7 week old puppy - hypoglycemia? dehydration? HELP!
 

If you have any advice, please help!

We have a 7 week old little boy (the smallest of the litter). Weaned for about 4 days, all of a sudden today he was listless and weak. it was about 7:30 pm central time that I first noticed he was acting weird. I immediately assumed hypoglycemia (since he was fine about 3 hours earlier).

I warmed him up and gave him Nurtical and water through and eye dropper (which he licked, so I took that as a positive). he seemed to respond a little. Still, not much movement, but his eyes were focusing, etc. he threw up at about 9:15

At about 9:30 we gave him 15 mL of room temp Lactated Ringers sub Q...

He's responding a little, moving his head a little and taking a few steps occasionally.

I am letting him rest now, but what could it be? I'm sure I could spend hours looking on here for similar situations, but I don't know if I have that kind of time.

He's about 1 1/2 pounds.

Any recommended next steps for tonight? obviously, vet in the morning if he makes it that far.

I have no advice but will bump this up for you. Maybe you should also post in the breeders section. Maybe there is someone there that will see your post. I hope your little one improves! What a worry. I'll say a prayer. Do you have any ER vets in your area? Might be a good idea to take him in!

Sounds like it is hypoglycemia. It can easily happen once the pups are being weaned. You may not notice a particular pup not eating due to them being in a litter environment and it seems to come on quick. It may take a few days for him to really recover though he may respond well fairly soon. Don't assume he's better for several days. I would try to get some food in him along with the other steps you're taking. He must be kept warm, too. He really needs to eat, whether it's the best food or not, just something that he will eat. If you can't get him to eat, syringe a little canned food into him. You may have to water it down some to get it to work. Also, feed him separately for a few days to make sure he really gets his share. I lost a tiny 11 week old girl some time ago and her symptoms came on suddenly. I treated her much in the same way you are, also feeding her some meat. She bounced back through the night and wanted to run around. I put her in her pen around daylight and took a 3 hour nap. I woke up to find her gone. That's why I say to not assume they're better even when they appear to be. If you can get past the crisis, he needs to be fed often and separately from the litter until he's really over it.

Thanks so much for the advice.

He made it through the night. I gave him some more fluids (sub q) this morning and a bit of formula through an eye dropper. He seems better, just not good by any means. He's holding his head up, licking at the eye dropper a little, and his gums are getting a pink color back (they were greyish / white last night). The vet opens in an hour, so if I can keep him stable that long, he may have a chance (praying).

I did have a hard time finding any information about how much fluids I could give him - does anyone have any suggestions? Best I could come up with was about 10 cc's per pound, and another thing I found said 10 cc's every 2 hours.... I'll ask our vet and post what I find out, but does anyone have a good amount and frequency for administering subcutaneous fluids to suggest for a Yorkie puppy?

Glad to hear he made it through the night. Did the vet give you any advice on the sub-q amount? I've never sub-q'ed anything other than a very young one. Generally, with a pup old enough to be weaned, it's more a matter of getting food in them rather than treating them for dehydration, unless they're showing obvious signs of it. If your litter has 4 or more pups, you may want to separate them into 2 x-pens. You could put the more aggressive eaters in one pen and the slower eaters in the other. This will help ensure that all the pups have a chance to get their fill. Also, doing it this way, it's easier to keep an eye on each individual pup. I would still feed the one that had the episode separately (and supplement with Nutri-Cal) for a few days and keep a close eye on him until he has well recovered. Best of luck. This can be a vulnerable time for pups.

Sarah, what did the vet say about your baby. I hope he is Ok....Let us know...Lissette

Hoping and praying this little one will be alright...

Update!
 

It has been a CRAZY day so far.

Okay, so the little man made it to the vet, who said I was doing everything I could, but there was no way to really tell what's going on with him until we get him stabilized. She sent me home with some injectible anti-naisea medicine and some antibiotics (just in case). She told me to keep doign what I could to keep him fed and hydrated.

As far as the fluids go, she said about 2 cc's in one place at a time, and keep pumping them in as long as they are absorbed. Basically, if the "lump" of fluids goes away, then give him some more.

He wasn't really moving or anything, and I kept giving him fluids, then I mixed up some beef liver broth and milk replacer and fed him with an eyedropper. He started coming around, and is now walking at eating the "soup" on his own from the bowl.

It's a pretty drastic difference.

Sorry it took so long to get an update - we have a female whelping - it's been bad - 3 were born outside apparently overnight while I was trying to revive our little 7 week old guy. Those 3 didn't make it, and she has been slowly having more all day - 9 living ones right now - biggest litter I have ever seen (largest I've seen is 7).


Anyway, thanks for all the advice - I'll be keeping a close eye on him over the next few days and I have also given his littermates some of the liver "soup" I made, just in case. : )

I'll keep everyone posted on what happens in the next few hours - but he is 100 times better than he was last night! If you EVER have a problem, the beef liver broth and sub q fluids are a life saver!

Your doing wonderfully so far. Finger's crossed you saved this little one's
life. Glad to read he's moving around at this time.

Did I read that right? Your other pup had 12 babies so far? Three passed
and 9 are living. Is that female a YORKIE! OMG

Wow, thats alot of puppies....Good Luck and let us know how that baby is doing....Lissette

Yes, that's right, a Yorkie that gave birth to 12 puppies, 9 still living.

One is extremely small and is not doing well. I am hand feeding her - she is full, just not moving around much. Hillary is taking care of her, but it's touch and go right now.

There are 2 males and 7 females still living, the three that passed were also females.

Her last litter was 7, and they all survived and are now in their new pet homes. That was the largest litter I'd ever seen a Yorkie have.

Wow what a litter! Sorry about the 2 that passed but congrats on the 9 which is still a huge litter

I'm confused, you said she had 3 outside overnight that didn't make it. Was mom outside of the house?

She has a doggy door and can go in and out - I am guessing she was outside thinking she had to go potty when she started having the first pup. She cleaned all three of the first ones up, but I guess she didn't know to bring them back inside? I'm not exactly sure. But, When I checked on her at 5:30 this morning she had 5 puppies, and I assumed that was it... by the time we found the other 3, it was too late. I tried to revive them (thinking about them possibly having a "diver's response" or something) but they were gone.

Ahhhh, I'm so sorry about the 3 she lost...but wow...what a litter!!! Keeping my fingers crossed that the rest all thrive...and the one you've been feeding too.