How much Kibble for 1.8 lb one yr. old yorkie

[broodizt]

Hi all,

Cassie and I recently joined Yorkie Talk.Com Cassie is our new family member, and she is a doll. She was 1 yr. old on 3/19/08. My question is,
how much should I feed a 1.8 lb Yorkie adult. One of the vet's suggested 1/4 cup of kibble a day, but I was wondering if that was unrealistic. When I put it in her tiny bowl it fills it all the way up, and it looks like she's eaten nothing at the end of the day. I hadn't been counting the kibble (very tiny kibble), but it seemed that nothing was missing. Another yorkie lover also has an under 2.b yorkie and she says she feeds her 15 kibbles 3x a day. I tried this 2x (soaked the kibble in water and added teeny bit of gerber strained chicken. She ate it all up twice. So I tried to increase the amount to equal a quarter cup today and I'm afraid she ate too much. The other day I was worried she didn't eat enough and I fed her kibble treats and other people food and she got very very sick. She threw up, had the poops. Very sick. So I don't want to over feed her or under feed her. What is realistic for her adult size? she is not super active. Very mellow. Please help.

Thanks in Advance for all your help. Thanks.

[Wylie's Mom]

When I fed kibble, I just used free feeding - as I did with all of my pets who ate kibble, and I never had an overeater. Is that a possibility for you? Is she over weight, under, or ?

[Ellie May]

Hmm, it is hard to say since she is so small.
What brand of food are you feeding?

[FL Tink]

Bella ate alot as puppy so I was never able to free feed. But, once she was a year she only takes what she needs.. Be careful with the baby food. Sometimes there are hidden things like onions to increase flavor.
I feed Bella honest kitchen now. it is a dehydrated raw food that i rehydrate with hot water. it is soft like oatmeal. she loves it. If you ever see it in a pet store ask for a free sample. YOU may even be able to get a sample online!
MY vet told me if you can feel their ribs but not see them they are eating enough! Good luck!

[broodizt]

Hello everyone,

I am so so glad you responded to my question. Gosh, I thought nobody would answer and I am so worried. So thank you thank you thank you all so much for your responses. To answer your questions:
Wylies Mom: No she is not over or underweight. I think she is what she is.
She is just very tiny. I tried to free feed her kibble but she will not eat the hard kibble. If I put other food in it like a teaspoon of cottege cheese or baby food, she licks it off and leaves the kibble. If I leave wet soaked kibble (more than she will eat in a day), it gets all crusty and sour. The trick is finding out what is reasonable for a 1.8 lb grown adult yorkie actually should be eating. I have counted the kibble in a 1/4 of a cup and it
equals 166 kibble. I divided this into breakfast lunch and dinner and that came to 55 kibble each meal. I soaked the 55 kibble in the morning with just a 1/3 teaspoon of gerber strained chicken and she went for it very enthusiastically . But it took her a whole day and night to finish just the breakfast portion of 55 kibble. I left dry kibble over night to see if she would munch on it but it was all there in the morning (all 55 dry kibble).
I never got to ever feed the third portion of the 1/4 cup. But she seems very happy, playful and her stools are great. So the 55 kibble in a day is close to what the friend told me she feeds her tiny l.8 lb yorkie (45 kibble a day -15 kibbles 3x a day) I am starting to think she is right.
Ellie May: I am feeding her Blue Wholistic Kibble (small kibble for toy dogs)
one of the brands recommended by my Vet.
FL Tink:Thank you so very much for the encouragement. This is a whole new learning experience for me. I have a 17 yo yorkie that I have raised since he was 10 weeks old, but he was about 3.lbs, and believe it or not, he is much bigger than she is and even though he is so small, he was not as delicate or teensy weeny as she is. So it is a whole new ballgame for me. Thanks again so very much for your replies. Any other thoughts would be MORE than welcome. Thanks again to all of you> Shellie :-)

[Ellie May]

Okay, dogs should eat (on average) 35-40 calories per pound per day.
So, your girl should be eating somewhere around 63 or 72 calories.

One cup of Blue Buffalo Small Bites (I think this is the kind you meant?) is 492 calories. That means that 1/4 has about 123 calories in it and 1/8 cup has about 62 calories in it. That means that if you went by calories alone she should be eating 1/8 cup or so a day. The company says that dogs under 5 pounds should eat 1/4-1/2 cup per day but that seems like too much. I would think 1/8 cup would be fine and maybe mix it with something to entice her.

That is my best guess.

[girdygirl]

Would love to see a picture of your dogs.

[girdygirl]

Welcome to yt.

[yoyo27]

Welcome to YT. If you will leave the dry portion in a bowl and not wet it or put anything on it she might finally eat some. What I do is make 2 food bowls, one for the wet food for them to eat now and then the dry if they get hungry at night or during the day. They will finally decide to begin to eat some in a few days. If she grows and requires more she has the dry food to eat on. How is her sugar do you give her nutra cal or anything like that or does she have plenty of energy the whole day?

[broodizt]

Hi all,

Thanks again for all your answers and concern. I waited eagerly to hear from you. I am soooo glad I found this Yorkie Talk web group. I wish I had this when my 17 year old was growing up. Life would have been a lot easier, more fun, and I would probably have made fewer mistakes and made lots of friends to boot (LOL). So thank you all again for taking the time out of your busy schedules to answer my concerns.
Hi Ellie May-It does sound like she is getting enough to eat, doesn't it? And I talked to my actual vet today and she told me what I was feeding her was fine. Actually she ate her breakfast up alot faster today and I was able to give her lunch (another 55 kibbles) with another 1/3 teaspoon of gerber baby food. She almost ate the WHOLE THING! WOW! I just hope she doesn't get sick from it by having eaten too much. Last Thursday I fed her alot, (but I did iclude lots of treats) and she threw up and had the runs all day and night. Scared me to death, so I am as wary about feeding her too much as too little. I think she will be alright though. I put her in her playpen after her meal so that she could rest her little tummy. I think you are right and so I am not too worried about that now. Thanks for responding to my question. Your answer was VERY helpful and made me feel alot better.
YoYo27-Yes, I do think it is good to leave the dry kibble. Actually I did leave it overnight, as I said, and not one kibble was missing. However, maybe as you suggest, if I leave it there for a few days she will eat it. I will try this out. thank you for your suggestion.

Thank you Girdy Girl for the welcome. I'm not sure how to post pictures here as I am new to this forum. I did post one picture of CASSIE (not Merlin though) on the My Yorkie's Pictures thread. Any other way to post a picture?

Thanks again all you WONDERFUL people. Blessings...Shellie

[broodizt]

Hi all,

Im trying to upload pics of Cassie and Merlin.
Cassie is the blond bombshell
Merlin is my dark handsome boy
He is very very old now and does not look the same as his hair is very short.
And he is blind. He has been the love of my life for 17 years.
Cassie is now also the love of my life
So now i have 2 loves
Hope i did this correctly
Shellie :-)

[lulababy]

my puppy is 1.8lbs now at 15 weeks going on 16 weeks..

i cant imagine her staying this size. that is just amazing

[Ellie May]

They are beautiful.

[broodizt]

Thanks, Ellie May.
I think so too. But all yorkie's are beautiful, don't you think?
Of course I am predjudiced and I think they are the most beautiful pups in the entire universe. But of course all proud mamas feel this way, don't they?

An update on Cassie's feeding behavior. Yesterday she finished her entire first
third of 1/4 cup of kibble (softened of course and gerber chicken added). She then proceeded to almost finish the 2nd third of the 1/4 cup of kibble. So she ate twice as much and her belly looks to be quite full. She seems very satisfied.

She is due to be spayed soon (Thurs) but I am thinking of canceling it now because even though my vet said it was no problem doing it while she is in heat, someone on this list (can't remember who) said it was best to wait for the swelling to go down. I am also worried because I read here that there is an increased risk of mammory cancer if you spay after a year. I never knew this. Is this true? My vet never mentioned it to me, and she is a great vet. How likely is this to occur? She just turned a year last week and just had her first heat. She is nearing the end of it I think. She was in heat when I first brought her home. How worried should I be. Thanks in advance for any insight. Thanks again for all your input. Shellie:-)

[Ellie May]

It isn't the age that is important but the number of heats they have been through. Before the first heat, the chances of mammary cancer are next to none. After the first, the chance rises and after the second it rises some more. After I think the third, the risk is the same for the rest of their lives... Spaying anytime still eliminates their chances of getting pyometra.

If it were Ellie, I'd wait til a month or two after her heat and then spay. There are more blood vessels to deal with when they are in heat and the procedure can be a bit riskier. There is no reason to take the chance in this case as far as I know...