we experienced with Gracie so soon. I'm so unsure of what to do. I would love to have Gracie, but I don't want to burden our family with an unhealthy dog. Please help...

[Jenn218]

Oh my.........I am so sorry to hear this. Poor Gracie........and poor you! I can't imagine having to go through this, so I am afraid I am of no help to you.....I would feel the same has you. Maybe someone else will post soon. I wish you the best!

I know that I took in a Shih-tzu that was very unhealthy. It is amazing as to how quickly you get attached to these furbabies. I didn't get 1/2 of my money back (that was because I had the vet receipts and letter from him stating the health), but the breeder didn't want him back and I couldn't bear not having him. Anyway, he didn't make it long (barely a year in our home). He was put to sleep and our ending total for him was over $3000.....my husband said never again! - but what can you do??

[whispersmom2]

I am sos orry to hear about Gracie but I have my doubts about her health. Would it be possible to have another vet check her out and do a blood panel on her?
What do you know about the breeder? It sounds as if she is concerned but sometimes concern and knowledge do not equate. You might have to make a decision about taking your chances with Gracie and keeping her or giving her up. What will the breeder do with her if she takes her back? Will she just re-sell her after a while? If so, and Gracie will be okay maybe you can give it a try again. Syrup is not the best to treat hypoglycemia with. Honey is okay and digested better. I use NutriStat for my babies and give a tube when one of my puppies is placed.
I would not agree that the danger of hypoglycemia is over at 16 weeks. It depends on the underlying cause! If you have time to be with her constantly and can invest the energy needed and still acknowledge that she might not be okay, I would say get her back. But, personally, I owuld have to have more answers about her health and the health of her relatives.
Keep us informed about your decisions and how she is doing..

[Patti]

'm sorry to hear about Gracie. Cali was 9 weeks old and 1lb when I got her. Within teh first 10 days she had to hypoglycemic episodes (ER Vet) aand has had 2 other since. She has been tested for Liver shunt with high Bile acids the first time and lower but still a little high the second time, the ultrasound looke good so they don't think she has a Liver shunt but will be doing a liver biopsy when I have her spayed to make sure she doesn't have MVD. I love her to death but am always on edge when she won't eat or acts a little off. I don't know what to tell you I think only you can make that difficult decision. Good luck and I hope she is ok.

[T&G'sMomma]

Thank you so much for your replies. They really helped out. Sadly, my husband and I returned Gracie to the breeder. It's one of the hardest things I've done! I'm still crying about it. It seems like there is no sure decision to be made. I keep going back and forth about it. On one hand I want to just take my chances, get Gracie back, and pray that she will be a healthy dog. On the other hand, I don't want to risk the heartache of taking her back and possibly loosing her in the near future or her having life long health issues. I just don't think my emotions could handle that. I still see her sweet face in my mind and it gets me all choked up. I think the unsettledness of the whole situation is what is getting to me most. I just keep second-guessing my self. My husband said this morning, that I'm on the Gracie rollercoaster. One minute, I'm okay with letting her go, the next minute all I can think about is getting her back. Bottom line, I think the hard, but safe decision is not risking it. However, I don't think I will ever be sure about it. Thanks, everyone. You all are an amazing support system. You've helped me out so much with your individual thoughts and experience. Thank you.