05/07/2023
BEFORE TAKING HOME ANY TOY BREED PUPPY YOU MUST EDUCATE YOURSELF ON HYPOGLYCEMIA.......
READ...READ...READ....READ....Everyone must read this before buying a puppy or small dog...Some inexperienced Vets with tinies are letting pups die or putting them to sleep ..saying they are hydro when they are only sugar crashing.."SOME" vets do not know how to treat or recognize this in small dogs....so you must read this before buying one...The Dangers of Hypoglycemia in Small Dogs and How to Prevent It
Puppy hypoglycemia occurs in young puppies, more commonly toy breeds, that cannot yet maintain their blood glucose levels.
The hypoglycemia can become severe and require hospitalization. Unfortunately, if not addressed quickly, it will lead to death.
The best way to avoid this is by feeding a high quality diet every 3-4 hours. High quality diet means high quality canned diet, commercial raw, human grade dehydrated diet or commercial fresh diet. Not processed dry kibble. Some tinies require small meals every two hours.
Symptoms of hypoglycemia include: severe weakness, tremors, shaking, vomiting, anorexia and ultimately seizures. If these symptoms occur give sugar in the form of karo. syrup and get your puppy to the ER vet ASAP.
Save the nutrical for emergencies. It SHOULD NOT be given as a regular supplement as it causes spikes in glucose which results in insulin release from the pancreas thus causing blood glucose levels to be irregular and crash.
Hypoglycemia for small dogs is one of the most dangerous and deadly conditions that a toy breed puppy can encounter. I’ve seen too many cases where a new owner is not properly educated about hypoglycemia in small dogs, and the puppy dies because the owner did not know what to do. This post does not only apply to puppies, but adult toy breed dogs as well. Hypoglycemia can occur in adult dogs if you are not careful. I feel this is THE most important piece of information that any new owner should have when it comes to a puppy’s health. It should be MANDATORY that anybody thinking of buying a toy breed dog read this article before they bring their puppy home. It could save you dog’s life!
First off, Hypoglycemia is basically a term that describes a condition in a dog where the concentration of glucose (sugar) suddenly drops. Glucose is used as a primary source of energy in all dogs. Small breed dogs, especially puppies, are extremely prone to this condition. The younger the puppy the more chances they have of becoming hypoglycemic. On a side not, I do not recommend buying a puppy from any breeder that releases their pups earlier than 10 weeks of age. 12 weeks would be preferable. Okay, back to the subject at hand. Small breed puppies obviously have less muscle mass than a breed such as a Labrador. When I mention small breeds, I’m referring to dogs such as Yorkies, Shih Tzu’s, Chihuahua’s, Pomeranians, etc. With the low amount of muscle mass that these breeds have, retaining proper glucose levels is tougher. This is why smaller dogs are more susceptible to hypoglycemia.
As long as your puppy or dog eats on a regular basis they should not have any troubles with this deadly condition. However, if your puppy even misses one meal, they could fall victim to hypoglycemia. Furthermore, the following could speed up the onset of hypoglycemia even further:
1.Stress
2.Change in diet
3.Infections
4.Poor Nutrition
5.Low body temperature.
6. Vaccinations in large combos.( one vaccine at a time find holistic vet that will give partial doses and then titer test.)
The signs to look out for if you suspect your dog to becoming hypoglycemic are: laziness, lethargic, shivering,vomiting, non-responsive, stumbling, and worst of all, comatose. Checking your dog’s gums is also an excellent method in detecting hypoglycemia. A healthy dog should have warm and pink gums. If your dog’s gums are cold and white, they are most likely in a hypoglycemic state. If you notice your dog experience any of these symptoms, IMMEDIATELY feed them a couple finger full doses of glucose karo syrup on gums.There are some products that you can buy that are made for this purpose, such as Nutri-Stat or Nutra-Cal. I use Karo Syrup which you can find in your local grocery store. Simply place a dab on your finger tip, and scrape the syrup on the back of the top row of teeth. I would repeat this a couple times. Some dogs may recover within 10 -20 minutes, while others may take hours. If you do not see any improvement in their condition within the first 30 minutes, immediately take your dog to the animal hospital.
Raising a smaller dog should be a very fun and rewarding experience. With some proper education beforehand, the process will go a lot smoother and ensure that your puppy grows up healthy. Just remember that hypoglycemia can be prevented by:
1. Keeping a close eye on your puppy’s condition at all times
2. Proper feeding
3. Proper rest
4. Being kept warm and not overvaccinating
With this information, you should be properly guarded against your dog falling victim to hypoglycemia. However, always consult a vet for any advice you need for your dog.
In response to a comment on the thread stating that vets ‘should’ know this stuff, and misread this as simply criticism to the veterinary community, I want to clarify what I saw fit to communicate in this post.
** “...I’m sorry this makes you angry, but I didn’t write it, I shared it.
Moreover, this does and JUST happened a few weeks ago to a family I spoke to. A perfectly healthy pup leaves the breeder, goes about 6 weeks, undergoing several changes including food over that time frame, owner does not notice pup is not eating as much, and wake up in the morning with the pup unconsciously and cold.
Ultimately the baby couldn’t be saved, and the vet speculated that hydrocephalus or livershunt may have contributed, giving foundation to the hundreds in testing that they charged while trying to identify “the root” of the problem. In the end, they have cashed in on the new parent’s lack of knowledge, and given foundation to their costly investigation process, writing off blood sugar as a secondary symptom, thereby justifying the bill, and their inability to save a pup who “likely had more going on”.
There are different ways this presents, but I assure you, if parents are made aware of the issues and are quick to act, they will never fall victim to misleading medical speculation after tragedy.”
Hopefully this has served to help at least save 1 life. That was my purpose for sharing it.
Thank you for reading.
COPIED FROM A FRIEND
