bunches of short questions *edit*

(Low Blood Sugar)

This is a central nervous system disorder caused by low sugar. It occurs mainly in Toy breeds between six and twelve weeks of age. Often it is precipitated by stress.

The first 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 and 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 hamburger 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 when hunting. Care should be taken to feed these dogs before hunting and increase the protein in their diet.

Treatment is directed at restoring blood levels of glucose. Begin at once. Prolonged or repeated attacks can cause permanent damage to the brain. If a puppy is awake, give Karo syrup, honey or sugar in water by mouth. You should begin to see improvement in thirty minutes. When unconscious, a puppy will have to be given a dextrose solution intravenously. It may be necessary to treat for swelling of the brain. A veterinarian should be called at once.

Prevent recurrent attacks by feeding a high-quality kibble diet and add to it sugar, syrup or honey. See that the puppy eats at least every eight hours and receives a daily vitamin.

Breeders should wean puppies on a balanced diet. Food supplements should not exceed 10 percent of the total ration. Owners of Toy puppies should not overtire them or allow them to chill.

A condition exists in which hypoglycemia is persistent of periodic. It is caused by an enzyme deficiency and is not responsive to treatment.

*Taken from the Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook by the Authors,
Delbert G. Carlson, D.V.M. and James M. Giffin, M.D.

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Jessica said:

To answer your second question, this is what low blood sugar is.

(Low Blood Sugar)

This is a central nervous system disorder caused by low sugar. It occurs mainly in Toy breeds between six and twelve weeks of age. Often it is precipitated by stress.

The first 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 and 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 hamburger 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 when hunting. Care should be taken to feed these dogs before hunting and increase the protein in their diet.

Treatment is directed at restoring blood levels of glucose. Begin at once. Prolonged or repeated attacks can cause permanent damage to the brain. If a puppy is awake, give Karo syrup, honey or sugar in water by mouth. You should begin to see improvement in thirty minutes. When unconscious, a puppy will have to be given a dextrose solution intravenously. It may be necessary to treat for swelling of the brain. A veterinarian should be called at once.

Prevent recurrent attacks by feeding a high-quality kibble diet and add to it sugar, syrup or honey. See that the puppy eats at least every eight hours and receives a daily vitamin.

Breeders should wean puppies on a balanced diet. Food supplements should not exceed 10 percent of the total ration. Owners of Toy puppies should not overtire them or allow them to chill.

A condition exists in which hypoglycemia is persistent of periodic. It is caused by an enzyme deficiency and is not responsive to treatment.

*Taken from the Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook by the Authors,
Delbert G. Carlson, D.V.M. and James M. Giffin, M.D.

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Also, in my opinion, 7 weeks is very young to be bringing home a puppy, most should stay till atleast eight and for the smaller breeds, like chihuahuas, it should be atleast 12 weeks. They need to stay with their mom and brothers/sisters to be properly socialized. A while back, there was some good information posted about puppies being taken from the mother's too young.

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Gadget's Mom said:

Yes, Older is better but if you have to bring the little one home younger then the best thing for you to do is make sure you have food down all the time for him/her to eat. I have done this with Gadget since he was 5 weeks and it seems to work.. He has never had any problems with low blood sugar.

The other thing you will want to do is make sure when he/she is sleeping you cover her/him up... Gadget loves his blankets over him at night.

I also got Gadget lots of soft plush toys to play and or snuggle with when he was younger now he loves playing with him.

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Tinker said:

You can keep the baby on the Royal Canin baby food till it's gone, chi's are so small the extra nutrition isn't going to hurt them any.

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if you are going to change the food she is eating at the breeders when you get her, you have to mix half & half of the royal canine dry and the food the breeder gives you (make sure to get some!). Do this for the first week and slowly each day mix more of the royal canine in until its 100% royal canine.

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BeamerFritzyKosmo said:

At such an early age you should be feeding your puppy 2 or 3 seperate small meals during the day (morning/noon/night). Ive always been told pups this age should have 4 seperate meals a day.

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