in a real pickle please help!

[puppywub]

Wow, where to start. I guess the beginning is always best so here goes.

I work in in a kennel of a pet store. I know, I know, boo hiss but we are not a typical pet store. We sell supplies, the only animals we actually carry are puppies. Before anyone screams puppy mill, please understand that that is not what we are about. All of our puppies are from our local shelter who we feed and care for until they are truly adopted, not sold. The adoption fee covers our cost of shots, vet visits, and microchipping. We are fortunate enough to do enough sales in supplies to be able to do this.

Here is the pickle. Two days ago a woman dropped off a VERY small yorkie puppy. He was checked by our vet and was told he is 10-http://http://img195.imageshack.us/i...91/peanutt.jpg11 weeks old based on his teeth. He received a clean bill of heath and we were told that while he is small...he is not underweight but proportionate to his size. He weighs in at a whopping 15 oz. Needless to say I am more than concerned. The woman claimed he's a teacup, but everything I have been told in the past is that there is no such thing. He is just under 6 inches in length and 4 inches high at the shoulders.

Something told me last night while at work to take the puppy home with me (which we are encouraged to do if we feel the puppy would not do well on its own at night in the kennel.)

Last night he crashed. he started refusing food, even the boiled chicken I cooked for him and chopped finely. He wont touch canned or kibble (we feed nutri-source grain free if you were wondering) after about an hour he started to get up and just fell over and acted as if he could not lift his head. Thinking is was low sugar, I gave him a small bead of nutristat gel on the roof of his mouth and syringed fluids. it took 2 or three times of doing this but he came out of it.

today he has been up and about but still refuses food of all kind (and is still here at home with me btw) Little guy has not left my sight lol.

I went to the owner with this information. we have made the choice NOT to allow this puppy to go out for adoption as he needs an EXTENSIVE amount of care and we fear he would not do well with someone who has no experience in this sort of ordeal.

Here is where I really need some advice. is there ANYTHING I can do to get this puppy to eat again on his own. We have had other puppies do this in the past but all have been much larger and I worry that due to his size this is much more serious. I have heard that yorkies can be picky eaters. does anyone have any tips? open to any and all help with this matter as I have become quite attached.

[KendraE]

How is the pup now?

[Lexi731]

I hope the puppy is doing ok. I am no expert here - but under the Breeder section there is some info on feeding that might help you out. Or you could take him to the vet since they are open now. Good luck and I hope he is OK this morning.

Karen

[sugarmamma]

Originally Posted by KendraE

How is the pup now?

She said 10-11 weeks.

Op I would have him vet checked first and foremost then see if you can contact a yorkie rescue in your area.

Good luck!!

[Yorkiemom1]

Bless your heart, and thank God you had the foresight to take that baby home with you overnight.....he would have died. At this stage of the game, you need to get him to eat ANYTHING he will eat....they will usually eat chicken baby food, or lamb, (beef too but it is stronger so go with the other two first)and with a baby that tiny, you are going to have to feed him off your finger tip to be absolutely sure he eats! Once he begins to eat that baby food, you can pit a glob on a flat lid and let him lick it up from the lid....going back to the tip of your finger if he does not take it from the lid. He wont know how to lap from a bowl yet, so be sure the surface is flat so he can lick it up. After he is eating well a couple of days on the baby food, you can try to mix in some canned puppy food. Good luck and God bless you for devoting the intensive care this baby is going to require.

Originally Posted by puppywub

Wow, where to start. I guess the beginning is always best so here goes.

I work in in a kennel of a pet store. I know, I know, boo hiss but we are not a typical pet store. We sell supplies, the only animals we actually carry are puppies. Before anyone screams puppy mill, please understand that that is not what we are about. All of our puppies are from our local shelter who we feed and care for until they are truly adopted, not sold. The adoption fee covers our cost of shots, vet visits, and microchipping. We are fortunate enough to do enough sales in supplies to be able to do this.

Here is the pickle. Two days ago a woman dropped off a VERY small yorkie puppy. He was checked by our vet and was told he is 10-http://http://img195.imageshack.us/i...91/peanutt.jpg11 weeks old based on his teeth. He received a clean bill of heath and we were told that while he is small...he is not underweight but proportionate to his size. He weighs in at a whopping 15 oz. Needless to say I am more than concerned. The woman claimed he's a teacup, but everything I have been told in the past is that there is no such thing. He is just under 6 inches in length and 4 inches high at the shoulders.

Something told me last night while at work to take the puppy home with me (which we are encouraged to do if we feel the puppy would not do well on its own at night in the kennel.)

Last night he crashed. he started refusing food, even the boiled chicken I cooked for him and chopped finely. He wont touch canned or kibble (we feed nutri-source grain free if you were wondering) after about an hour he started to get up and just fell over and acted as if he could not lift his head. Thinking is was low sugar, I gave him a small bead of nutristat gel on the roof of his mouth and syringed fluids. it took 2 or three times of doing this but he came out of it.

today he has been up and about but still refuses food of all kind (and is still here at home with me btw) Little guy has not left my sight lol.

I went to the owner with this information. we have made the choice NOT to allow this puppy to go out for adoption as he needs an EXTENSIVE amount of care and we fear he would not do well with someone who has no experience in this sort of ordeal.

Here is where I really need some advice. is there ANYTHING I can do to get this puppy to eat again on his own. We have had other puppies do this in the past but all have been much larger and I worry that due to his size this is much more serious. I have heard that yorkies can be picky eaters. does anyone have any tips? open to any and all help with this matter as I have become quite attached.

[Marhcarter]

Any updates?

[KendraE]

Wondering if this story was legit....

[lynzy420]

Originally Posted by sugarmamma

She said 10-11 weeks.

Op I would have him vet checked first and foremost then see if you can contact a yorkie rescue in your area.

Good luck!!

Get to the vet its time, you have done what you can but now you need a professional. Thank you for trying to help this sweet lil one.

[OwnedByJezebel]

Originally Posted by KendraE

Wondering if this story was legit....

+1

A pet store that sources puppies (and only puppies, no adults) from the local shelter for adoption? An owner that just drops off an 11 week old puppy to a pet store so that someone else can adopt it? Having to get an estimate from a vet regarding the pup's age, when they are easily able to contact the person that "dropped off" the pup?

[Nancy1999]

Sounds like classic symptoms of hypoglycemia, and you were right to give the Nutristat, but it’s good to give them food within 20 minutes of giving the Nutristat. Does he have all his baby teeth, is he having a problem chewing? He may even be younger than the vet guessed. You could try softening up a little kibble or giving some boiled chicken. If the puppy is continually getting hypoglycemia, there may be a low grade infection. Here’s more information on hypoglycemia, but I think the vet you work with should be notified about this. Toy Breed Hypoglycemia

[navillusc]

What a cute little guy he is. Thank you for helping him!

[nanahas3]

Hope you have gotten him to eat. Sounds like you are really trying. I agree with Judy on the babyfood. Also be sure he is drinking well even if you have to syringe water into him.

[dawn27]

I hope that this pup has been taken to the vet. to rule out any issues other than the Hypoglycemia.

Is he drinking ok ?

If not you may want to try giving him some goats milk. You can find it in can form or in the dairy dept. I always do half & half goats milk and water than add a tsp of canned puppy food to encourage drinknig.

[puppywub]

OK so update time, "peanut" is at the vet now. We had a pretty rocky night last night. he has been started on iv fluids and we are waiting to hear back as to whats going on. He was up and walking this morning and had a bm in the strangest shade of green I have ever seen.

To those of you who question if this is legit or not, while I understand your reasons for questioning this please understand that unfortunately this is very real. It is not at all uncommon for us to have walk ins who drop of puppies even purebreds. At any given time we have 25-30 puppies in our care. It's my job to get them healthy again, socialize them, and find them forever homes. some parts of the job are just awful (poo patrol being one of them), especially when one of my little guys gets sick, but it's worth it knowing they avoided a needle.

I will post updates on peanut as I can and thank you guys so much for the advice. I know i just kinda popped out of nowhere on this one but seriously, thank you

[Lovetodream88]

I would contact the vet and let him know what is going on he can also show you how to force feed. Have you tried soaking the food in hot water to soften it? How about making the pieces smaller by putting them in a ziploc bag and hitting them with a meat tenderizer. You can even add hot water to the smaller pieces and try to make a mush. Once you get his sugar up you will need to get some food in him even if you have to force it.