SPECIAL CARE INFORMATION FOR TEACUP & TINY TOYS
In addition to the Puppy Care information page, we
would like to address some special instructions for tiny teacup and toy
puppies. Always consider your puppy as a newborn
baby, as it will need all the love, care and attention that you would
give a newborn baby. Here are some helpful suggestions:
1) Don't leave your baby unattended for
extended lengths of time, until your baby has totally acclimated
himself/herself to its new home:
Long periods of time left
alone in a new, strange environment may cause anxiety and additional
stress. You will want to be with your baby as much as possible in
the first few weeks.
One new puppy owner received her tiny
tiny baby (who was all happy and joyful) until the new owner went to
work the next morning. When she got home that evening after being
away from her baby for over 8 hours, the new baby had
crashed and was in a hypoglycemia state. New babies must
have mother or father's undevoted attention until they are comfortable
in their new home;
2) Prepare a comfortable WARM place for
puppy to consider its own home. You may want to invest in a
heat pad; set it on LOW; and make sure puppy cannot get to the cord.
You may only need a little additional warmth for several
days. Nice warm bed and blankets are a nice addition so
they can be cozy.
3) Always have food and water for your
puppy available at anytime. For the first week or so, make
sure your puppy gets whatever he/she wants to eat. There
may be a time period where your puppy will not want to eat at all, but
don't let this happen. If need be, spoon feed your puppy
every couple of hours some a/d (a prescription soft food with high
protein by Science Diet) and some yogurt (plain with live
cultures). Then gently persuade puppy to eat some cooked
chicken, or the "meatballs" or anything that he/she finds to be
encouraged to eat. Chicken Soup for Puppies in a canned form or
Pedigree for Puppies seems to be one of their favorites. We've
also tried little Cesars tiny meals, and some of the other tiny canned
foods. There will come a time when puppy will begin to eat
more and more of his/her hard kibble, but for a period of time
you need to "baby" your puppy. Always make sure
your puppy is eating about every 4 hours during the day and then
follow up with Nutrical.
4) Nutrical will also encourage your puppy's
appetite. Make sure you are using your Nutrical:
a.m., noon, p.m. and before bedtime. If need be,
increase your supplement to more times during the day if puppy is not
eating or drinking well. WE ALSO SUGGEST THAT YOU HAVE A GOOD SUPPLY OF A GOOD SOURCE OF Microbiotic on hand to keep your puppy in tip-top shape, which boosts the immune system -- such as, Benebac or FasTrack (by Conklin - www.conklin.com) Check with your veterinarian for the Microbiotic he/she may use.
5) Water -- make sure it is bottled for
the 1st 2 weeks and then gradually wean your puppy off the bottled
water onto the water you have in your home. Water can be a
definite detriment to your puppy's system when changing from one water
source to the next.
6) Play time and Rest time: Make
sure you spend lots of quality time with your baby. Play
should be limited to 10-15 minutes. A worn out puppy will
quickly crash with hypoglycemia as it has exhausted its energy
supply. Make sure you allow your puppy to have plenty of
rest. Babies usually eat and sleep during the first 3 months of
life -- your puppy is no different. It will require plenty of
food/water and plenty of rest.
7) Hypoglycemia -- should your puppy show
signs of hypoglycemia: lethargic, loss of appetite,
droopy, tail tucked, drooling, limp, seizure
fits. Apply some Karo syrup to the gums, wait for puppy to
respond and if able, lick the Nutrical. Give several
Nutrical dabs until puppy is regaining a normal composure.
If the puppy is in a drooling, limp or seizure state, you should
get the puppy to the vet. However, if the puppy is
eating, drinking and you are following the above recommendations, your
puppy should not ever end up in this state.
8) If the puppy needs veterinarian
attention, please make sure you find a small animal doctor.
We would hope you can find one that has a length of experience with
tiny teacup puppies. There are many veterinarians who do not know
the first thing about these tiny tiny puppies. I have had some
vets suggest that if a puppy cannot eat the hard kibble, it is not a
healthy dog. UNTRUE. These tiny ones are a whole new
situation unlike a Cocker Spaniel, Collie, Labrador....puppies.
We have been raising puppies since 1985, as well as gaining
information from fellow professional breeders who have dealt with toys
for many more years than us. Our instructions for you and your
baby, have been researched and practiced for many years.
One thing is you should have your vet check
for coccidiosis. Your puppy will more than likely break with
coccidiosis under hypoglycemia conditions. The trip, new
environment, new people, new home, new everything can cause coccidiosis
to break in your puppy. We treat the puppies before they
leave with a special formula of Albon and Metronidazole in hopes that
the puppy will not experience any healthy issues, but with our tiny
tiny ones it may happen anyway. We suggest your vet use
Albon as a treatment for at least 7 - 10 days.
We would suggest that your puppy not
remain at the vet's office unless absolutely necessary, because you are
introducing your new baby into another new environment, new people, new
everything again which adds even more stress to your puppy.
Ask your vet what you can do to stabilize the puppy and if your vet
will show you what procedures to follow to help your puppy regain its
health. If your baby can be with you, this will
be the best solution. As a new mother, you need to
make sure that you consider the proper decisions to alleviate any
unwarranted stress as possible. If the vet feels that IVs
are necessary, please have them consider SQ method if possible, which
would be less stressful. You and your vet will need to make
the decisions together. If you puppy is left in
the care of the veterinariany and his/her staff, find out if someone
will be caring for the baby personally; if food will be spoon-fed
to your baby should it not want to eat; visit the location where your
baby will be cared for (is it a warm, cozy comfortable
place?) Do everything possible to insure your baby gets as
good as care as if you were there.
Please have your veterinarian and staff feed your
puppy a/d along with yogurt if possible; also a good microbiotic
such as Benebac or FastTrack is a MUST. This will help your
puppy regain its strength and vitality much quicker and keep the
digestive system running smoothly.
9) PLEASE EMAIL ME OR CALL ME IF A
SITUATION ARISES. I will do my best to follow through with
all the help I can provide to help you and your veterianarian care for
your new baby.
We want you to seriously consider the choice of one of our tiny teacups
or toys. They may only weigh 1/2 to 1 # at 8 weeks of
age. We will usually keep them longer than the 8 weeks, when most
puppies are ready to go to new homes. Please be patient
with waiting for your puppy. Our veterinarian will
help us make decisions on the appropriate times that the tiny
teacups or toys are ready to travel to their new homes. We
will do our very best
to make sure that your puppy is sound and in good health to survive its
trip and reconditioning to its new home. However,
should your baby experience some of the above problems, it will
be necessary for you and your veterinarian to work closely
together through the issues of hypoglycemia. We
have found that transporting a baby back to us is not the appropriate
means to pursue as it only adds extreme stress to an already stressed
puppy. NOT GOOD!!
THESE PREMIUM
TINY TEACUPS AND TINY TOYS ARE EXTREMELY CUTE, LOVABLE AND A PERFECT
POCKET-PUPPIES -- BUT PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO TAKE CARE OF
ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES. ONCE MATURED, THEY ARE AS
DURABLE AS ANY OTHER PUPPY. BUT THEY ARE THE PREMIES!!!