Hypoglycemia in puppies is a very serious life-threatening condition that can develop very quickly and can even result in brain damage or death to your puppy.  It can damage the organs of the puppy and can possibly cause complications such as blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage if the puppy's blood sugar repeatedly drops. As a responsible pet owner you should consult a vet that is familiar with treating  teacup or young puppies so that your puppy gets the proper treatment for Hypoglycemia. Unless your vet is well accustomed to treating small animals he could waste valuable time with unneccessary testing that sometimes may show positive for parvo because of very recent parvo vaccines administered to  the puppy instead of treating for hypoglycemia. In an extreme condition the vet must give the puppy an injection for shock and stress. Many vets use a form of cortosteroid for this stress factor. If these injections are given in time, the puppy may regain consciousness.

Hypoglycemia is the result of low glucose level in blood which is commonly brought on by stress.  Teacup breeds plus young puppies are usually prone to becoming hypoglycemic. You should remember that when you are bringing a new puppy home, the new changes in surroundings may change your puppy's eating habits. If the puppy does not eat the blood sugar will begin to  drop, and Hypoglycemia will begin. This is the reason you need to create a safe area for your puppy, such as a gated off area in a laundry room, bathroom or by buying a puppy playpen to create an area where the puppy will have everything it needs food, water, bedding, training pads and a few toys available to the puppy day and night.

Conditions That Commonly Cause Hypoglycemia:

• STRESS
• Not feeding the puppy enough
  
• Crating & schedule feeding
• Over Handling/To much holding the puppy the first few days of getting the puppy
• Not letting the puppy get enough rest or sleep
• Assuming the puppy will eat regularly or has eaten enough
• Too cold of a room temperature

Recognizing Symptoms of  Hypoglycemia:

• Glazed, unfocused deep sunken look in his eyes
• Weak, lifeless limp body, wobbly or can't stand up
• Cold and trembling
• Does not want to eat when offered food
• Convulsions or sizures, as conditions worsen

Treating Hypoglycemia

During hypoglycemia, the blood sugar level must be raised at once, here are things which you can do:

• Give your puppy 3-6cc's (1 to 2 Tbs) of  Karo Corn Syrup or Nutrical
• Wait 15-20 minutes and give  about 10-12 cc of chichen & Rice baby food
• 20 minutes later give the puppy more baby food (10-12  cc)
• Offer the puppy some water or pedialyte
• Continue to  do the above steps every 4 hours even during overnight
• Mix equal amount  of  corn syrup, honey (or sugar) and water  and feed 10cc of this to the puppy 4  times a day.

 

 

 

Preventing Hypoglycemia

You should always remember the fact that Hypoglycemia can be prevented. You should follow the following measures in order to prevent hypoglycemia in puppies:

• Feed a high protein food such as Eukanuba or Bil-Jac to a small breed puppy. Bil-Jac kibble crumbles making it easy for a puppy to chew especially  when  they are  teething, and it is great for Teacup breeds as it has cane syrup or Molasses in it.
• Use corn syrup or honey in your puppy's water. This will prevent low blood sugar.
• You can also use sugar cubes in the water dish.
• It is also beneficial to keep a tube of Neutrical or other vitamin/food supplement on hand. You can give  a little  bit before going to bed and first thing in the morning and a few times during the day until the puppy has adjusted to the new  home.
  

Always remember that Hypoglycemia can be prevented and curable if detected in time. There is no reason why a puppy won't come out of it and never have it again if the stress factor is detected and eliminated.