Two of my three Yorkie puppies died
 

Two of my three Yorkie puppies just died last week at age 4 weeks. I have never cried as much as I did for those puppies. I had taken the first puppy to the vet two days before, telling him he was losing weight and acting lethargic. He checked his heart, palpated his stomach, checked his mouth and eyes and said he'd be fine. I said I don't want this puppy to die. He said it wouldn't. Two days later it died, and two days after that the second one died. I wasn't home when the first one died, but when the second one showed the same symptoms, I rushed him to the Emergency Clinic. They did a stool analysis and blood cultures and found he was anemic, his blood sugar was sky high and he had huge amounts of campylobacter in the stool. If the original vet, who is supposed to be really good, had done a stool sample, he would have found the campylobacter and put the puppy on antibiotics. Both puppies would be alive and not dead.

We took Savannah, the mother, and the third puppy and had them tested and they were positive. All dogs were started on antibiotics immediately and the third puppy is doing really well, playful, eating well, and is just a doll. I am keeping her and calling her Princess Willow Brooke (Willow).

The Emergency Clinic sent a fax of their report to my vet, so he knows at least one died. I don't know how to feel about him now. I think he is partly to blame for their deaths.

He also had told me to start the puppies on Gerber's veal baby food. Could that have been tainted? The first puppy started having problems the next day. How can I get the food tested where it won't cost me any money?

Sad Lorna

It's so hard still to cope with what happened, but every day it gets a little easier. There are days that pass when I wish I had another little baby to hold, but I do have Maizee and I think right now, that's all I should have. I spoke with the breeder and she said when I'm ready, we can talk about getting a new one. I would really like to get a puppy from the same mother, assuming everything is ok with the bloodline. After I told the breeder what happened with my baby, she immediately checked the other puppies produced by both sets of parents. I haven't heard yet what the news is, but I'm hoping it's positive. My breeder ended up keeping the other three siblings in the litter. The little boy, I would say, is just about one pound more than my little Jerzee was, putting him around 2 1/2 - 3 pounds. The sisters on the other hand are a healthy 8 and 9 pounds. Could there be something wrong with this? I didn't know there was that much difference in sizes of puppies in a litter. My friend who is a doctor (not vet) suggested that maybe she had a preexisting heart problem because of some of the signs she displayed before I took her in that I really didn't think too much about and also because she said that with patients with heart problems, the person doesn't grow as much as they could without a problem, which could be why Jerzee was so small. Also, I read that congenital heart disease occurs in puppies less than one year of age. Does anyone know any possible problems? I have no idea. . .

OMG!!! I'm so so sorry for you! May i ask...how common is this with what should be a routine procedure? I'm terrified now as i was planning to get my new baby spayed as soon as possible.
My heart goes out to you it really does... big hugs from across the miles.

Kerry x