Rescued Yorkie - Advice please!

[ArchiesMommy]

Hi all, I'm new here and just want to say how I love how kind you all are to one another! So nice to find such a positive place! So down to business. I have just rescued an adult Yorkie. I took him to the vet this morning and she said he was "starving". She recommended I feed him a wet or canned dog food. She also had suspicions he was neglected and abused. Hes a sweet little guy and I'm already so in love with him, but I have no experience with Yorkies! Any advice would be appreciated. One question I have is, What brand or type of wet dog food to help him gain weight? Also, What type of brush would pull less while trying to get tangles out of his matted fur? Thanks!

[Patti]

Welcome and how wonderful that you rescued the little guy. I have an elderly male that was a rescue that a friend adopted then a year later had a stroke so I took Nikki. He also appeared to be abused and neglected. I had to have all his teeth removed and that helped him eat more. Nikki is on canned food for his kidney disease and because he has no teeth. I do feed him some kibble and he does fine with it. I use California Natural canned but there are many good wet foods like Wellness, Canadae to name a few. If he is badly matted you may want to have him professionally groomed and see if he needs to be shaved down. If he isn't too badly matted using a good detangler and a pin brush may get them out. It helps to just comb him for a short time each day until he gets use to it and reward him with a treat. You will find s lot of great info here and just ask any questions you have.

[My lil friend]

So glad that you two have found each other! I dont have alot of experience with rescues,but I would think taking it slow and easy,showing a ton of love. Yorkies are so much like little children and they respond so well to love and a gentle voice.

[My Sophia]

No recommendations, but I would make it a limited ingredient grain free food and do several small meals throughout the day until he's used to getting fed regularly again.

[yorkieusa]

Originally Posted by ArchiesMommy

Hi all, I'm new here and just want to say how I love how kind you all are to one another! So nice to find such a positive place! So down to business. I have just rescued an adult Yorkie. I took him to the vet this morning and she said he was "starving". She recommended I feed him a wet or canned dog food. She also had suspicions he was neglected and abused. Hes a sweet little guy and I'm already so in love with him, but I have no experience with Yorkies! Any advice would be appreciated. One question I have is, What brand or type of wet dog food to help him gain weight? Also, What type of brush would pull less while trying to get tangles out of his matted fur? Thanks!

Welcome to YT. How nice of you to rescue this little yorkie. Your questions have already been answered, but perhaps the following may help you along the way:

Adopting a Rescue Dog: The First Seven Days From Shelter to Home

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ll-rescue.html

I hope things well for you both. There is no love like yorkie love!

[Millies mamma]

No advice!! i think it is amazing that you have saved this little one. You will find lots of advice and lots of friends here

[k. deem]

I have a total of 5 adult Yorkies in my home. Ranging in ages 14 years to 3 1/2 years old. The two oldest are brothers that I acquired years apart, but I have worked diligently for these old fellas. Tinker and Ted are now thriving!! I have posted about a mishap we had in November with Tinker and my younger male. Thankfully we are past that!! My older guys are toothless or nearly toothless. Once you find a diet they like, don't change or introduce too many different things. It is hard to get them back to the diet you want them to follow. My old guys eat rice, chicken and green bean mix. I cook the chicken and use a food processor to chop the chicken and green beans. I offer high quality canned food, low in protein in case they are interested. Sometimes not so much interest there. They love to be touched and held. True lap dogs they are!!! As for grooming, after years of full coat with the top knots and all, I have just this year puppy cut my older guys for various reasons. I think I am going to enjoy the shorter coats, especially when we camp this Summer! Good luck with your "new" older fur baby!!

[Jesslmetz]

Welcome for YT, and I admire you for rescuing your little guy! I don't have any advice on this subject, but wanted to welcome you, and let you know I admire anyone who rescues a yorkie! Good luck!

[zowiandnikasmom]

i would also like to welcome you to yorkie talk! congrats on your new little rescued baby! what is his name? how old is he or estimated to be? thank you for taking him in!

my pixie who is almost 2 now was originally born in a puppy mill then was in a humane society before i adopted her. when i brought her home at 4 1/2 months old and weighing only 2.0 pounds she had fleas, tapeworm, kennel cough, coccidia, and giardia. we got her on meds for everything, gave her several small meals throughout the day, and lots of TLC and she was all better in no time. we postponed getting her vaccines until all else had cleared up. the kind of food really just depends on what works well for your little one and what he will eat. i will say that yorkies are prone to pancreatitis (i have personally been through this 3 times with 2 different yorkies) and while i know you want to add some weight on him, you should probably not give anything too high in fat content because most yorkies have very sensitive systems. you don't want to give too much too fast until his body can adjust to eating regularly. my 2 girls do great on blue buffalo, while others have had problems with it. wellness or natural balance are just a couple of other good brands i considered.

i would also like to inform you about several illnesses and even deaths caused by chicken jerky treats that are sold pretty much everywhere. the fda has sent out warnings but no recalls have been placed because it is unknown what is in these things that makes dogs sick but they are directly linked to so many sad endings. here's a link to read about it:
FDA Continues to Caution Dog Owners About Chicken Jerky Products

we really do wish you all the best with your new little guy and would love to hear more about him so please keep us updated. yorkie talk is a truly wonderful place and is full of information that will help you so i am very glad you found us!!! hugs!

[ArchiesMommy]

Thank you Thank you THANK YOU!! You all have been so helpful, sweet and understanding! I want to answer each of you personally and hope to do that later on today! Thank you all so much!

[ArchiesMommy]

Patti - Thank you for your help! I've been combing him little by little every day. He still doesn't like it and tries to get away, but hes calming down a little. As of now he is eating blue buffalo brand dry food with half a can of wet food a day too. Once he gains a little more weight I'm going to get him groomed. I'm just afraid hes too thin to keep himself warm just yet.

[ArchiesMommy]

Originally Posted by k. deem

I have a total of 5 adult Yorkies in my home. Ranging in ages 14 years to 3 1/2 years old. The two oldest are brothers that I acquired years apart, but I have worked diligently for these old fellas. Tinker and Ted are now thriving!! I have posted about a mishap we had in November with Tinker and my younger male. Thankfully we are past that!! My older guys are toothless or nearly toothless. Once you find a diet they like, don't change or introduce too many different things. It is hard to get them back to the diet you want them to follow. My old guys eat rice, chicken and green bean mix. I cook the chicken and use a food processor to chop the chicken and green beans. I offer high quality canned food, low in protein in case they are interested. Sometimes not so much interest there. They love to be touched and held. True lap dogs they are!!! As for grooming, after years of full coat with the top knots and all, I have just this year puppy cut my older guys for various reasons. I think I am going to enjoy the shorter coats, especially when we camp this Summer! Good luck with your "new" older fur baby!!

Thank you! I actually have a baby food making system that I think would work really well for this! Thank you for the idea!

[ArchiesMommy]

Originally Posted by zowiandnikasmom

i would also like to welcome you to yorkie talk! congrats on your new little rescued baby! what is his name? how old is he or estimated to be? thank you for taking him in!

my pixie who is almost 2 now was originally born in a puppy mill then was in a humane society before i adopted her. when i brought her home at 4 1/2 months old and weighing only 2.0 pounds she had fleas, tapeworm, kennel cough, coccidia, and giardia. we got her on meds for everything, gave her several small meals throughout the day, and lots of TLC and she was all better in no time. we postponed getting her vaccines until all else had cleared up. the kind of food really just depends on what works well for your little one and what he will eat. i will say that yorkies are prone to pancreatitis (i have personally been through this 3 times with 2 different yorkies) and while i know you want to add some weight on him, you should probably not give anything too high in fat content because most yorkies have very sensitive systems. you don't want to give too much too fast until his body can adjust to eating regularly. my 2 girls do great on blue buffalo, while others have had problems with it. wellness or natural balance are just a couple of other good brands i considered.

i would also like to inform you about several illnesses and even deaths caused by chicken jerky treats that are sold pretty much everywhere. the fda has sent out warnings but no recalls have been placed because it is unknown what is in these things that makes dogs sick but they are directly linked to so many sad endings. here's a link to read about it:
FDA Continues to Caution Dog Owners About Chicken Jerky Products

we really do wish you all the best with your new little guy and would love to hear more about him so please keep us updated. yorkie talk is a truly wonderful place and is full of information that will help you so i am very glad you found us!!! hugs!

You are too sweet! Thank you so much for all the info!! I'm so sorry to hear about your little pixi! What a start to life! I'm glad shes doing better with you now! My little guy's name is Archibald (: I call him Archie. The vet aged him at 5 years, but something I read about dogs coming from the mill situation could have teeth in worse shape than most dogs their age. I think he is younger. I'm going to wait until he has plumped up a bit before getting his vaccines.
And I think I'm just going to get him one at a time as well. Just to be safe.I have him on Blue Buffalo now. He really likes it! He is getting a lot of his strength back and is jumping onto the couch with ease for the first time today! He is doing so well and I'm so excited to have him home with me!

[ArchiesMommy]

Originally Posted by yorkieusa

Welcome to YT. How nice of you to rescue this little yorkie. Your questions have already been answered, but perhaps the following may help you along the way:

Adopting a Rescue Dog: The First Seven Days From Shelter to Home

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ll-rescue.html

I hope things well for you both. There is no love like yorkie love!

Thank you for the links! They were super helpful!!

[ArchiesMommy]

[QUOTE=Patti;3878100]Welcome and how wonderful that you rescued the little guy. I have an elderly male that was a rescue that a friend adopted then a year later had a stroke so I took Nikki. He also appeared to be abused and neglected. I had to have all his teeth removed and that helped him eat more. Nikki is on canned food for his kidney disease and because he has no teeth. I do feed him some kibble and he does fine with it. I use California Natural canned but there are many good wet foods like Wellness, Canadae to name a few. If he is badly matted you may want to have him professionally groomed and see if he needs to be shaved down. If he isn't too badly matted using a good detangler and a pin brush may get them out. It helps to just comb him for a short time each day until he gets use to it and reward him with a treat. You will find s lot of great info here and just ask any questions you have.[/QUOTE

Thank you for your help! I've been combing him little by little every day. He still doesn't like it and tries to get away, but hes calming down a little. As of now he is eating blue buffalo brand dry food with half a can of wet food a day too. Once he gains a little more weight I'm going to get him groomed. I'm just afraid hes too thin to keep himself warm just yet. I just got some detangler and it works really well! The only thing is he HATES the spray sound. It scares him every time, but on a positive note it makes him smell sooo good! I think he's adjusting well so far. Thanks again!!