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Tiny puppy in the litter do you experienced breeders have more health problems with the runt of the litter? do the smaller puppies seem to develop more problems? |
I am not a breeder but Cali was the runt of the litter and had major health problems but as she has gotten older, 11 months now she has stabilized. Just my own experience on 1 dog. |
Coco was the runt of her litter and she has been healthy as a horse (knocking on wood). |
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Gucci was the runt of the litter. She had coccidia and ringworm when I got her but that is not related to being the runt of the litter. She has being healthy after that. Some tinies around 3 lbs due develop some health problems. My Gucci was 1lb 7oz went she came home, she is almost 5lbs and she will be 2 years in July. |
how much did your runt puppies weight at birth? does any one remember? |
I don't know how much Cali weighed at birth but I first saw her at 6 weeks and she fit in the palm of my hand she was half the size of her 2 sisters. At 9 weeks when I took her home she weighed 16 ounces and she seemed closer in size to her sisters. Now at 11 months she is a 4lb 4 ounces and still gaining a little weight but not heigth. If you do get her you may want to check int pet insurance just in case. |
yeah i was thinking of getting VPI insurance. i've never dealt with pet insurance before tho. i don't know if its really worth it |
Sometimes the runts of the litters will catch up to their siblings by 8 weeks. The last born are usually the smallest, but they don't always remain that way for long. I would have a complete blood work panel done when you get her and see if anything points to a liver shunt and, if so, have the bile acid test done. Of course, have the normal fontanel, knees, hernia and heart check performed. A runt from a litter that is going to mature to 5 - 7 pounds is very different than a runt from a 3 - 4 pound litter. All of mine have matured to 4 pounds (one just a couple of ounces shy) and they are all healthy. I think the percentage of health problems does increase somewhat with 3 pounders and increases drastically with those under 3 pounds at maturity. According to my little boy's weight at 8 weeks (9 oz.) he should have matured at 2 pounds, but he is just 2 ounces shy of 4 pounds and is very healthy. |
this is all good to know. i feel better now. i didn't plan on getting bloods done when i took her to the vet the first time. the breeder told me that she's never had any liver shunt problems with her dogs and if she ever did then she would never breed those two parent dogs again. |
I have never had the blood work done either, but with all the sad stories about liver shunts I will from now on. A small price to pay to save a lot of heartache down the road. Of course, a lot of people come to YT looking for answers when problems arise so, hopefully, it's not as common as it seems. With one that is small though I definitely would since stunted growth could be a symptom of a liver shunt. Oh, about insurance, last week there was a post of someone going to a seminar this weekend on the pros and cons of pet insurance and promised to post what he learned. Watch for the post. |
I will never get a puppy unless it has been liver shunt tested. I do not want to go through that again not only emotionally but financially. Once you get them it would be to hard to return them so I will only buy from a breeder who has LS tested. Cali's breeder said she had never had a LS puppy until Cali and that she would not beed them together again. I have VPI insurance and due to some of Cali's bills being due to preexisting condition, hypoglycemia, which she had 3 times and LS which is genetic and not covered I had 5,000.00 in bills and they reimbursed me 850.00. WHich wasn't bad considering a ot of her expenses were for hypoglycemia and LS and spaying. If you can afford the 20.00 or so dolars a month for it I would definately do it. |
patti do you have the regular insurance plan or the super one? |
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I have the superior but not the routine care which I wish I had taken now. |
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