anyone else's actions regarding the information on this web site. I am not a Veterinarian, nor do I portray myself to be one, so if you have medical questions please call your Vet first and foremost. Hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia is an extremely serious central nervous system disorder caused by low blood sugar. It occurs mainly in Toy breeds between the age of six and twelve weeks, and precipitated by stress, such as weaning, vaccinations or being placed in a new home. Hypoglycemia is not necessarily a disease, but it is a symptom. Puppies that are weaned suddenly at an early age (less than 8 weeks) will have a tendency to have low blood sugar. They aren't given enough time to adjust to solid food, and suddenly removed from their mother without a thought as to how it is affecting the babies. Usually this is done out of greed and not wanting to take care of the puppies any longer than necessary to get them out the door and someone else's responsibility. A responsible breeder will take the time necessary to see that the puppies are on solid food long enough to avoid upsetting their digestive system before they let them go to a new home. Since they can't tolerate a sudden change in their food, their digestive tract becomes upset, they do not get the full value of their food, then their blood sugar drops. Parasites will prevent puppies from absorbing the nutrients from their food. Parasites all have different life cycles. Worming one time and a few days of Albon won't do the job. The wormer only kills what is in their stomach at the time. Albon is an antibiotic that only tides them over an outbreak of coccidia and counteracts a secondary infection coccidia causes, and does nothing to kill the parasites. The only alternative to that is a program of PREVENTION. Hypoglycemia in an otherwise healthy puppy can be prevented by owners who permit the puppies to be handled by everyone they come in contact with. Puppies become body sore, just like human babies do. Then they get tired, just want to sleep, then when, or IF, they wake up, their blood sugar has dropped. Common sense tells us that a human baby can't tolerate a lot of activity, handling, and constant playing. Neither can a puppy. Traveling sometimes causes car sickness, until he has had a period of time to slowly adjust to traveling, be prepared to give Nutri-Cal about every two hours while traveling. Most neonatal puppies have very little subcutaneous fat. Energy is supplied through frequent feedings, and reserve energy is supplied by glycogen in the liver. The liver is the last organ to grow in size, usually mature about 12 weeks, while the brain consumes the most energy. Puppies in the six to twelve week age group have a liver too small to produce the glycogen needed to fuel the brain without frequent feedings.. ANY TIME A PUPPY IS NOT FED FREQUENTLY, BECOMES TIRED, GETS TOO COLD, HAS A DIGESTIVE UPSET, OR HAS A PARASITE OVERLOAD, HE IS HEADED FOR TROUBLE, IN THE FORM OF HYPOGLYCEMIA. The first signs of hypoglycemia are listlessness and/or depression. The next signs are muscular weakness and tremors, especially in the facial muscles, sometimes in the back muscles, which causes the head to be pulled back or to the left, sometimes crying pitifully. Convulsions and / or seizures follow, then coma and death. The entire sequence is not always seen in all hypoglycemic puppies. The puppy may seem weak, or uncoordinated, unable to stand or walk, with the appearance of being drugged, or wobbly and jerking, or he may be found in a coma and totally unresponsive. Hypoglycemia can occur without warning when a puppy is placed in a new home, or while being shipped to a new home. Symptoms may appear if anything upsets his feeding and rest routine, if he plays too hard and too long, or when his diet is changed. It can happen within 72 hours after he has had vaccinations. Treatment consists of restoring blood levels to normal as quickly as possible to avoid brain damage. Intravenous dextrose, done by your vet, is the fastest way to restore the glucose levels. Until you can get the puppy to your vet, give him Karo syrup or honey by rubbing it on his gums and under his tongue. Because hypoglycemia is a symptom of something else going on with the puppy, the puppy will ABSOLUTELY need to be vet checked to determine what the existing problems are that need correcting to prevent further episodes. NOTE: BREEDER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HYPOGLYCEMIA A very special thanks to Geraldine Whitaker for the use of this information. Her web site is: www.mychihuahuas.net |
More on HYPOGLYCEMIA... Preventing Hypoglycemia Little tiny dogs are a joy to behold. I have always wished that my little puppy would stay a tiny puppy, however a tiny dog is a great responsibility. You have to be very careful of children and larger animals around them, and you must be careful to not drop them or let them get a blow to their head. They must be fed several times a day as their little tummies can't hold enough food at one time to sustain them for a very long period. The reason breeders charge more for them is because true healthy toy puppies are harder to produce, and require a lot of expert care from an experienced breeder 24/7. A good breeder knows the very special care required to raise toy dogs, and they are willing to provide all the extra care because even when the mommies are great mommies, toy pups require extra supervision, warmth, in many cases require supplemental feedings & always stays with the breeder much longer than a regular pup does. A dedicated breeder has to be thinking of the toy pups 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and plan his/her life around those puppies until the pups are old enough to move into their new home. The most important rule is to always have food and water available to your puppy at all times AND be sure you actually see them eating OR hand fed them every 3-4 hours during the day from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed. A high quality food is a MUST, as well as keeping a tube of Nutra-Stat on hand at all times. Toys must replenish their energy more frequently than larger puppies. Hypoglycemia (sometimes called sugar shock, low blood sugar, sugar down) is a condition where the blood sugar level drops to an extremely low level, usually due to lack of food or exhaustion of stored energy without it being replenished (playing/running for extended periods of time, shivering out of nervousness or being chilled, stress, etc. Toys are prone to hypoglycemia because they have such tiny digestive systems and can only store a little bit of food (energy) in their bodies at one time. Creamy Peanut butter on the roof of their mouths a few times daily, works wonders! It is always easier to PREVENT hypoglycemia than treat it... Always make sure your toy pup is eating every 3-4 hours, even if only a small amount, and even if you have to hand feed him/her. Just having food available is not always good enough. Nutra-cal ( a low volume paste vitamin/mineral supplement for show, working, or dogs under stress) is highly recommended to feed 1-3 pea size globs 3- 5 times a day....especially first thing in the morning and last thing before bedtime. If your toy pup is handled a lot by other people or has a rousing/energetic time of play (which they are very playful) then give some nutra-cal in the middle of play time or at the end of playtime before they lay down to take a nap. When your toy matures, he/she may not need nutra-cal supplements and should be able to go 3-5 hours without eating if they are not having a super active day. It is a good idea to have nutra-cal with you when you are gone for the day as it's easy to feed and keeps the teacup "on the go" from having low blood sugar.
The gums of a normal puppy will be bright reddish/pink just like human gums. Your puppy may exhibit one or more of these signs. Gums that are pale in places or light pink mean the blood sugar levels are dropping. If the gums are white....your pup needs quick attention to avoid a hypoglycemic coma. If they are white I recommend light karo syrup on the tongue (1tsp) every 10 minutes until the gums return to normal and your pup is acting normal. If they are pale pink or pale in spots, Nutra-cal (5-6 pea sized globs) work to restore blood sugar levels quickly....if your puppy will eat dry kibble that is okay too, but you should at least give a couple pea sized globs of nutra-cal first to restore blood sugar levels quickly. Also about 5 to 8 drops of honey on the pups tongue will bring them around in about 10 minutes. Another sign that is usually seen is vomiting on an empty stomach (clear liquid or bile) or saliva (foamy at the mouth). If your toy pup has not eaten in awhile give them food or nutra-cal immediately. More signs are: acting listless and tired, sometimes walking with an unsteady walk as if drunk, shakiness, falling over. In extreme cases even laying on their sides and being totally unresponsive....if the puppy is not given a quick form of nutrition (by prying their mouth open) like light karo syrup, honey, sugar water, nutra-cal to raise the blood sugar quickly, coma and death will result. After giving a form of sugar (for severe cases I recommend light karo syrup, for preventative and mild cases I recommend nutra-cal) you should see improvement and your toy pup will be more alert in 10 minutes (if not repeat and give more sugar of some form). If you see no signs of improvement or responsiveness, your toy pup appears comatose RUSH to the NEAREST veterinarian office for glucose by injection or I.V. to save it's life. When your pup perks up and feels a little better give him/her a protein based meal (meat canned dog food or meat baby food) so the teacups blood sugar will level out. Monitor Gum Color, Monitor Body Temperature (toys under 2 pounds cannot properly maintain the correct temperature and frequently get chilled, especially if they haven't had enough to eat)...Feel the ears, if the ears are warm you are O.K., but if the ears are cold the puppy is cold. If you are not sure put your finger in the puppy's mouth, it should be very warm, almost hot. If it isn't, warm the pup with a towel or blanket out of the clothes dryer and watch for low glucose signs. Toys are best suited for someone who is home all day or can keep their dog with them a majority of the time, someone who can and wants to love and nurture the puppy all day long, make sure he/she is eating and kept warm, and can make sure the puppy gets enough nutrition with lots of love. Toy dogs are not recommended for homes with young children, or for families with large animals.
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