TOYBOX YORKSHIRE TERRIERS
HEALTH ISSUES IN TOY OR SMALL BREED DOGS
HYPOGLYCEMIA (LOW BLOOD SUGAR) Hypoglycemia is a potentially life-threatening problem that affects Yorkies and other toy breeds. Dogs of any age can suffer from hypoglycemia, but the most common form, transient juvenile hypoglycemia, occurs in puppies younger than 4 months of age.
Puppies typically develop hypoglycemia after exercising vigorously, when they’re stressed (such as during a trip to the veterinarian), or when they’ve gone to long without eating.
Certain anatomic, physiological and behavioral factors play a role in the development of hypoglycemia in toy breed puppies: small muscle mass and liver (areas where glucose is stored), proportionately large brain (a major user of glucose) and high activity level. Immaturity of the body systems that process and store glucose may also be involved.
Hypoglycemia symptoms occur when the brain is deprived of glucose, its sole energy supply; if untreated, hypoglycemia can cause seizures, collapse, loss of consciousness and even death. Early symptoms include trembling (especially in the facial muscles), lethargy, listlessness, in coordination, a dazed or confused demeanor, and depression. The entire sequence is not always seen. The dog may simply appear to be depressed or he may be weak, wobbly and jerky; or he may be found in a coma.
If your Yorkie shows signs of hypoglycemia, start treatment immediately. Keep it warm by wrapping it in a towel or blanket (shivering makes the hypoglycemia worse). If your Yorkie is conscious, slowly dribble a little corn syrup or honey into its mouth or give it a dollop of a high-calorie dietary-supplement paste (nutra-cal,or nutra-stat). Repeat after 10 minutes, if necessary. Feed your Yorkie as soon as it’s alert enough to eat. If hypoglycemia has caused your Yorkie to lose consciousness, rub the syrup or paste on its gums and tongue, then immediately take it to the veterinarian for further care.
If your puppy is susceptible to transient juvenile hypoglycemia, feed it a high quality, nutritionally balanced food four to five times a day. Healthy high-calorie snacks may help prevent hypoglycemia between meals. If possible, avoid subjecting your Yorkie puppy to circumstances that are likely to elicit hypoglycemia, such as stressful situations or extended periods of vigorous activity.
Most puppies outgrow transient juvenile hypoglycemia by the time they’re 4 months old. Consult your veterinarian if your Yorkie continues to have hypoglycemic episodes after this age.
Heartworm: To guard or not to guard that is the question.
by Corinna Bollmann
Heartworm is a parasite that gets transmitted through bites from infected mosquitoes. Larvae enter the bloodstream and migrate to the heart. Larvae live in the heart for six months before they turn into adults. If an animal tests positive for heartworm, he can be treated in an effective and safe way, unless the infestation has been present for a long time (3-4 years).
Most holistic practitioners and alternative veterinarians will explain that the healthy pet, that eats a good diet, is vaccine free, and is not currently on any heartworm medication or chemical flea and tick preventatives, most likely has a strong immune system that will fight off heartworm. None of the larvae will survive and become adults. In the unlikely event that some of the larvae should manage to survive to adulthood, it is not the death sentence that many vets and pharmaceutical companies want us to believe. A truly healthy dog will not be a hospitable host. His strong immune system will weaken heartworms and the pet should be able to fight them off with no lasting ill effects to his health.
Dr. William Falconer, a homeopathic veterinarian in Austin, Texas states: The heartworm has been out there forever as far as we know, but we don’t read reports of wolves and coyotes being wiped out by heartworm, and yet domestic dogs are falling prey to it.
The reason why our domesticated pets are falling prey to heartworms is because they have weakened immune systems. Canines in the wild are eating raw meat and bones and are never exposed to chemical treatments. Their strong immune systems fight off heartworm in the larvae stage, or very few heartworms survive and they do not threaten their host’s lives.
A parasite doesn’t intend to kill the host. The evolution of a parasite depends on completing its life cycle. If it kills the host it means the end. When parasites infest and ultimately kill the host, the host must have had health issues to begin with.
Veterinarian Dr. Levy practiced for many years in California and treated many dogs with heartworms. He observed that the only dogs that developed symptoms of heart failure were those with yearly vaccines, being fed commercial dog food and receiving drug treatments for other symptoms such as skin conditions.
Dr. Levy concluded It is not really that different from the common intestinal roundworms, in that most dogs do not show any symptoms. Only a dog whose health is compromised is unable to tolerate a few worms. Furthermore, a truly healthy dog would not be susceptible to either type of worm in the first place. It seems to me that the real problem is that allopathic attitudes have instilled in many of us a fear of disease, fear of pathogens and parasites, fear of rabies, as if these are evil and malicious entities just waiting to lay waste to a naive and unprotected public.
So do we need to use a preventative every year? To see if your pet is even at risk, find out how many cases of heartworm we had in Ontario over the last few years and where the majority of cases happened. Infected mosquitoes transmit heartworm, so how about eliminating the risk by keeping your pet safe with a natural mosquito repellent and reducing mosquito populations in the environment? Stagnant water is an ideal breeding ground for them. Get rid of it. When traveling with your pet, find out how high the risk of heartworm is in those areas, and take precautions like holistic insect repellents.
Be aware that the posters from the manufacturers of preventive heartworm medications are supposed to create fear in you. And it works, doesn’t it? But is the risk as high as they make it sound? Are we buying because we are uneducated about the disease, the product, the side effects, and the actual risk for our pets? The usual dramatic poster of an open heart full of heartworm is in reality the heart of a animal with weak immunity that has been infected with heartworm for years, never been tested and never been treated.
The pills for heartworm are actually not a preventative, but the cure, which is toxic. Would you take toxic medication for leukemia every month of every year just in case you might ever get it? Most likely not. Dr. Martin Goldstein, DVM, states in his book The Nature Of Animal Healing that he believes that most of the liver diseases and cancers we see in today’s dogs are related to heartworm preventatives. His own dog and most of the clients in his practice are not treated with heartworm preventatives.
As mentioned earlier, heartworm meds, flea and tick prevention and the annual check-up are a major source of income for veterinarians. You do have a choice of saying yes or no to products or services. That does not make you a bad pet owner. That makes you a good and educated pet owner who is making careful choices by weighing the likelihood of encountering diseases or health problems from toxic preventatives. Period.
What is the best remedy for heartworm?
Ignore the ads.
Diatomaceous Earth
A truly safe and effective organic pesticide
D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) is fossilized remains of microscopic shells created by one celled organisms of algae like plants called Diatoms. D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) has many protective uses, from use on household pets to spraying field crops, to stored grain, livestock or pet feed. Freshwater, food grade D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) can be used for internal parasites by placing in daily feed ration or external parasites when used as a natural topical dusting powder. Completely harmless to all animals, fish, birds, and the environment, it can be sprinkled on the animal, the bedding or around the kennel. About the only negative to D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) is when used outside it must be reapplied after a rain. D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) makes an extremely uncomfortable environment for any insect or arthropod that it comes in contract with.
Unlike persistent chemicals pesticides that can be harmful to your pet and the environment, D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) is an ORGANIC mechanical pesticide that treats infestation without harmful side effects. D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) is truly a safe ingredient; bugs can not become immune to D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) because it kills them by PHYSICAL not chemical action. Special processed milling makes D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) into a product graded for particle size which is most effective for killing insects. This process makes it easier and less dusty to use. As the insect comes in contact with the powder, static electricity causes an attraction to the body. Once the powder attaches itself to the insect, the sharp edges of the particles cut through the waxy outer layer of the exoskeleton of the insect and absorb the body fluids therefore killing the parasite. It takes a day or two for the process to take place but the end results is most effective, death by dehydration.
There are 2 types of diatomaceous earth, saltwater and freshwater. This is why it is very important that when using on animals or around livestock that you choose the freshwater, food grade D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth). Freshwater diatomaceous earth is amorphous silica. Saltwater diatomaceous earth, the type used in pool filters, is crystalline silica. Pool filter diatomaceous earth is amorphous silica that has been heat treated forming large lump crystalline silica that makes for better filtering.
NEVER, NEVER USE POOL FILTER DIATOMACEOUS EARTH ON ANIMALS.
It simply won’t be effective and is dangerous because of the many harmful side effects.
D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) is both a short and long-term non-toxic, effective, safe, organic pesticide. D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) has a remarkable repellency factor. As long as it is present, insects tend to stay away, making a serious infestation almost impossible. Also the more D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) is used, the more an environment is created to repel insects. If you use D/Earth (Diatomaceous Earth) on a regular basis your animal both internally and externally will have less and less problems with all types of troublesome parasites.
