Tiny little medical needs Yorkshire terrier.

Ronni

Ronni

Well-known Member
Location
Nashville TN
I’m going to foster, possibly adopt, this medical needs yorkie,18 days old right now, born with a cleft palate and being tube fed by Paige, my daughter, till he can tolerate solids.

If you know me from the forum, you know I foster, but this is the first time a yorkie has crossed my path. Though I’m very knowledgeable in the care of tiny dogs in general, I’ve never had a yorkie before, nor actually cared for a cleft baby, so this will be a learning experience for me.

This little guy is very healthy other than his cleft, he’s gaining weight well, his medical needs are fully addressed and monitored by a team of vets and techs and his current medical expert foster, Paige😉

He’s charting to be about 4 lbs as an adult though right now he’s only about 9 oz. He’s prognosis is guardedly optimistic, cleft babies face many challenges.

But nonetheless he’s a tiny little firecracker! IMG_5101.jpegIMG_5102.jpeg

His cleft palate 😢
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Ronni said:
I’m going to foster, possibly adopt, this medical needs yorkie,18 days old right now, born with a cleft palate and being tube fed by Paige, my daughter, till he can tolerate solids.

If you know me from the forum, you know I foster, but this is the first time a yorkie has crossed my path. Though I’m very knowledgeable in the care of tiny dogs in general, I’ve never had a yorkie before, nor actually cared for a cleft baby, so this will be a learning experience for me.

This little guy is very healthy other than his cleft, he’s gaining weight well, his medical needs are fully addressed and monitored by a team of vets and techs and his current medical expert foster, Paige😉

He’s charting to be about 4 lbs as an adult though right now he’s only about 9 oz. He’s prognosis is guardedly optimistic, cleft babies face many challenges.

But nonetheless he’s a tiny little firecracker! View attachment 448367View attachment 448368

His cleft palate 😢
View attachment 448369
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Bless your heart!💝💝
 
@Ronni you are a saint! I can never understand how fosters can not fall in love with every animal they foster. When we adopted our Bugsy at 6 years old, his foster drove almost 80 miles to our house to make sure we would be capable of taking care of him. When she saw our other cat she knew he would be in a loving home. He is so sweet, and such a character, that I don't know how she ever gave him up!

This little Yorkie is adorable! Good luck not keeping him. ;)
 
seadoug said:
@Ronni you are a saint! I can never understand how fosters can not fall in love with every animal they foster.
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@seadoug we do fall in love, frequently. 😉 It’s hard not to. And to be a good foster, it’s necessary to connect with the animals in your care to help them overcome whatever challenges they’ve faced before they got to you.

I keep notes of whatever issues I’ve observed, the things we’ve overcome together, relationship to other animals, men, kids, medical issues, temperament and behavior etc. When that foster leaves me, I want to make sure the rescue organization has as complete a picture as possible to ensure the potential adopter is a good fit.

It’s just a different mindset, when you foster. I know the animal isn’t mine to keep, I’m just its caretaker. I know what my job is, and I’m pretty good at it. That said, there is a very real phenomenon called a “foster fail” 😉❤️ where an experienced, lost time foster person will lose their heart to an animal in their care because the connection is SO special that it can’t be ignored. It doesn’t happen much, but when it does it’s celebrated!
 
Lewkat said:
That is wonderful, Ronni. As he ages, can that cleft be surgically repaired?

That Yorkie is one lucky doggie. 🤗
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@Lewkat Cleft repair is a double edged sword. The surgeries are difficult, recovery times long, and not all vets will do them. And even if the surgery is performed the cleft will sometimes resist the closure surgery and part of it will reopen.

The cleft makes it impossible for the pup to nurse because they can’t create the suction needed. But once they’re eating solids, the cleft doesn’t inhibit eating at all usually, the danger arises if the pup gets food stuck in the cleft or aspirates it.

A fully open cleft is a lot easier to manage than one that’s been repaired but a small part of it reopens. When it’s fully open, checking for stuck food and removing it is easy, compared to a very small opening where it’s a lot harder to see and remove the food if necessary.

I’ve seen several cleft puppies pass through rescue, none of whom have had cleft surgery, and all of whom have grown to maturity and still going strong.
 
GoodEnuff said:
I cannot imagine checking for stuck food and such. My little half-spaniel will occasionally pick up something and I try to open her mouth to see what it is and/or remove it. She clamps down hard and will not open her mouth.
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@GoodEnuff we learn to combat that resistance, really with any dog that needs its mouth/teeth checked. And when you have a dog that has to have it routinely done, it gets desensitized to it eventually.

My daughter Paige has fostered a number of cleft pups, tube feeding them round the clock from birth. There have been a couple who, once transitioned to solid food, had some trouble with food in the palate.

My amazing daughter would just block one nostril, blow into the other, and dislodge the food that way! 🤩 She taught that to each adopter who took on the care of the cleft babies she fostered. ❤️ It can be a lifesaving measure!
 
Her eyes are open! And she’s gained weight—9.6 ounces now. That’s a very respectable gain over 5 days! 🥰
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She’s a little over three weeks, so in another couple weeks she’ll be slowly introduced to kibble, and learn how to drink from a water bottle (e.g. the kind gerbils use) before transitioning to a dish. She’ll continue to be tube fed as she gets used to the kibble so she doesn’t backslide with her weight. It will take 3-6 weeks to fully transition her to kibble and water dish as long as everything goes smoothly.

As @outlander suggested, any kind of slurry or wet food is off limits because of the high potential of the pup aspirating it…the ease with which it could enter the cleft, and the difficulty removing the slop from the cleft is just too problematic!
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Oh it’s a little girl. My mistake. What a sweetie pie. My prayers go out to her but I know she’s in good care with you.
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Nope not your error! I originally referred to her as male.

When they’re that tiny as newborns, it’s super hard to sex them correctly. It’s a very common mistake 🤦‍♀️

I intended to go back and edit the OP, but it was closed to changes. Then I meant to mention it in my next post but, you know, Senior Moments…..
 
IrishEyes said:
It's like having a grandpuppy for all of us, how sweet ❤️‍🔥
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Oh how fun!!! 🤩 Then I’ll make sure to post frequent updates!

EDITED TO ADD: for a frame of reference, she was just a hair over 4 ounces (120 grams) when she was born. She lost a few grams when she couldn’t nurse and was then rushed to my daughter Paige, the medical expert foster for this region. After being with Paige a couple weeks, she’d regained the lost weight and was up to 8.1 ounces (230 grams)

As of today she’s 9.6 ounces (274 grams) as previously mentioned. An adequate amount of weight gain for a tiny pup this size is around 10 grams a day so she’s doing well.

We want to make sure she’s nice and chubby before we transition her to solid food, because the transition will typically result in a temporary weight loss.
 

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