| HYPOGLYCEMIA : Otherwise known as LOW BLOOD SUGAR. This is a nervous system disorder caused by low blood sugar. It occurs mainly in Toy breeds between 6 and 12 weeks of age. Often it is precipitated by stress. The 1st signs are those of listlessness and depression. They are followed by muscular weakness, tremors(especially in the facial muscles and later convulsions, coma and death. The entire sequence is not always seen. The dog may appear to be depressed or may be weak, wobbly or jerky; or the puppy may be found in a coma. Hypoglycemia can occur without warning when a puppy is placed in a new home, or while being shipped. It might appear after a puppy misses a meal, chills, becomes exhausted from too much playing or has a digestive upset. These upsets place an added strain on the energy reserves of the liver and bring on symptoms.(if the dog is susceptible) Puppies that are weaned on rice and hamburgers are more likely to develop hypoglycemia. Their diet is deficient in certain ingredients needed to sustain the liver. A similar condition occurs in adult hunting dogs usually when hunting. Care should be taken to feed these dogs before hunting and to increase the protein in their diet. TREATMENT: Treatment is directed at restoring blood levels of glucose. BEGIN AT ONCE. Prolonged or repeated attacks can cause permanent damage to the brain. If the puppy is awake give NUTRI-STAT, or Karo syrup or peanut butter(in roof of mouth) or honey or sugar in water by mouth. You should begin to see an improvement in 30 minutes. When unconscious, a puppy will have to be given a dextrose solution intravenously. If this does not work, a Veterinarian should be called at once. Prevent recurrent attacks by feeding a high-quality kibble diet. Like Eukanuba Small Bites Puppy. Owners of Toy puppies should not overtire them or allow them to chill. A WORD FROM US: This is all scary sounding. But, everyone with a small breed needs to know just how serious this can be. We honestly never have a problem with this. But, we keep food out ALL THE TIME. These little guys are just like HUMMINGBIRDS, they are very high energy. As puppies they need a rest time. Over handling wears them out. I know everybody will want to hold your new puppy. But the puppies health comes 1st. Don't give them scraps off the table. This will cause their little tummies to become upset. For a treat, get them some of the Eukanuba Puppy dog biscuits. If their tummy gets upset,(loose or runny stools) this can cause Hypoglycemia. Just put a small amount of Nutri-Stat on your finger and let them lick it off your finger. Or put it in the roof of their mouth. We have a yorkie that LOVES crayons. I try not to let her get them, but sometimes one is accidently dropped,etc. This will cause this yorkie to have an upset tummy every time. So I have to use the old faithful, Nutri-Stat on her. But, she loves it. They all do. So I end up having to let them all have a little bit. Then none of them have hurt feelings. Because otherwise, I'll hurt somebody's feelings. Then they won't look at me, won't sit in my lap, and they seem to lose their hearing whenever they have hurt feelings. In other words, they are very spoiled. And we love them that way!!! Pretty much my personal rule of thumb is to treat them like you would treat a baby, whenever they are tiny. Then whenever they are grown, I still treat and doctor them like I would a toddler. You can't feed an infant just anything. You feed them what they can digest that goes along with the infants development. Infants need rest , they sleep a lot. You wouldn't let an infant be over-handled by adults or young children. Same rule should apply to the baby puppy. You would also naturally protect an infant from falling. A tiny baby puppy definitely needs the same protection. You also wouldn't let a toddler or preschool age child to carry an infant around. Don't let this happen to your puppy either. Being dropped is one of the #1 reasons for Yorkie deaths. Even whenever the Yorkies are nearly grown or are grown, I still treat them pretty much the same. I treat them with infant products. (with the approval of my vet) I have an adult yorkie that has allergies that bother her always in the late spring to early summer. So I have to give her something every night(during her allergy season) so that she can breath okay at night and have a good nights sleep. She will pretty much let me know if she's having a problem. She is very good, too. She knows that I will help her. Make sure you find yourself a good Veterinarian. Ask friends, get some references about a vet. You want a veterinarian that you trust completely. Somewhere, sometime, you may have to leave your puppy with her/him. Trust helps ease the stress and worry, you'll feel for your pet. Your Vet will become just like your best friend. We have a wonderful vet here that is our personal Vet. He really cares about their wellbeing. I know that he shows my pets the same care he does for his own. They feel comfortable with him immediately, because they can sense that we are comfortable with him too. My vet has been my vet and my friend for the last 25 years. He's an excellent Vet and he has a lot of compassion for the animals. Everyone in his clinic are just as compassionate and caring as he is. If you take your dog in to see the vet. Most of the time we are taking them because there is something wrong, not always, but most of the time this is the case. Some times your pet can be extremely ill, and thats why your are at the vet, right? BUT, if the vets "HELPER" offers to take the dog, if the vet thinks it's too ill to maybe pull through. RUN...DON'T WALK FROM THAT VET CLINIC. The vets "HELPER" is completely out of line to say something like that to anybody. They're supposed to be helping with your pet and whats best for the pet. And they should definitely be concerned for the well-being of your pet and not be scoping out a way to get a freebie!! Most vets do not give up, immediately. A good vet is going to do something for your pet to make it better if at all possible. They are just like your family physician, would you want your physician to just give up immediately? NOT! Love and tender loving care go a long way in the recovery of an ill pet. I PROMISE YOU THIS MUCH, IT AIN'T OVER, UNTIL IT'S OVER. So have a little faith and just believe. Just use your common sense, or what I call "Mother instincts", to guide you, and you'll do okay. |
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| Hypoglycemia Please read, for your puppies sake! |
| home: 903-737-0980 or e-mail: carol@pillowpal-puppies.com |