My 11 wk old yorkie is severely Anemic
 

Hi my 11 week old yorkie has been very sick and we finally got her over the hump, but there is still one ailment that is lingering , she is severly anemic. wondering if anyone out there has dealt with this and have any solutions ..... Thanks

I don't have an answer, but I hope your little one gets better. Bumping this up so someone with experience will see it.

I am sorry your baby is sick. Is she under the care of a vet? What is causing her to be anemic? Has she had blood work done? What kind of diet do you have her on? If you can give us a little more information we might have some suggestions.

11 wk old yorkie
 

Hi Folks, ok so we got our baby girl, Roxie at 8 weeks and she was active and eating kibble at the breeders... we brought her home, and she was expectedly sad, leaving the other adult yorkies and her little boy littermate .. she refused to eat the first 24 hrs we had her .....and started the second day but that was too late , she had a hypoglycemic seizure and scared the day lites out of us.... we took her to a animal emergancy room and they diagnosed her ... after a few hours we brought her home and nursed her with a&d vet food and karo syrup... we got her back to healthy for about 4 days and then we had to leave the country for my moms funeral, we left her, with instructions with someone very responsible and she was so sad that we left that she refused to eat and ended up worse then the first incident , we were gone 4 days and came home a day early .... the night we got home she had two seizures and again was rushed to er and she was again hypoglycemic her sugar was 20, dehydrated, weak, they found a parasite in her stool... and severely anemic.... as of the last two days, we have her back to eating on her own, sugar is good .... she is on antibiotic etc, she is much better, her weight is now 15.2oz she is very tiny.. spent the week in er. everything is better but her anemia and the doctor said it should get better with the more food she eats but i did not know if anyone knows of anything that would help it along... I have been taking care of her day and night . syringe feeding in the middle of the night and checking her every two hours... anyone have any experience with this ???

Your story is exactly the reason why Yorkies should not go to their new homes until they are at least 12 weeks ago. Reputable breeders keep tiny ones like yours longer, usually until they reach two pounds.

Has your vet suggested any special diet or supplement to raise her red blood count? What are you feeding her now?

Given what has happened to her, she could be weak from her hypoglycemic episode but I don't see that translating directly to anemia. Parasites could do it if there was a heavy infestation. Possibly the combination of the 2 has got her down. Did the vet diagnose anemia through blood work or just by examination?

You could try boiling some liver and using the broth from it for her. You could put it over her food and she may well eat it on her own. It is very iron rich and will help to build red blood cells.

Hopefully she's just had a rough start. There is a type of anemia that is auto-immune related (AIHA). If the anemia is persistent, this is a possibility. Here's a link with a little introductory info to it.

Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia in dogs - Chinaroad Lowchens of Australia

You may want to ask your vet about this. He/she will likely just want to get her over this hump and treat the symptoms for now, but, if the anemia is recurrent, AIHA is a possibility.

11 wk old yorkie
 

we agree, we think we got her too early, right now the puppy has started playing and is doing better... the doctor has been checking her anemia with blood tests. she wants to keep an eye on her and is hoping that with the more food she eats, the more red blood cells will be produced but I may try the liver boiling... she really is better ... and we are so happy..

You need to be very careful now that she seems better. Once they become hypoglycemia it can turn into a cycle of the blood sugars rising and then crashing. Make sure that she is getting fed every fews hours to achieve a consistency of her glucose levels. It is always better to keep the levels good with food them trying to correct them after the fast with a quick sugar fix ie Karo syrup/nutrical. Keep a special eye on her especially after play since this would be when a drop would be seem. Keep up the good work and hopefully this is just a hump that she needs to get past. :)

11 wk old yorkie
 

thanks for all the great information! right now she is on chicken and rice... Doing well and putting weight on.. she is now 15.2oz.... will keep you posted.

Be careful with the liver, add it slowly as you don't want her to get sick from it. My dogs broke into a bag I had liver in at a show once, ate it all, and had the worse diarrhea.

Good luck with your baby. I'm sorry to hear she has been having such a hard time at such a young age. I am so saddened and amazed at how many little yorkie babies suffer needlessly because the breeders sell them and send them out too early.

this may seem crazy but Gatsby gets anemic regularly we are still trying to find out why.
hear are a few foods i find helps.
frozen peas are good because they are sweet and if you mush them up they mix into just about anything do not give canned peas as they have preservatives i was told could be harmful.
sweet potatoes if you boil or bake them soft and mush them up they love it or at least my dogs do with this if you need to go ahead and give some canned its not the best but sometimes unavoidable i have a hard time buying sweet potatoes in the store
applesauce (from a jar once again not a can)i give him a spoonful hear and thear when he is not feeling well, but your pup my only need a lick or so to help
Eggs okay this may seem obvious but my dog likes egg and it gives a little protein wear the rest of the things on my list are high in iron i generally put every thing in the food processor until it is a mushy kinda paste and mix in with the food he is already eating (which is a home-cooked recipe)give him his vitamin and try to watch him
Gatsby had to have a transfusion last summer and he has collapsed on me once since then so watch your baby like a hawk