Common Health Conditions with Puppies & Yorkies
Hypoglycemia : Hypoglycemia is a disorder common in small breed puppies. Basically it is low blood sugar as found in humans. This can be often misdiagnosed by veterinarians unfamiliar with toy breeds. It is important to recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia and know how to treat it. Hypoglycemia is easily treatable in the early stages, but fatal if allowed to progress. It is important to understand that just because a Yorkie has an episode of hypoglycemia; it may not be a chronic problem. Yorkies can have an isolated hypoglycemic incident in reaction to stress or lack of nutrients. Even a brief period of fasting or stress can be a trigger. These attacks are almost always preceded by a stress of some kind including, but not limited to vaccinations, weaning, housebreaking, over-handling, cold temperatures, intestinal parasites, infections, anorexia, etc. Many puppies simply play too hard and stress their system or forget to eat.
Patellar Luxation : The knee cap (patella) fits into a groove in the thigh bone (femur). The patella slides up and down in this groove as the leg bends and straightens. Patellar luxation occurs if the knee cap has slipped out of the groove. This is generally due to malformation and can occur occasionally or continuously. Sometimes, the patella will slip back into the groove on its own, or your veterinarian may need to push it back into place. Patellar Luxation is graded in stages I - IV. Many small breed dogs exhibit a grade I stage with little or no effect on activity levels.
Porto systemic Shunt (Liver Shunt) : The short of it is abnormal blood flow in the liver. Blood should flow from the digestive tract to the liver via the portal system into the blood vessels of the liver, and then to the caudal vena cava which is the large blood vessel carrying blood back to the heart. In a Porto systemic shunt, as the name implies, portal blood by-passes the liver and goes directly to the systemic venous circulation. In PSS toxins are not cleared by the liver, and circulate in the body. This causes neurological issues most often. Hepatic Encephalopathy is a term you may hear associated with behaviors manifestations of liver dysfunction. Porto systemic shunts may be acquired over time or at birth. Most animals with congenital Porto systemic shunts show clinical signs before 6 months of age. Where signs are subtle, the condition may not be diagnosed until much later. Scientific data on PSS is very conflicting at best, while diagnosis is also still in the very early stages. A liver shunt cannot be definitively diagnosed by blood work; shunting can only be found with advanced techniques such as scintigraphy, ultrasound, portography, Cat scan ("CT"), MRI, or exploratory surgery.
Retinal Dysphasia : In retinal dysphasia, there is abnormal development of the retina, present at birth. The disorder can be inherited, or it can be acquired as a result of a viral infection or some other event before the pups were born.
Tracheal Collapse : Tracheal collapse is a narrowing of the inner diameter of the trachea that fluctuates with the stage of the respiratory cycle. It can be an inherited trait, although many other factors can contribute such as obesity and age. Yorkies do experience a wheezing effect at times of high excitability or activity. Often this can be subsided by calming the dog.
