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Originally Posted by LittleMissMia  Hello!
Just yesterday, I became the owner of a 1.5 yo Yorkie named Mia. She's just the sweetest little thing 
I've been reading here a lot and I know some of you feel very strongly about breeding and I respect and thank you for that but I hope you will nicely give me some guidance. There is a chance Mia is accidentally pregnant by her previous owners friend's Yorkie. This took place two weeks ago, they are both registered, in good health and the same size.
With this being a holiday weekend, I can't get her in to see my vet so I thought I could start here. If she is, I do not want to immediately spay her, her puppies would stay within our extended family. However if she is not, she would get spayed asap and is she is, as soon as she can after delivery. She is showing all the signs...tired, extra cuddly, not eating, enlarged teets/vulva, licking herself/very slight vomiting.
What should I read/watch/buy to prepare for this? Please do not flame me for my decisions to keep the pups. I will not be selling them and they too will get fixed as soon as they can and hopefully this will have a good outcome.
I know there is so much to learn in a very short amount of time but pointed in the right direction, I'm sure we'll make it. Common sense, street smarts and educating yourself goes a long way, lol
Anyway, sorry for the long post and thank you in advance. You have a great site here!
Ellie |
I could only point you in the direction of getting this girl spayed. There are many reasons not to continue with this pregnancy (and it sounds like she is) and only one I can think of to let it go on.
First, the reason to let her have the babies...your family gets a free, or nearly free, pup! Ummm, maybe not, as you'll want to recover your costs, right? Figure your costs, at minimum, being several hundred dollars with no complications. Complications, such as an emergency c-section, could add a couple thousand dollars to that figure.
Now, reasons to not let this go forward. First, you obviously have no experience and breeding Yorkies is not something you learn on the fly. But saying you're a bright, dedicated person and do your research, you still have no experience. You really need a mentor, or at least a coach, as you go.
Second, no matter your research, it won't do any good if you're not there when the time comes. Yorkies simply cannot have babies on their own. If your lifestyle doesn't allow you to be available, no matter the time of day or night, then you shouldn't let her go to term. If you aren't there and know what to do, dead babies or a dead Mommy are the likely result.
How could that happen? Well, Mom may not be a free whelper and could tire during contractions. She could die from this or from many other complications Or, a baby may be mal-presented and will not come out on its own. Or, the baby could be seen by the Mom as a placenta and be eaten. Or, the Mom could rip the baby apart trying to teat the sac and cut the cord. Or any number of other things. Bottom line, you must be there for the whelping and be knowledgeable enough to do what needs to be done and to recognize the signs of distress.
It doesn't stop there. So much can happen once the babies are on the ground. Your life will not be your own until the babies are placed into their forever homes. A baby that needs to be hand fed will totally take over your life for weeks with around the clock hand feedings. Are you prepared for that?
I've only skimmed over some of what it takes to birth and raise a litter of Yorkies. There is much more to it. You cannot count on everything to go smoothly and must be prepared for anything that may come up. Also, everything that isn't textbook will cost you money and you still may wind up with only heartache to show for it.
You never mentioned what size the girl is. The
minimum breeding weight is 5 pounds and that is only if the girl has a good structure for whelping. If she's not of size and structure, that reason alone is enough to not continue forward, experienced or not. The vet will not be able to determine yet if she's pregnant or not, but can perform a spay and eliminate all the possible terrible outcomes.
Don't take this as flaming you. It is only the reality of breeding Yorkies. They are not a breed for a novice to fool around with and learn as you go. Every lesson learned this way is likely to have tragedy written all over it. Do yourself, and your girl, a huge favor and have her spayed. It simply is not worth the stress and heartache to go forward with no knowledge and experience. Remember that it is not you going through this, but rather your precious new girl and she and her pups will pay the price for your hard lessons learned.
I do want to welcome you to Yorkie Talk and thank you for posting before things go too far. But, as I said, I only sketched out some of the possibilities of things that can and do happen and am not being alarmist. Since you only just got her, this decision of yours must have been made rather quickly and I hope you will reconsider, for the sake of your girl.
I'm sure others will add to this as my reply is very incomplete. Please take to heart the advice of those that have been there/done that.