New Owner of 10 week Yorkie-HELP!
 

Hello,

I have a 10 week Yorkie that I have had for almost a week now. I took her to the Vet to have her checked out the Monday after I got her. She turned out having Coccidiosis. She is taking Albon, is not eating much and at times like right now, seems very lethargic! She is a Teacup and weighs only 1 pound 2 ounces. Lost an ounce it appears. I am wondering how much should she be eating every day? And is it normal to have really sleepy moments where she seems lethargic or do I need to give her sugar water for hypoglycemia? I get so worried when she gets like this and feel like she is not eating enough. I also give her a couple peadrops a day of that Calorie tube stuff. (Can't think of the name this second). Please tell me if there is anything I can do to get her to eat more. Also, tried giving her those poop tablets to stop her from wanting to eat her yucky poop, but she doesn't like them! UGH!

Bless her heart! I know the first question most will have is what are you currently feeding her and how much? I have never dealt with a tiny one before, nor one on Albon, but I wanted to say hello. Welcome to YT!

Puppies do sleep a lot. They play really hard and then sleep really hard. Also, most yorkie owners don't like the term "teacup". There really is no such thing. She is a very tiny one though, isn't she?

How much and how often is she eating? And do you have nutri-cal or kero syrup? if so give her some every couple of hrs.

Have you tried giving her some wet puppy food? Do you leave her with food all day? A puppy that small should always have access to food and water.

Puppies do need a lot of sleep and maybe she just needs more because of the coccidiosis that she is recoviering from?

She is eating Eukanuba puppy food which I was saoking with water first and then mashing. But since that seemed to get yucky before she would eat it all, I started to grind it in a grinder to almost powder form and she seems to like that. I probably put about 1/8 of a cup in her bowl maybe 1/4 and I can't tell how much she eats. Just not much. (I leave it out all day for her except for when I put her to bed in a crate). The breeder that sold her to me said to also feed her the boiled chicken w/white rice, but she won't eat that at all. I am going to the Vet on Monday to exchange the Albon for the other anitbiotic that is used for Coccidia since it it possible that she developed a resistance to the Albon due to the breeders giving it to her as preventative every other day for 10 days or so. Last day being December 25th the day before I bought her. When I had inquired about the Albon they told me not to worry it was just preventative. Ya Right!!!

I also would like to know... which are the best doggy potties for Yorkies? Currently I am using Newspapers. I have googled a few, but would love to hear from other Yorkie owners what worked best for them.

Yes, since reading up on Yorkies, I have read on many occassions that there is no such thing as a "Teacup". But since that is what she sold her as and charged me waaaaaaay more money for her, and being so tiny it is worrisome, I called her one. I will make a point to not do that again here since it seems to offend.

I just am not sure if there is anything I should be doing/giving her. Such as a supplement or honey, sugar water, etc... I even have given her some pediasure (spelling?).

I just really want the antibiotic to clear up this parasite and to stop the diarrhea. I am not one for antibiotics, but I do not see an alternative in this case.

Also wondering are there any of you out there who believe in an alternative Vaccination schedule? I read about one on Shirley's Wellness Cafe and I do think I should vaccinate this puppy who already has had 2 series since she is such a tiny fragile thing, but wonder if the schedule they recommend might really give lifetime immunity without giving her the yearly boosters after 2 years. I am one who believes all of the toxins/heavy metals in the shots given to animals and people for that matter cause many other terrible diseases.

Yes, I leave her food and water out all day except for when she sleeps in the crate for bedtime. (The breeder I bought her from said it is cruel to crate train Yorkies and that it can kill them.) The Vet and others told me that is not true and that it is fine. Any thoughts on that here?

I do have Nutri-cal (that was the name I meant to say earlier). The Vet told me only to give her 2 peadrops a day (3 at the most. Which I have been giving.) She said more would be giving her too much sugar.

She might not want to eat just because she doesn;t feel well. When I had brought my first one home, she had kennel cough and wouldnt eat much of anything for me until she was well on her meds.

Maybe she is also a picky eater. Try some actual wet puppy food and see if that helps.
Also check with your vet and see if they have something they can give you to feed her. When mine was sick, I actually got some special food from my vet that was high in protein and nutrients that my puppy needed because she wasn't eating.

As for doggy potties, I use washable pee pads and have them in a pee pad holder. The pee pad holder helps prevent the puppies from missing with their aim. I personally don;t like the newspapers or disposable pee pads because my little terrors would tear those to shreds :)

Is your vet available for phone calls on the weekend? Maybe you could call your vet tomorrow (or today depending on timezone :) and ask what you should be doing instead of waiting until Monday?

I sent you a PM.

Is your vet familer with small breeds??

OOOOH NOOOO. Ive had a few of the tiny ones and my opinion is that is not enough Nutri-cal . Any other opinions on this out there?

I am also asking the same question.

Wow-Im blown away that you were sold such a tiny baby at 10 weeks. Shame on that breeder!!!! I think your right that the baby probably has a resistance to what your giving since it had already been given by the breeder. Consult your vet about trying something else asap.

Maybe you could try some Gerbers rice cereal mixed with water to add to the puppy food and warm it up a little (and even try adding some boiled chicken bites to it). You could also try giving a drop of karo syrup about 20 minutes before you feed to make sure shes awake enough to eat better. If she's not eating well, one drop of Nutrical only twice a day might not be enough to keep her strength up.

Since your unsure of how much she is eating, try feeding her out of a spoon so you can actually see how much she's getting. I'd try to get her to eat a spoonful a couple of times a day. I'm not an expert, but thats what I'd try.

Good luck with your baby.

My girl weighed about 3 pounds when I got her at 4 months of age, my vet recommended one inch of Nutrical twice a day. Maybe try 1/2 inch of it twice a day.

She was 9 weeks when I got her! They now have told me to take her back, but frankly I don't trust them and it is a very long drive and I think she would just get re-infected there!

I had a huge problem with my first yorkie. sounds a lot like the OP. I almost lost my lil girl(she is now happy healthy but not even 4 pounds) I can not type as fast as I want to talk. I will try to post in a few sections just because there is not time to waste in info for these lil ones.
I just thougt my Daisy Mae was sleeping. went to wake her (did not seem right) she was in a coma:eek:. (thank god for my son- educated with animals and only 15 at the time) I was calling the 24 hour vets as he was rubbing her gums with karo syrup. Finally got her into the vet , he said she was fine (WRONG) I found a new vet now that is great:) anyway she still did not seem right. did not walk normal-clumsy. did not eat. pale. just a mess.
later the same day took her to our current vet. It was a day and nite 24/7 job to keep her alive
my vet had me; give her nutra cal (about the size of a small pea) every 2 hours- I had to even set my alarm
keep her warm with a water bottle or heating pad on low
I had to syrenge feed her every 2 hours (canned food- I used Science dite ad) but anything will work for the most important thing at this point is to get food into her. I mixed the canned food with water to water it down so it would work with the syrenge better.

I think crate training is good so long as she has plenty of time outside the crate. Crate training wont kill a yorkie. A crate with food, water, a warm doggie bed and a fav toy sounds like a pretty cozy and safe place to be at night :)

I had to use albon for over a month.

A tiny puppy like this can go down very fast buy a can of goat milk
and cut it with water 50/50 give to her as well as her other food

they will usually drink this it is the best nourishment plus it will keep her from getting dehydrated, seems she needed to stay with the mom until she was a little older & bigger. good luck

I agree--try the goats milk :thumbup::thumbup: and give more pea sized doses of the Nutrical. You can add some rice cereal to the goats milk too.

Your puppy is just so small. Its so sad that the breeder had you take her home at such an early age and she was sick to boot. :(

If you can;t reach your vet until Monday, maybe you should call your local small animal hospital and ask them what to do?
The place I take my dogs to is a small animal hospital as well and I know they will answer any ones questions free of change when they call.
Until then you might want to try and give her more nutri-cal as a couple others have mentioned. You normally can't give too much nutri-cal.

Be sure to keep her warm too.

I sent you a PM with my number. Please feel free to call me. I can talk and explane better with words the type on here. I may be over reaction but these lil ones are so fragile when things are not going well.

ABSOLUTELY not over reacting. Just a very good doggie MaMa.

Thank you. I did talk to her on the phone. I let her know what I had to do with my lil one. Everything that the vet had me do. I hope that everthing is ok. It may be a long road ahead with this lil one but I feel good that she has a wonderful new mommy that cares about her, She will do whatever she needs to for her lil girl. The OP is a really nice lady and loves her new baby:) I feel better.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I also agree with giving her goat milk. I served my babies warm goat milk and finely chopped hard puppy food. My babies loved it.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

brendah, how very nice of you to call her. You're awesome.
This is exactly why I tell everyone new to this site that there are so many caring, knowledgeable and supportive people here.
Strangers helping strangers! You are all amazing people and I consider myself very lucky to have found this site. I am blessed to have a healthy little girl (with the exception of dry eye which is being treated).
I know that if I have an issue or God forbid I lose her, I can come here and always find the support I may need.

For my small boy when I got him I was instructed to syringe feed him (I blended up his puppy food mixed with baby chicken food and gave him that). So I'd feed him about 4-6x a day about 1/2 a syringe. (Big needle looking syringe-without the feeding tube)Pic below. He weighted about the same. Puppies that small shouldn't go home to their new owner till 4months.

I also feed maple syrup in a dropper about a teaspon every few hours and after playing. Don't let him play too much and let him sleep.

Hope this helps.

One thing that stands out to me is that this tiny baby has already had 2 sets of shots at 10 weeks. That, to me, is too much too soon. She shouldn't have had her first set until 8 weeks and should be due for her second set at 12 weeks. The first set she was given was much too early and wouldn't be considered effective due to her getting immunities from her Mom. With her being so tiny, the vaccinations could be a cause for her condition....it certainly doesn't help.

A baby this small has so little reserves that her activity should be extremely limited until she is stronger. If you are giving her Nutri-Cal, after playtime would be the time to use it and also before bedtime. She should be fed often, and by that I mean making sure she eats and not just offering her food. She certainly needs to eat after any activity and food can be left out for her but she need to be seen eating. If she's eating only a small amount, make sure she eats 5 to 6 times daily.

You could also dissolve some karo in her drinking water. You don't want to over-do the sugar but a lethargic baby should be assumed to have low blood sugar.

I'm not sure why the breeder would give Albon as a preventative every other day. If you're going to do it, it needs to be daily to be effective. Also, I have given my pups Albon before and they never had any reaction to it. I really believe the lethargy is due to her eating poorly.

She should have enough teeth to eat kibble by now. You may find her eating better if you mix some canned in with her food or just give her straight canned. You really want her to build some strength now so she really must eat well.

Also, watch her little bum for poop sticking to her rear. Stuck poop can lead to other problems and is just one of those things to watch for in a young pup.

You may want to look for a better quality food for her. I wouldn't switch her abruptly but transition her slowly. Look for a food with no fillers (corn, wheat soy) and no meat by-products. I use Nature's Logic but there are many quality foods available.

Best of luck with your baby.

Sounds like you've gotten some wonderful advise. I just wanted to offer my thoughts and prayers to your baby! Please, update us on how she's doing when you can. (((((Hugs)))))

Everyone here is so great. I sometimes wonder what I ever did without you guys! :)