Normal puppy behavior??

[Nikitta34]

My 11 wk old puppy, Meg, is very, very quiet and doesn't explore in more than a 3 ft radius. I just brought her home today, and I know she's going to take some time to get acclimated, but I want to make sure nothing's wrong. I took her to the vet this morning before taking her home; she's healthy, except she has some sort of a cold or respiratory issue. She hacks about every 30ish min, then is fine. The vet just said that I should keep an eye on the hack and see if it gets better. She has the tiniest little raspy bark. I'm sure she'll develop her real bark later on... right?

Maybe she is still a little intimidated by her new surroundings. She did pee right on her pee pad when I brought her home, then drank a good amt of water, then conked out in her crate with the door open. She hasn't been interested in any food, or even any treats yet, but I read somewhere that sometimes pups will refuse to eat on the first day home. I have food out for her in case she gets hungry.

I just worry that she's TOO quiet! I feel like I could leave her for 20 min and she wouldn't have moved. Is that normal? She seems very content to chill and sleep. Maybe she's just too young to be crazy.

She's also been sleeping for several hours. Normal? How many hrs of sleep per day is too much? At what age do pups not sleep so much?

This is all probably (hopefully) a normal puppy thing, but I'd be grateful if you could all help put my fears to rest, or let me know if you think it's abnormal. THANK YOU!

[Nikitta34]

I'm attaching a picture of what she's "throwing up". It's clear and bubbly and has a *slightly* slimy texture. It reminds me a little bit of soap bubbles. Should I be worried?!

[kelly jo]

I would call the vet on the throwing up, they may want a sample, as far as being calm, give her a few days. When I brought Roxy home she did the same thing. The most quiet, sweet lil girl. It took her about 2 days and then she started exploring everything from my shoes to electric cords. So, baby proof your home! I personally think going from the enviornment of mama and sib's to another compleatly different one with different smells, sounds, etc., is just hard for them. I'm sure she will adjust fine. Let me know how she is in a few days ! I have never met a quiet Yorkie ! Roxy still naps on and off all day. They are babies...lol.....and everyone here is wonderful and very helpful.

[Nikitta34]

Thanks for your reply. She was even more adventurous after her long nap.

I think I will call the vet about the throwing up. It's just so sporadic. It coudln't be allergies, could it? But it happened at the vet and at my house.

[JoeyP]

It sounds like she might have a little kennel cough
The Vet will likely give her antibiotics for it
and will watch her temp and exclude more dangerous things like Distemper
just be vigilant about her coughing
if it gets worse of if she gets a fever call the Vet

As far as everything else goes
Believe me!
She'll warm up to her new surroundings

[Nikitta34]

Okay, the coughing is really starting to make me more nervous. I am calling the vet first thing in the morning. She only hacks up the saliva (??) every 4-5 hacks, but it's still foamy. It almost seems like it's something in her nose (or a scent) that sets it off.

It's definitely an abdominal cough/hack. Is that a symptom of kennel cough and/or distemper? She's been vaccinated against distemper (on Dec 25) but hasn't had a bordatella shot.

Okay: poop. She had a solid, tubular poop. Then less than 5 min later, she had another small poop that was very liquidy (but not diarrhea) and with variations of color. Then she passed a small white-ish blob. Could this be left over from the vet taking her temperature today? He used lots of lube. Could it have anything to do with the hacking?

[MilesDavis]

When I brought Miles home at 10 weeks old, he had kennel cough really bad. It ended up lasting a couple months, and took a couple rounds of antibiotics. Sometimes, he would cough so hard he would throw up a little, but I would check with the vet to be sure.
As far as poop goes, Miles had the weirdest poop for about the first two weeks I had him. One time it could be solid, the next time runny, other times, just plain disgusting. I just monitored him carefully (if they have diarrhea they can get dehyrdrated fast).
If I were you, I'd go back to the vet just to be sure. You can never be too careful! Good luck!

[lemonlauren]

Oh yeah, definitely get back to the vet. :-(

I agree that it sounds a lot like your lil' girl has kennel cough. It sucks, but it's not the end of the world... Nikko has it too. Sounds a bit like a cough or throat-clearing followed by a gag. The vet should listen to her lungs, and will probably prescribe an antibiotic to make sure it doesn't turn into pneumonia (if it hasn't already - the foam that often would worry me). I'm actually surprised he didn't prescribe the antibiotic when he first heard her cough. Other than that, kennel cough is just a nasty virus that has to run its course, it's kind of like a really long extended cold is with humans - annoying but usually harmless, unless it turns into pneumonia. Our vet and several people here on YT suggest getting a cheap (we spent $18) hot steam vaporizor, adding vicks stuff to the water, putting it next to her crate, and covering the whole setup with towels or a sheet or whatever to make a steamy sauna cave for Meg. Try to think of her like a human with a cold - if you don't have a vaporizor or can't get one right away, take her crate into the bathroom with you while you take a long hot steamy shower. Keep her warm.

It's great she's drinking water, but did you have the vet take a stool sample? They can reach in to get a little sample to look at if she doesn't poop right at at a time when it's convenient to run up to the vet's (samples are best read as fresh as possible). Vomiting and weird poops would trip me out a little bit, probably in no small part because of the horrible experience Nikko had with stomach parasites when we first got him.

Some people say this is a bad idea because it will spoil her, but if you start to get really stressed about her not eating, you can make her a little plain boiled chicken and plain white rice... not only is this meal pretty delicious, but it's also easy on the tummy. Most dogs, including Nikko when he was feeling sooooo horrible, would eat this little temporary meal when they would eat nothing else. Nikko had no trouble switching from rice/chicken to a prescription soft food from the vet after we took him in, then back to kibble when he felt better, but not all dogs are like that.

Anyways, let us know what the vet says, and how your girl is doing today. Don't worry too much, I'm sure she'll be OK.

Lauren & Nikko

[Nikitta34]

Oh my God. Something wrong. The vet's phone is busy and I need help NOW.

She can't stand up right. She keeps twisting and turning her body to the right. I tryt o stand her up and she twists to the right.

WHAT IS WRONG!? This is really, really bad, I think.

[lemonlauren]

I don't know what this is, but you're right - I think you need help now too. Forget calling the vet, can you just drive there?

Lauren & Nikko

[Nikitta34]

Yes, finally got through.

vet is back in 30 min, so going then.... had to visit a animal hosp 4 hrs away.

vet tech said rub karo syrup on gums as she prob has no blood sugar. tim is going now to get some.

drank some h20 - legs splayed, flat on tummy while drinking. then she could stand a bit.

[lemonlauren]

Weird... I'm glad you're still going to the vet. I really don't know all that much, but the twisting to the right doesn't sound like hypoglycemia to me? Look at her upper gums - pink like humans' is good. And I thought with hypoglycemia pups usually shake/shiver? I hope someone who knows more than me can reply to you... it's pretty late at night here in the states.

Lauren & Nikko

[lemonlauren]

Well shoot, I see somebody replied to your other post about this and said it did sound like hypoglycemia. Shows you how much I know. :-)

Be sure to try to get her to eat something with some substance, some protein, after the syrup. I remember you said you were worried she didn't want to eat yet... has she eaten anything since you got her?

Lauren & Nikko

[Nikitta34]

Hi Lauren,
I jsut wrot back to my other post. I'm going to copy/paste so I'm not retyping it all.

And no, she still hasn't eaten since she got home. She had a little food that I wet down yesterday, and she licked her food a LOT this morning. I thought she was just getting more comfortable and ready to eat.

I rubbed Karo syrup on her gums and let her lick it, and drove right to the vet. Now she's hospitalized. First they rubbed Nutri-Cal on her and took a blood sample. Her blood sugar level was at 18. The doc made the lab tech retest it because she didn't believe it could be so low. It came back at 13. They immediately put a catheter in her neck and started her on a dextrose drip. They are keeping her overnight, but they can only check on her only every 4 hours. I am freaking out. Is she just too small?! I'm not a person who needs some tiny Paris Hilton dog. I just fell in love with her.

It's all because she isn't eating. How do I get her to eat!? She was obviously eating for the last 11 weeks before I got her. The vet isn't ready to dismiss distemper (there's no blood test, apparently?), but right now the symptoms are all pointing at screaming, "hypoglycemia." But the question is --- what is causing her to not eat? Being in a new environment (I just brought her home yesterday), or distemper? She was vaccinated against distemper, but the vet thinks it could possibly have been done too early.

I am sick to my stomach with all of this. She has this giant bandage around her neck and a catheter sticking out, and now she has to sleep in an unfamiliar place. Okay, my house was probably unfamiliar enough to her, but at least she had lots of love and attention.

[lemonlauren]

It's OK... she has the sugar drip, and even though I'm sure she's not thrilled at being in any new place, she now has doctors and help. Stress of leaving a familiar place can bring on/exacerbate any little problems - and a doc's help will get her through it; I'll be thinking of you both tonight and for as long as it takes to make her healthy again. She is really small - Nikko was 2.5lbs at 12 weeks and is expected to make it to 6 lbs or so if we were lucky according to the growth charts... I didn't realize yours was quite so small. Hypoglycemia is much more common among dogs Meg's size, and I'm glad she's being treated for it.

As far as getting her to eat, you certainly know from this experience that eating is #1 top priority. Some people might recommend more, I don't really know, but I'm sure that everyone would agree to feed at least three times a day at this age and size. Kibble, plain white rice, plain boiled chicken, soft canned food, non-fatty chicken broth, ANYTHING if she won't eat her kibble. I think the other thread had some people who recommended some other good stuff as well. Protein is certainly important as well. Even if she doesn't eat a bunch at every meal, make sure she eats some. And if you can get some enercal or nutracal, that will be really handy to have if she starts to act weird again. Karo syrup is ok, enercal or nutracal is a smidge better because it has some vitamins and whatnot in it too (though it's still mostly sugar)... any of them, including crappy fake maple syrup, has the sugar in it to potentially whet an appetite and lift temporarily out of hypoclycemia if only given a teeny bit.

When my puppy was really really sick to his stomach from all the parasites and wouldn't eat hardly anything, all he would eat was boiled plain chicken, white rice, and an occasional baby carrot. As he got a little bit better, I made him ice cubes that had bits of his kibble in it (sometimes I crunched the kibble down into a powder to put in the cubes). Then gradually he went back to eating his kibble and his water separate and normally, as he started to feel better.

I'm sure you will get some other good advice about feeding, and about having such a small pup... please let us know when you get another update from the vet about your baby girl.

Lauren & Nikko