Please give me some good advice.
 

My 11 week old yorkie Cali has been sick for a little over 24 hours now. She's usually very hyper and jumpy but since 6:45 Tuesday morning she's been very to herself and sleeping all the time. She has thrown up 4 times since yesterday morning and I'm very worried. I took her to the vet yesterday afternoon after I got off work and they checked her for worms and parvo, etc. The results came back negative which is good but the doc said that it may be too early to detect anything. I slept on the floor with her last night and she threw up again 2 times. This morning she was very weak looking and drooping her head alot and still sleeping but she did eat all of her dog food like she has been for the past 24 hours. She doesnt drink water very often but when I put her to the bowl she wont stop sipping! I'm not sure what to do and the vet said if shes like this still in 24 hours (this afternoon) to bring her back. I'm not sure if I should wait it out a little longer or take her back immediately? Please give me some advice.

I'd follow the advice of your Vet, because you'd never forgive yourself if something were to happen to her.

i would call the vets this morning and tell them that she threw up again last night, i wouldn't wait....

What is she eating, how often, any changes in diet since you got her, what is her weight? Is she "wobbly" btwn feedings?

Did someone "ship" her to you or did you pick her up? Have you talked to the breeder again? Was she tested yesterday for coccidia or giardia?

Okay, for some advice: keep her hydrated! Buy some flavored Pedialyte (or generic) and add some to water - she might drink more water this way + get some electrolytes. You could add a bit of Karo/corn syrup to her water to get her to drink. Feed her some white rice and canned pumkin.

You could also give a bit of pepto bismol - this will help coat the tummy and ease nausea. Probably an 1/8th-1/4 tsp, depending on her weight.

CALL your vet and let them know she was sick again!

She's eating Mighty Dog Gourmet Meal. She loves it too. The vet said it's great for her. She only weighs 1.7 lbs. She is wobbly between feedings. Why exactly does that happen? I picked her up from the breeder and I called her yesterday but I didnt get to speak to her. And whats even worse is I can't stay home with her so I had my boyfriend stay with her this morning but I wont leave work for another 4 hours. He said that she was sleeping all morning and then she got up and walked around my house a little but then went right back to sleep. I am definately getting her some Pedialyte today and I guess I will go ahead and call the vet again.

Oh, honey, you need to get her OFF that food as soon as she starts to feel better. I hate to tell ya, but that's a terrible food. Chock full of fillers, allergens, by products. A real nasty. Please educate yourself here: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_f...&si=mighty+dog

I linked you to the Mighty Dog Reviews. Then, click around to learn more - get her a 5-star rated food (Mighty is ONE star, btw). The best I can recommned is Canidae for her age - it is an "all stages" food, so you'll never have to switch her.

Since she is 1.7 lbs., she should be eating at least 4x a day right now. If she is "wobbly", that means she is probably hypoglycemic (low blood sugar), which yorkie puppies are known for. They CAN die from this and/or have seizures - so you do need to help her with this. Do you have Nutrical? If not, get to Petsmart and pick it up ASAP. You'll give a pea size dollop any time you suspect she is truly hypoglycemic.

She really needs to eat, esp. at her weight - white rice, canned pumpkin would be best until her tummy settles. Low blood sugar, btw, can cause terrible nausea.

I'm surprised your vet thought Mighty Dog was okay, wow. Also, if he didn't tell you about a Yorkie's reputation for low blood sugar (as a puppy), I'd be a bit cautious w/ that vet bc yorkies are NOTORIOUS for it, and your vet should know that basic info about the breed.

How else can I help? I don't want to overwhelm you here! :p

Wylie'sMom gave you great advice. My Cali was like that when I got her and we nearly lost her several times. I had to feed her, make sure she is eating, every 2-3 hours for awhile. I hope she feels better soon.

Can you make arrangements to have someone check on her throughout the day while you are at work for the next six weeks or so? Hypoglycemia is very dangerous and Cali really should be watched closely.

How much does Cali weigh? The tinier ones are at more risk of hypoglycemia.

My GF is taking Cali to the Vet as we speak. Hopefully everything will be okay but I'm worried. She threw up twice and it seems like she can't even keep her own head up. I feel helpless.

Okay, I just got an update.. As soon as they got to the vet they took Cali's temperature and said she had a low temperature and took her immediately to the vet.

Terrible news...they have to put her in the hospital. I don't what to do- their saying at least $500. And I just don't have additional income right now. They still don't even know what's wrong with her.

Have you talked to the BREEDER??? Are they going to test her glucose (sugar) level? Gosh, I hope she is okay!

Call the Breeder immediatley. Tell the vet to only to absolutely necessary tests. Hopefully it is hypoglycemia and they can get it under control with some fluids and medicine. My Cali had 3 episodes of that and was kept over night and was much better the next day. Can you see if they can stabilize her and you can bring her home for the night and then watch her like a hawk? That may save some money. I know how difficult it is to come up with the extra money but maybe they will work with you. Keep us posted

I agree. You need to call your breeder asap just in case it's more than hypoglycemia.

My Lady has been hospitalized several times for dehydration and she's an eight pound adult dog! It's amazing how quickly toy breed dogs can dehydrate. Each time it has been several hundred dollars just for the IV fluids, so I can understand an estimate of $500 since they don't even know what's wrong with Cali yet.

Do talk to your vet about a payment plan. Lady has a ton of health issues and my vets have been fantastic about working out payment arrangements several times when my bills got way up there. It's so much cheaper to make a payment to them monthly and pay a low interest rate (my vets charges 1&1/2%) rather than putting it on a credit card.

Please keep us posted on your baby.

Find out what tests they want to do, and let us know what they say. I'm praying for your baby...

She has hypoglycemia. What's next? They gave her some honey and she "perked" up a little bit. But my girlfriend was told by Vet that, "it's not good and hard to keep up with in small dogs." What does this mean- Is she not going to be able to live normally so to speak? Or can we get her on a routine diet and she will be fine? Any and all help is appreciated since I'm sure many of you yorkie owners 10 times over have faced similar problems.

Hypoglycemia is very common in small, young pups...You just have to make sure that she eats several tiny meals throughout the day. But make sure that she's eating, otherwise, she will have a hypoglycemic attack and could have a seizure...Basically, hypoglycemia is low blood sugar.
It's important that you keep some nutri-cal, nutri-stat, honey, or karo syrup on hand in case she does have a hypoglycemic episode or to prevent one. If she hasn't been eating well, make sure you give her a tiny bit of one of those things that I mentioned above.

Hypoglycemia is pretty common, so I'm not sure why the vet would give the impression that it's unmanageable. I already posted twice about diet and how to manage the hypogycemia on Page 1 of this thread - so maybe check that out (I don't want to rewrite it) :). She can live normally and will likely outgrow it.

sending you good thoughts and prayers for your baby:getwell: its so hard when there sick, please keep us updated.

Unless Cali is going to end up a super tiny adult, hypoglycemia should only be a problem for a couple of months. Just make sure she eats frequent meals and you watch for the early signs of hypoglycemia.

lethargy
weakness
wobbly, walking "drunk"
restlessness
shivering


Lady is a diabetic and insulin dependant so she has had hypoglycemic episodes. Make sure you keep some sort of quick sugar source on hand, Karo syrup, pancake syrup, even jelly will do. It will give them a quick sugar kick, but you have to follow it up with a little carb meal as soon as possible to keep it up.

Hope your baby grow out of it, :getwell:

Alright, We ended up meeting up with the breeder. Who happens to live in Dallas- Were in Houston. We met halfway. She said she is going to have her for approx a week to get her up and healthy. It's pretty sad and I just hope everything works out.

I would think the first test that a vet should run would be for the low sugar. certainly sounds like that's it. Have you tried a little Karo on her tongue?

Sorry about that late reply. I guess I was posting same as others were. Glad to hear she's on the way to recovery for now.