Feeding puppy with glycemia issues

[Calleasto]

Sorry this post is kinda long

Hey everyone, I have a 3 1/2 month old Yorkie pup who has had a couple of hypoglycemic seizures over the past two weeks. The first time I took him to our usual vet when he was having a seizure, the vet kept him all day. He said I was lucky I brought him in when I did. Anyway, once they let me come pick Chewie up, I asked the doc what I could do to prevent this from happening. He said "just make sure you leave food out for him at all times", which I had already been doing. So, a week passed and then yesterday, Chewie had another seizure so this time I took him to a different vet to get a second opinion. The vet there explained to me that I should be giving him light white Karo syrup, about 50cc's a day either by mouth or in his food. I'm not supposed to feed him canned food, and if he doesn't eat every 4-6 hours I have to forcefeed him....

So, my question comes down to is there anyone on this board who has a pup sensitive to hypoglycemia, and if so what do you feed to prevent attacks?? I have changed Chewies food three times to find one he will eat. Judging from his attacks, he'd rather kill himself than eat any of them! I'm getting really concerned about him eating. So far the only things I can get him to eat are canned puppy food (any brand, eating Authority right now), but I mix the canned in with his regular hard food (Canidea). Or he'll eat chicken that I boil for him. But I'm not sure if these things are good on a constant basis. So, what do the rest of you do to pervent hypoglycemia? Or what do you feed a puppy who'd rather starve himself than eat anything you give him?

Oh, and I've also been giving him nutrical twice a day since I got him, so even that doesn't prevent his attacks, but it does bring him out of the seizure.

(sorry again for the long post!)

Thanks! Jamie

[yorkiegold]

Originally Posted by Calleasto

Sorry this post is kinda long

Hey everyone, I have a 3 1/2 month old Yorkie pup who has had a couple of hypoglycemic seizures over the past two weeks. The first time I took him to our usual vet when he was having a seizure, the vet kept him all day. He said I was lucky I brought him in when I did. Anyway, once they let me come pick Chewie up, I asked the doc what I could do to prevent this from happening. He said "just make sure you leave food out for him at all times", which I had already been doing. So, a week passed and then yesterday, Chewie had another seizure so this time I took him to a different vet to get a second opinion. The vet there explained to me that I should be giving him light white Karo syrup, about 50cc's a day either by mouth or in his food. I'm not supposed to feed him canned food, and if he doesn't eat every 4-6 hours I have to forcefeed him....

So, my question comes down to is there anyone on this board who has a pup sensitive to hypoglycemia, and if so what do you feed to prevent attacks?? I have changed Chewies food three times to find one he will eat. Judging from his attacks, he'd rather kill himself than eat any of them! I'm getting really concerned about him eating. So far the only things I can get him to eat are canned puppy food (any brand, eating Authority right now), but I mix the canned in with his regular hard food (Canidea). Or he'll eat chicken that I boil for him. But I'm not sure if these things are good on a constant basis. So, what do the rest of you do to pervent hypoglycemia? Or what do you feed a puppy who'd rather starve himself than eat anything you give him?

Oh, and I've also been giving him nutrical twice a day since I got him, so even that doesn't prevent his attacks, but it does bring him out of the seizure.

(sorry again for the long post!)

Thanks! Jamie

This is such a tough one. We puppysat for one of our little boys a couple of weeks ago and although he's a healthy adult, I was stunned at how picky he was about his food. I offered him every yummy thing I could imagine and he turned his nose up at all of it. We were trying to do some training with him, so it was frustrating, but not a threat to his health.

I'm with the vet who says to force feed him if necessary. They need some calories every few hours until they grow out of this.

The only thing I didn't try with Mr. Picky Eater was adding some salt. I was going to suggest the nutrical, but you're already on that.

We have more than one dog and I think having competition for food makes for good eaters. I also have a DH who is a genius at getting them to eat. I wish you much luck with this. It is SO frustrating. I'm anxious to hear if others have found a solution.

CJ

[chachi]

If he will eat canned mixed with the dry thats what I would feed him. you can also feed him the chicken. With a pup that has hypoglycemia I wouldnt be so concerned that he eat dry only. The important thing is that he eat. I feed my dogs a llittle canned also in the morning as a treat.

[Hamoth]

Judging from his attacks, he'd rather kill himself than eat any of them!

I don't think this is as tough an issue as you might think...Yorkies don't like eatign the same thing every day, they are notorious for starving themselves rather than eating something they don't want.

In order to get your dog to eat regularly, you need to spice up his food somewhat to make it seem different. Try putting a little parmesean cheese on top (just a nice light sprinklin'), try adding salt-free/sodium-free chicken broth to his kibble, rice and cottage cheese mixed at 50-50 ratio is a delicious yorkie meal that my vet recomended to me when he was having tummy issues. So is cottage cheese mixed with the kibble. Search for more threads about dogs who won't eat on here, and all the different things people have been using to make sure that their dog's eat!


Here's a few that I was able to turn up:

JD Doesn't like puppy food! Help!!

My baby doesnt eat !

Ceeby has stopped eating!!!!!!!!! Help!!!!!

[Calleasto]

Thank you everyone for all the advice Glad to know I'm not making a major mistake by feeding him a little canned with his dry. The vet kinda made it sound like canned food was the equivalent to giving him poison. However, I'd rather brush my pup's teeth every day than have him die because of something so preventable. At the moment, he seems to love the can/dry mix, but I think I may also take your advice Hamoth, and do the cottage cheese/rice meal because with all these food changes Chewie's been having a little bit of an upset stomach. I'll also give the parmeasan cheese sprinkles a try! And if all else fails, I'll take your advice yorkiegold, and convince my husband we're just going to have to get another pup so they'll compete for food! (I've already been trying to convince him we need another yorkie baby anyway )

Love this board, you guys are all so helpful!

Thanks again,
Jamie

[Arlenerae]

I thought it was me that had written your story, it was exactly the same as mine, I thought Ricky was dead the first morning I got up ,but Karo brought him back, again it happened, and he stayed in the hospital 3 days, I had to force feed him with a syringe full of chicken noodle dinner and I watered down some of the canned food the vet sold me. it was Science Diet and I fed him three times a day making sure he had plenty at night to help him thru the night and I also gave him Nutrical at night.I did this for a month or more, the vet said he had to reach 4# before he would hold his own, now I put his dry food in the blender and make a powder and coat his chicken with it, that works for awhile, but he would much rather have table food, I got to the point to where I figured any food was better than letting him die, now I'm introducing him back to dog food, a little is better than none. He now weights 4# 2ozs. Another dog might help, but it would be my luck to get another picky eater. We love Ricky with all our hearts, but I will never buy another Yorkie, too much heartache for me. Hope this helps. Arlenerae

[SoCalyorkiLvr]

My daughter's little guy had a hypoglycemia attack a week after we got him whe he got an upset stomach from eating ham. They have such sensitive stomachs and we didn't know ham could make him sick.

We had to force feed him for over a week and then by hand for severla weeks after that. He now eats on his own but he is picky and we have toadd things to mske his meals palatable for him.

It does get better as they get older but with little ones especially you have to continue to make sure they are eating enough and not skipping meals.

I agree with hamoth that a yorkie will starve itself itself rather than eat something that it doesn't like.

[Hamoth]

he got an upset stomach from eating ham.

The salt content there could definately cause all kind of problems. My vet told me that salt for dogs is really, really bad. You want to keep as much of it out of their diets as possible.

[lil smokie]

this is the same thing that is happening to my 5 month old pup. he hasn't ate the whole day yesterday and i always leave him food in his bowl. woke up this morning and it's pretty much the same as i left it yesterday. so what i have been doing is just feeding him his treats which he eats. i tried the cottage cheese with his dry food but that didn't work. before all this happened i fed him some of my chicken i was eat'n for dinner one night and he really loved it. he would come back to me right away when he was done eat'n. so i don't know if that was the problem, that he likes the chicken now and sick of his own dry food? should i put some chicken in his food and see if that works? or just keep feed'n him just the chicken?

[Loren]

After reading this posts i am now more sure then ever that yorkies are the Most picky eaters of all dogs, and some will rather starve them self then eat somthing they don't realy like.
my little Nemo was and adult when i got him. he waight only 2.2 lbs and hardly ever want to eat.
after i got him fixed nowhe is able to think "staright" he eats, but only chicken and egs. i knew he will not be a healthy dog if that's all i feed him.
So i have decided to start force feeding him, to make sure he get the right nutretions.
as i get he's food ready, he can here me in the kitchen . he know's what's coming he try to hide he look so scared.
I know he hate to be force fed and More so i hate doing that to him.
but realy i have no other choice he will Die if dont put food in him.
he was to skiny when i got him he was so week looking. he was not able to sleep for more the 4 hours at the time.
now he waight 2.7 lbs he is healthy looking.
he can sleep for the hall night.
he is very palyful and full of energy.
i knew many of you herd people say that dogs will not starve them self unless there sick. it may be treu but not when it comes to yorkies. some are picky and some just dont like to eat. my nemo will not even eat treats.i am so used to have dogs bagging for food at every chance they get.
when i got nemo i was in this belive with he's eating habits. after reading this board i understood that some yorkies can be sufering from anorexia (lol).
good luck to all of you with the picky eatters and dont feel bad using the force feeding method when it's needed.

[Calleasto]

Yes, I do believe that Yorkies are in fact the pickiest eaters out there... Chewie is back to not wanting ANYTHING I give him. I've been force feeding him plus giving him puppy replacement milk mixed in with his food. Of course, all he does is lick the milk out and leave the food. Sometimes, on rare occasions, he'll eat a few pieces of the cat's food which I let him do because it's better than him eating nothing. I make him chicken and rice and he'll eat just the chicken, not the rice. He does seem to like it when I sprinkle a little parm cheese on anything I'm making him, but he doesn't care for the cottage cheese I bought him. Bah! I will be extremely happy when/if he grows out of this stage. To all you prospective Yorkie owners, be prepared to spend lots of money and time on food! It's a good thing their so darn cute and funny! It makes the trouble worth the while.

[Vinniedoggy]

Just wanted to share something for all you parents of picky yorkies. My yorkie/Jack Russell mix, Vincent, has always been a VERY picky eater. I adopted him at the age of 1 and he was severely underweight. I tried every dog food on the market and then began cooking for him at home (chicken, beef, veggies, etc). The home-cooking was a lot of work and he didn't always eat enough to maintain his weight.

About 4 months ago, an "all natural" dog store opened up in my neighborhood. I was in there one day lamenting about Vincent's poor eating habits and the owner gave me free samples of Nature's Variety (http://www.naturesvariety.com/). I tried both the frozen/raw medallions and the dry food and was AMAZED when Vincent finished every last bite.

He is now at a healthy weight and eats every meal without any begging, force-feeding, or bribing on my part. He especially loves the raw beef medallions. The only thing he still won't touch is anything that comes out of a can. I highly recommend that you try this food brand if you're having trouble getting your yorkie to eat. It's a tad pricey, but well worth it!

[lil smokie]

how do you force feed may i ask?

[Arlenerae]

you force feed by filling a syringe full of food, this syringe is what you give a child medicine with, you can get them at Walmart or any store and their not expensive, you put the little nozzle in the side of their mouth while your holding them on their backs in your arm, and push the plunger a little at a time until it's empty and then refill it.

[jenni]

I tried to go to the website about to see about the natural food and the link does not work.
Can you repost it please