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mother to be

20 11:39:27

Question
QUESTION: I have a small Yorkie female that is about 36 weeks and is very slim, she never really has been one to eat much but I worry about her. She's my baby! I have begun vitemins for her, but she is so boney-fied. I havent seen any worms of any kind and try to stay on top of that. Do you have any suggestions as to what I need to do for her? This is her second pregnacy. (she only had one puppy the last time and it was a large pup and it died. I think it was because it got chilled.)Thanks for your attention and help.

ANSWER: Chris,

I am a little confused by your question.  You stated that your female is about 36 weeks?  You also mention that this is her second pregnancy?  The gestation period for a female is 9 weeks so I am guessing that when you refer to the 36 weeks you are not talking about the pregnancy.  Since this is her second litter I also have to assume that she is older than 36 weeks.  I am going to guess here that you meant 36 months old.  You stated that she is very slim but you didn't say how much she weighed.  There are a lot of Yorkies that are on the thin side.  I have a four pounder that has always been skin and bones.  Because of this I would never breed her.  If yours is that small you were lucky the first time she had a litter that she was able to deliver the puppy that you said was large.  What usually happens is that they cannot deliver the puppy without a c-section.  I suspect that the puppy probably died because it was in the birth canal too long because of its size.  As far as trying to put some weight on her the best way to do that is to feed her meat.  Your vet would probably not recommend that but when I had a female that was small I would feed them meat (beef) so that they would get a lot of protein to help them stay strong while they were pregnant and to make sure the puppies got as much nutrition as possible.  I would discontinue feeding the meat after she has the puppies because I suspect that she is just one of those Yorkies that is naturally petite.  You may want to consider not breeding her anymore after this litter because she sounds to frail to be put through the physical trauma of having puppies.  You may also want to talk to your vet to see if she is carrying more than one puppy this time.  If there is only one puppy again, then you may have to consider scheduling a c-section so the puppy does not spend to much time in the birth canal.  When she goes into labor if she is in hard labor for more than an hour you will need to rush her to the vet.  I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Melinda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Melinda,
Sorry for the confusion, my female is 2-3 years old, and she is 36 weeks along in pregnacy. I wanted to bred her because she is such an cute little girl, I wanted another like her. She was the runt of 2. As for the weight...Maybe 3 pounds-- guessing. I had hoped that with the first litter she wouldve put on weight like my chihuahus did, but not much I guess.

Answer
Chris,

Your Yorkie cannot be 36 weeks along in her pregnancy because the total gestation period for dogs is 9 weeks.  If she is only three pounds you should not breed her because the risk of complications for a dog that small are great.  I have written extensively about this to others on this website.  Please check past answers about breeding if you want an explanation about why you should not breed a dog smaller than four pounds.

Sincerely,

Melinda

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