On Monday my worst nightmare came true. My puppy suffered a hypoglycaemic shook. She is 10 weeks old and weighs only 280g (which is around 0.6ibs) and we knew about the risks, but the breeder recommended feeding her only 3 times a day and she gave us cat food for cats older than 1 year . At first I thought that was weird, but she been breeding yorkies for 15 years and she has great results on shows etc so I figured she knows what she's talking about.
I was still a bit worried about hypoglycaemia so I would leave some food with her at all times. Sunday night was the first night when I didn't and when we woke up she was very disoriented and walked really funny. We took her to the vet and he didn't recognize the signs, but thought we were overfeeding her!? and gave her some medicine and sent us home. An hour later we were rushed to the vets because she was unable to walk, stand or sit and looked really ill. By the time we actually got to the vet's office she wasn't responding to our voices and was shaking really badly. We were lucky that the vet who examined her in the morning left the office so the god one took her in and gave her some glucose via IV and some directly into her mouth with a needle less syringe. She spend the next 2 days at the vet's and we were taking care of her during the night. It was extremely stressful for us and her, but 3 days later she's herself again.
The main things you need to remember to prevent hypoglycaemia are:
Look for the signs of hypoglycaemia - disorientation, dizziness, depression etc
Feed your puppy 5-6 times a day with small portions of food
Feed your puppy specially formulated food for their age
Have a syringe and 10% glucose - water mix (you can get it at any pharmacy) with you at all times
If the puppy has the hypoglycaemic shock and is still conscious poor some glucose-water miss into his/her mouth with a syringe. Start with a few drops and if he/she is swallowing the liquid continue. If the puppy can't swallow it stop (cause the liquid will go straight into his/her lungs) and rub some honey or maple syrup into his/her gums and under the tongue
Don't count on your vet to do all this for your puppy. You have to be ready to do it, otherwise you can lose your puppy within 20-30min. If there's a traffic jam or your vet's office is far form your home you'll have to deal with the situation on your own (and its not too hard, I had to jump in and help her a few times but she's doing really god now so I'm happy I was able to)
And lastly, after the 4th month hypoglycaemia usually goes away so be strong and take the right measures to prevent and deal with hypoglycaemia. |