I don't know what's wrong! I need help. .
 

My puppy hasn't eaten since Wednesday night (Sept. 26) and I have no idea why. He went to the vet after he missed one more meal because I was concerned that something was obviously wrong. I tried the ice chips and he wanted no part of that. When he got to the vet, he was severely dehydrated, his temperature was way too low, his blood sugar was dismal, and he was vomiting. I have no idea what happened because I've been watching him SO closely to make sure he's been eating properly and it seems as though he just decided to fall apart all of a sudden. He's been at the vet since Thursday with no luck in finding what may be wrong with him. Although his temperature has risen to a normal level and he is properly hydrated now, his blood sugar keeps bouncing around, most likely due to the fact that he hasn't eaten in so long. He was checked for parvo and that was negative. He was checked for liver and kidney problems. Those were alright. His electrolytes were checked and they were pretty low although she said that could be due to the fact that he isn't eating. His tests came back that he's anemic, although she said that may be because she had to take blood samples to run the tests. He seemed to be getting better and eating food on Saturday, but then decided he wasn't interested and has been spitting up anything else she's tried. He will tolerate the nutri-cal if it is syringed into his mouth. He usually doesn't touch his water and he hasn't had a good poop in a while. I think we've exhausted a bunch of the tests and I just want him home. The longer this goes, the more of a chance he has of not coming home because obviously he has to eat. I just don't know what to do and any suggestions on what is going wrong. I don't think he got into anything although I can't completely rule that out. I just want some answers. . . My heart can't handle losing another puppy :cry:

I am praying for your furbaby. I wish I had some advice of what else to try. Does the vet have someone else she can consult with or is their a university vet run school near you that could offer a second opinion?

I'm so sorry you are going thru this.

I hope that your baby gets better. I know that scary feeling all too well, you can read about that at the following link, and get a recipe for great formula that saved my baby's life.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58036

I will keep y'all in my prayers:hands:!

There aren't any schools around here that specialize in veterinary studies and we do have another vet in town, but I've had some problems with them in the past with my older dog. I picked this vet because I thought they would have more answers, but it seems as though I'm running out of those. . .

Prayers are coming your way. Have they tried any homemade cooking with him? Can you make him some chicken and rice and bring it to him?

Maybe some white rice w/ some chicken broth for flavor, put a bit of canned pumpkin in, a bit of boiled chicken. Try to encourage the water by adding some corn syrup or Pediatlyte. I do hope he improves soon!

My friends yorkie was much the same as you discribe your baby. She also refused all foods/treats. She took her to the vet, and they found her whole mouth/gums were infected, and hurting badly. They treated her, after that, she still wasnt eating, i used to bring her over to my house to try feed her there, because her, and my Chelsey are best friends, and she copies Chelsey, so we thought, if she sees her eat, she will too.... but it wasnt happening, we took her to the vet, i asked her to send her to a vetenairy clinic to run all sorts of tests incl. liver shunt. They found that she had a very bad intestine inflamitry, and was treated, she was out of sorts for a long time, but she is fine now... still a picky eater, but thats not abnormal for a yorkie.

I will be keeping your baby in my thoughts, and prayers.

Best wishes, and please keep us posted.

Poor baby, Cali was a terrible eater when I first got her, The only food she would eat was Cesars which isn't a good food but at least she would eat it. I switched her later when she was bigger. Good luck I will keep her in my prayers Iknow how heartbreaking it is when they are so sick.

It's not looking good right now. The vet called earlier this evening and told me that she will run a Barium test to see if there is an obstruction in his intestines. If there is, surgery is the only way to remove it, which he is probably way too small to survive. If there is no obstruction, she told me to start thinking about putting him down. I'm crying as I type this because I can't even imagine what went so horribly wrong. On Monday for his check up he was perfectly fine and two days later, he was lying limp in the vet's office. He won't eat anything, including the rice mixture. He snubs his nose at everything and doesn't really appreciate the nutrical. Do puppies eat while they are on IVs?

I am so, so sorry to hear this. Have your vet run a bile acid test on your baby. I will pray he will be ok.

She already ran tests to determine if anything was wrong with his liver or kidneys and the tests came back with good scores.

Does anybody know if puppies eat while hooked up to IVs? Maybe he just isn't hungry because he's already getting his supplements?

Did they ever check him for coccidea or giardia? Both are sometimes hard to catch in a sample, but the not good stools would have me wondering. Giardia causes pups to stop eating and could cause low blood sugar from that!

Oh I am so sorry! You and your puppy are in my thoughts and prayers.

I am so sorry. Is their a ER vet in the area that your vet can consult with who may have some more experience with critical puppies. I will keep him in my prayers.

I'm so sorry to hear about your poor baby. I will say a prayer for him...and for you. I hope he comes through this! *HUG*

I'm going to suggest that she run the tests again because I've read a couple of places on here that said their puppies tested negative for Coccidia in the first test, but ended up having it. I also don't know if it's because I switched his food and he just didn't like that, but I wouldn't understand how that would have been a week ago and he still doesn't want to touch anything. I researched a little last night and decided that the IVs may be the problem because in several cases, the puppies refused food since they were getting enough calories. It wouldn't take too many calories to satisfy a little guy like him.

I wish I did because that would help so much right now. The vet bill is getting outrageous and since I'm still a student, I don't know how much more I can afford, but it would kill me to know this is fixable. I know it just has to be fixable. . .


Thanks to everyone for praying for my little guy. You seriously don't know how much I appreciate it. I think I may suggest taking him off the IV for a bit to see how he handles everything on his own and maybe he'll want to eat a bit.

Sending prayers your way. When we got Piper she tested positive for coccidia, the vet treated her but she wasn't getting any better. Two weeks later she tested positive for giardia. After the vet treated her for that she started getting better. It took a month. Giardia causes anorexia, they wont eat with that parasite. Hope your vet finds a cure for what is causing the problem.

They stop eating even with Coccidia don't they? I thought I had read that somewhere although I've read so many things lately I can't remember. He very well could have both. I just hope whatever he has is curable, and very very soon.

My thoughts are with you and your baby. I hope he get better and eats soon.

I am praying for little Lijay to get better soon. What can it hurt if they start treating him for Girarida? Maybe it would help him. I feel so sorry for your little one. Lots and lots of prayers coming your way.

Sending prayers for you little baby :getwell:

Thanks for the prayers. I hope they help.

The vet ran a Barium test yesterday which passed through rather quickly meaning there were no blockages in his system. She wants to start him on a medication called Hetistarch or something like that to bring his protein levels back up and see what that will do for us. So far he has made it through two force feedings without spitting anything up or vomiting, so we'll see where that goes. The Barium is said to soothe the intestinal tract maybe making his tummy feel better so he can eat a little. The vet said it still doesn't look good but puppies can always be surprising. The rice with chicken broth just made him dehydrated because of the salt in the broth so I'm going to try just plain rice. I don't know what I can put on it to make it sound appetizing though.

She ran another series of tests for coccidia and different types of worms which came back negative again. The girardia also came back negative, so I have no idea what else could be causing this.

I'm still praying for him so much hoping something will change. If not, the vet said I seriously need to consider putting him down. But, how can I do that. He's just a baby. . . :(

The vet found an infection under his IV from his sugar drip which hopefully was causing his tummy ache to where he didn't feel like eating. We may not know for a while, but the vet is able to get food down him, not on his own but he's at least getting some. . He has had a complete turn around as far as physical appearance. He just needs to eat know. . . I tried rice, pudding, peanut butter, milk, so many things. He's just not into it.

I am so sorry that your poor puppy is not feeling well. I am happy to see that he is making some improvement. How old is you puppy? I pray that he can pull through. They are such fighters.

I used the following recipe:
1/2 cup goat's milk
1/2 cup Gerber rice cereal
1 jar of Gerber's baby meat (I used beef)
1 tsp. karo syrup

try this. I am going throught the same thing, my baby has been in the hospital for a week and just would not eat. Could feel every bone in her body. I have her home now trying to feed her and someone gave me this recipe and she actually ate it on her own. I had to force feed her through the night, but she did eat on her own. Force 5 ml down her if you can every 2 hours, and use pedialight 4 times a day.

I know what you are going through, it is rough, but from what everyone told me they will get through it in a week or two if you can just get her to eat.

He's two months today actually. We still have no idea what is wrong. He won't eat although he is functioning like he is alright. She has to change the IV tonight and is running out of places to put it since she doesn't really want to put it back into his neck. He's fighting, but I'm running out of money and the vet said we are running out of time to keep him on the IV.

I am praying that he makes it. You are doing a great job with giving this little guy a chance. Just don't yourself doing it. Keep your chin up.

I actually read this post when someone replied to your question and he doesn't want any part of it. The vet has been force feeding him right now, so I have no idea what I'll end up doing. She gave me a couple of options, none of which I really like so I don't know what to do. #1: take him home off the IV which she said he won't last #2 Keep him on the IV until he eats which I can't afford any longer #3 insert a tummy tube to feed him directly to the tummy #4 put him down since he won't eat.
#4 is definitely not an option for me. I talked to my breeder and she was willing to take him back and feed him since I can't because of school and work. I could probably make it home to do so, but I would need to skip work which doesn't suit me well since I have an over $1000 vet bill. I just don't know what to do. The breeder wants me to take him back and she'll give me the brother, but I can't give my baby away. I appreciate her willingness to help out in this, but I'm not sure what I want to do. My fiance said I should try the tummy tube until he starts to eat, but I don't know how long he'll have to stay on that. . .

Sadly I would have to say the tummy tube too. But if you do this you have to know the point that you are going to need to stop if things are not getting better. I know that this your baby, but I would consider taking another pup if that is an option too. Maybe you can work something out with the breeder. I am so sorry to hear about your baby and I will pray that he gets better soon.