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Hi, my husband bought me a gorgeous six week old yorkshire terrier for my birthday. I've since discovered this is too young to be separated from his mum, although this was unbeknown to us at the time. He's adorable, very friendly, playful and sleeping well. However we are having problems with feeding and drinking. I'm giving him water through a syringe to make sure he keeps hydrated and, on the advice of the vet, dry puppy food mixed with boiled chicken. The breeder (who I'm now wondering whether is very reputable!) gave us tinned food which upset his tummy - hence the visit to the vet. It's a nightmare getting him to eat anything and I'm resorting to hand feeding him. I'm desperate to know what to do. Someone I met in the pet store suggested goat's milk as a temporary measure so ensure he is getting enough food/liquid but I really want some professional advice and don't want to keep changing his diet. Any advice appreciated.
Optional Information: Pet's Gender: Male Pet's Age: <1 Type of Animal: Dog Name of Animal: Miniature yorkshire terrier Already Tried: been to vet, google research ....
Hello,I am so sorry to hear your new little one is having some trouble.Will he drink on his own?Have you tried other canned food or only the dry?Did your vet deworm the puppy?How often is he eating now?
Forgot to add he is eating little bits throughout the day but not as much as when he was first given the wet food.
Thank you for the additional information , please give me just a few minutes to type up your answer I have a few things to cover for you
6 weeks is a fairly common age for breeders to sell their pups so I am not to concerned about that. Being this young does require some extra work from the new family as well.The absolute most important thing at this point is that he eats. These tiny pups can not maintain the proper glucose levels if they do not eat often enough. When the glucose levels drop some thing you may see are, loss of appetite, lethargy, drooling or foaming at the mouth, shaking, seizures and even death if not addressed immediately. This little one should be eating 4-6 small meals per day Click here for more on this Hard food can be very difficult for these small pups to chew and if he is use to canned food he may not be real willing to eat the dry. Again it is more important that he eats then making sure he eats dry food. In most cases we have to start with either wet food or soak the dry food.A few things you can try are * Soak the dry food with puppy milk replacer until it is soft if needed you can add enough to make it soupy.Milk replacer can be purchased at any pet store.* Go back to a good quality canned food. For small breed picky dogs we recommend Merrick brand. This is a good food , no preservatives and is more then 80% meat. This also closely resembles human foods so most dogs will eat this.It is important to know that any time you do a food change quickly this can cause digestive upset including nausea, vomiting and or diarrhea. Click here for this food* Try offering chicken, beef, or lamb baby food with no onion or garlic in the ingredients * Offer puppy milk replacer or goats milk in place of water. Place this in a small saucer instead of a bowl and see if helps.If this problem continues I would have him back into the vets for additional testing. This breed is very prone to liver shunts and this can cause loss of appetite.I hope some of these suggestions will help to get him eating, I will be on all weekend please touch base with me and let me know how things are going.Please reply back if you have additional questionsCandyCandy41041.6397485301
Experience: Practicing Veterinary Technician for 23 years.Former Veterinary Practice Owner, Technician Trainer