Have our very first Yorkie

[stormchaser]

Hi everyone my wife and I have recently become the proud new parents of a beautiful baby girl yorkie she is almost 12 weeks old now. Roxee has already stolen our hearts she is so loving and just an overall sweetheart. Being new with yorkies we have a couple of concerns. The first one being at her age we certainly want to make sure that she has plenty to eat but do not want to over feed her as that is not good either. Since she didn't seem to like the taste of the dry dog food we spoke to another yorkie owner and she reccommended that we mix the dry in with some baby food and that worked great she has developed a great appetite and will eat as much as we put down for her. My question is at her age how many ounces of dry food does she need per day. She now weighs 1 lb. 14 oz. Her Father weighed 5 lbs and her Mother weighed 4 lbs if that helps any. Also our other main concern is that since we've gotten her we've had problems with diarrhea and also with that alittle blood in the stool. The vet doesnt seem to be overly concerned with that he reccommended that we give her 1 half cc of imodium AD twice a day and that has helped considerably. My question is is this common with yorkies and what is ur best recommendations about these problems. As with any new parents we have turned into total worry warts we just want to make sure we're doing everything possible to ensure that our baby girl is getting everything she needs to be completely healthy. Thanks for any help you might can give us.

[Luvmypupster]

Hi. I'm new to the forum but was a member to another yorkie forum. First of all congrats on your new yorkie. Has the vet checked her stool? I got Mia at age 12 weeks and had her on dry kibble from the start. Her breeder had her on it so it wasn't a problem. Keep tabs on the loose stool. Make sure she is eating well and drinking plenty of water. Don't know what to tell you on the immodium...never have had to use it. Trust your gut and if you feel she needs to go back to the vet please take her. My Mia is now 1 yrs old and I have a 3 yr old maltese named Bentley. I free feed mine . Put out about 1/2 cup each day for your little one. If she eats it all she may need more. My adult dogs eat 1 cup total combined each day... guess they eat about 1/2 cup daily (each). Feed a good quality kibbel and if you are switching brands from what the breeder used be sure and do it slowly.

[Higgin's Mom]

Bloody diarrhea can be a symptom of coccidiosis, not uncommon in pups, and it should be treated promptly! Has the vet looked at a fecal sample under the microscope? This showed up in our Higgins shortly after we got him at 7 1/2 weeks of age and the vet treated him with antibiotics and checked his stools every week to make sure we got rid of it all. Blood in the stool is NOT a good thing, so if your vet has not checked your Yorkie's stool under a microscope and followed it up, go to a vet who will. By the way, Higgins medicine was butterscotch flavored and he used to BEG for it! The vet told us that they have discovered that dogs like butterscotch flavor the best......

Welcome to Yorkies and Yorkie Talk! We're really glad you're here!

[fasteddie]

Welcome aboard! I'm sure Roxee is giving you plenty of joy! When Yoda was younger, we would mix in a bit of wet dog food or small pieces of cut up chicken (no flavor, no skin) for him, as he didn't like the dry food only either. It's hard to say exactly how much to put out there since your Yorkie still is a baby, but perhaps a very small scoop (couple of table spoons?) twice a day.

There's nothing wrong with being a worry wart, I'm sure all Yorkie owners turn out like that!

[stormchaser]

Originally Posted by fasteddie

Welcome aboard! I'm sure Roxee is giving you plenty of joy! When Yoda was younger, we would mix in a bit of wet dog food or small pieces of cut up chicken (no flavor, no skin) for him, as he didn't like the dry food only either. It's hard to say exactly how much to put out there since your Yorkie still is a baby, but perhaps a very small scoop (couple of table spoons?) twice a day.

There's nothing wrong with being a worry wart, I'm sure all Yorkie owners turn out like that!

Thanks everyone for being so nice. And to answer a question yes the vet has looked at her stool sample under a microscope and says he doesnt see any signs of coccidiosis as a matter of fact i'm such a worry wart i've had him check it twice just to make sure. He says there's no signs of it what so ever that she looks like a completely healthy puppy. That's where he suggested the imodium and it seems to be correcting the problem. The vet says she'll grow out of it has she gets alittle older but i'm just so over protective especially at this stage i just want to make sure everything is alright. Also since we've been using the imodium the blood in her stool has almost completely cleared up and her stool is almost normal now so maybe he's right. If any of you have anymore ideas i would certainly appreciate it very very much.

[Higgin's Mom]

Whew.....glad to hear that your baby is improving. The only other suggestion I would have is to feed an all organic food with chicken and rice as a base. No wheat or dyes of any kind. But you are probably doing that. Sounds like all will be fine!

[stormchaser]

Originally Posted by Higgin's Mom

Bloody diarrhea can be a symptom of coccidiosis, not uncommon in pups, and it should be treated promptly! Has the vet looked at a fecal sample under the microscope? This showed up in our Higgins shortly after we got him at 7 1/2 weeks of age and the vet treated him with antibiotics and checked his stools every week to make sure we got rid of it all. Blood in the stool is NOT a good thing, so if your vet has not checked your Yorkie's stool under a microscope and followed it up, go to a vet who will. By the way, Higgins medicine was butterscotch flavored and he used to BEG for it! The vet told us that they have discovered that dogs like butterscotch flavor the best......

Welcome to Yorkies and Yorkie Talk! We're really glad you're here!

Thanks for the advice. My vet did tell me that although that he had checked for coccidiosis twice that it didnt always show up so maybe i just need to suggest that he put her on antibiotics just to be on the safe side of things. Better to be safe than sorry i would think. As for as how much she eats she will literally eat as much as we put down for her she really eats well and is very very active so that leads me to think that the problem with her stool isnt a serious one put i will have it checked again just to make sure. I really appreciate the advice very much and wish you a great day ......... thanks

[bettyeanne]

Stormchaser, as Mary Ellen said "Bloody diarrhea can be a symptom of coccidiosis, not uncommon in pups". The day we picked Toto up, we met the breeder at the vet's office and she brought all the littermates for their checkups and Toto was the only one who didn't check positive for coccidiosis! She was a tad over 16 weeks old and weighed 1 lb. 8 oz. When we got her home she wouldn't eat hardly any of the food brought by the breeder [frozen Bil Jac] so two days later as panicky "new parents" we took her back to the vet. She checked positive for coccidiosis and had lost 3 oz! My husband and I were mortified! She gave her antibiotic for 14 days and we haven't had a problem since. We take her at least once a month just to have "Dr. Lucy" look her over and make sure she is tip top!! Every time we take her we always take a stool sample just as a precaution.

[red98vett]

You were lucky - Chanel was our very first - I didn't have a Yorkie forum 2 years ago and when we brought her home - at 6 weeks from a breeder she seemed fine. It was over a long weekend so no vet check-up till the following Tues. but she showed symptoms of the same your dog did - within 3 days, by the time monday eve rolled around - she had mucous in her stool and it looked like blood.

I was a nervous wreck - never having a puppy before, I was ignorant of how common it is...we rushed her to ER that night and they knew exactly what it was! I called her breeder - who claimed no knowlege of coccidia - said she couldn't have gotten it there etc....the vet the next day said ALL her dogs probably had it. At that time - Chanel weighed in at 16 OZ's only...She is a healthy 9 (or so) pounder and loved so very much - I just can't see how her breeder could just have turned her back on helping her at that time! With our new baby - I didn't fool around - went right in with samples, records, and history of the mother and Cherish came out just perfect!

[stormchaser]

Originally Posted by red98vett

You were lucky - Chanel was our very first - I didn't have a Yorkie forum 2 years ago and when we brought her home - at 6 weeks from a breeder she seemed fine. It was over a long weekend so no vet check-up till the following Tues. but she showed symptoms of the same your dog did - within 3 days, by the time monday eve rolled around - she had mucous in her stool and it looked like blood.

I was a nervous wreck - never having a puppy before, I was ignorant of how common it is...we rushed her to ER that night and they knew exactly what it was! I called her breeder - who claimed no knowlege of coccidia - said she couldn't have gotten it there etc....the vet the next day said ALL her dogs probably had it. At that time - Chanel weighed in at 16 OZ's only...She is a healthy 9 (or so) pounder and loved so very much - I just can't see how her breeder could just have turned her back on helping her at that time! With our new baby - I didn't fool around - went right in with samples, records, and history of the mother and Cherish came out just perfect!

Hi,
Thanks for the kind words but we dont seem to be out of the woods yet as Roxee has developed the same symptoms again. She goes back to the vet again on Monday and this time i'm going to insist that more is done that was done the first time. He gave her something called Albon c Synanthic but he only gave it to her for 5 days and from what i've read that wasnt nearly as long as vets normally treat a puppy for coccidia. so this time we're going to have a very long talk about what needs to be done as i'm not satisfied at this point. To be honest I'm about to the point of pitching a good ole fashion fit. If he doesnt do what i think needs to be done it will be time to find another vet that day. If all you very kind people will tell me if that's the medicine that is normal prescribed for coccida i would certainly appreciate it so much. Thanks again everyone for being so nice.

[bettyeanne]

Stormchaser ... our vet treated Toto with Albon but she gave it for 14 days! I believe the dosage was about 2cc and her weight was about 1.5 lbs. Wish you weren't over 200 miles from Ashland ... perhaps you could have our Dr. Lucy take a look at Roxee! This forum has certainly given us a whole new appreciation for our vet! She is Great!! Another thing that she has us give Toto is Nutri Cal [the veterinary formula]. We give her about 2-3cc a day ... she is such a picky eater and Nutri Cal is loaded with vitamins, etc. so on those occasions when Miss Prissy Paws refuses her food, I don't feel so panicky! Also, Yorkie's are prone to hypoglicemia and they are such high energy little critters, the Nutri Cal is really sweet and they need lots of carbs! Be sure she drinks lots of liquid also so she doesn't dehydrate.

[Higgin's Mom]

Coccids can be difficult to get rid of and it may take awhile. Higgins was on medication for 3 weeks and checked and weighed by the vet EVERY week and then a final check before we left Florida for home. I'm sorry, but my ol' mind doesn't remember the medicine he presecribed, other than the butterscotch flavor. BY ALL MEANS, follow up, follow up, follow up! And keep us posted, okay?

Hugs and puppy kisses from Higgins!

[fasteddie]

Wow, red98vett, that's quite a scare! It's always better to be safe than sorry. The first few days we had Yoda, I accidentally fed him some soft bones and he started choking on it later that night! Needless to say, we rushed him to ER as well, and the vet was nice enough to sooth it out of him. Nothing is scarier than taking your Yorkie to ER, but when you need to, you just gotta do it!

[stormchaser]

Well I'm just updating everyone on the last trip to the vet. He did a fecal sample check again for the 3rd time and again it came back negative for Coccidia. The vet seems to think that the puppy chow we're feeding her isnt agreeing with her little system and that's what's causing the problem. So its on to a new solution. Now we're going to put Roxee on Science Diet and see if that gets her little system in better shape. Oh and one other thing the other reasons he says its not coccidia is that with Coccidia the puppy seems sick and is very inactive and that's not the case with Roxee she's very very active and has a great appetite infact she's now up to 2 and half pounds so she's doing great in those respects. I hope this is the answer to her problems. Thanks again guys for listen to a worry wart first time parent.

[bettyeanne]

Stormchaser .... so glad to hear an update and that Roxee is negative for Coccidia! I know you are still worried but perhaps this will turn out to be just simply caused by her food! Here's hoping! ... And from one "worry wart" to another ... everyone here are "worry warts" where their babies are concerned ... so, welcome aboard ... keep us posted!!