Originally posted by LadysMom@Mar 23 2005, 12:53 PM
Those extra small dogs not only come with a huge price tag, they also run up huge vet bills.
* They break bones easily, especially legs, by jumping on and off furniture. There have been cases of bones shattering on impact from normal playing or being held too firmly.
* Their mouths are usually not big enough to accomodate all their adult teeth and they have problems with overcrowding, decay, etc.
* Internal organs may not be fully or adequately developed.
* They have trouble regulating their own body heat. They can literally starve to death because they have to expend so much energy trying to maintain a normal body temperature.
* They have trouble regulating their own blood sugar.
* They are more prone to diarrhea and vomiting. Since they can dehydrate so quickly, even a simple case of diarrhea can become life threatening and require a trip to the vet, possibly hospitalization.
* Extra and expensive tests are needed prior to routine teeth cleanings and surgeries.
* Even with the best of care, it's not unusual for so-called "teacups" to die at very young age, sometimes living only 2 or 3 years even with the best of care.
The author of one of the articles I read suggested that if a 5 pound dog is too heavy for you, get a stuffed animal!
Good advice!
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1st of all... Kodie is refered to as a "teacup" (I hate that when people call him that!!!!) anyway.... These are a very good list of things to worry about when "waiting" a tiny dog and getting one that was bred toooo tiny.
Kodie has a few of these problems...
*I do not allow him to jump on anything too high, like furniture because his bones are so tiny he could hurt himself. I also tell people to be extra careful when holding him because of his tiny bone structure. Hes never around small children and always watched when hes with other dogs.
*Kodie's mouth is also too tiny for his teeth. He had 7 baby teeth pulled and his big side teeth are staggered down his jaw because his mouth can not fit all of those teeth. His jaw isnt developed correctly either. He chews always on the one side because i'm guessing that he cant chew on his other side because of how the teeth are aligned!?! I just know the vet told me that his jaw isnt formed too great but is better looking than his little sister that passed away.
*I dunno if Microvascular Dysplasma has anything to do with developed organs but he has MVD. (which is a liver disease) (any dog can get this)
*Kodie was vomitting after going to the groomers for the first time and he had to be put on IVs and hospitalized over night because he was soooo sick. (He hasnt had any diarrhea yet so i dunno about that... but i'm sure if he ever gets that i'll have to take him to the hospital.) My vet tells me to NEVER wait if kodie gets sick, just bring him in.. hes tooo tiny to ever wait.... quicker the better!
* * "Extra and expensive tests are needed prior to routine teeth cleanings and surgeries."
Isnt this the truth! Before Kodie had his baby teeth pulled and neutered... he had to have all this blood work done because of his liver and they KEPT him OVER NIGHT when other dogs would go home... instead Kodie was put on IVs after surgery to make sure he was dehydrate after being neutering and his teeth pulled... normal dogs dont have to be put on IVs for this!
Now... Kodie isnt as tiny as the dogs they are refering to in this article but he still has some characterisitics of what happens when you breed two tiny dogs together just to get tiny babies. I'm sure a lot of you remember me posting that Kodie was the only pup to survive the litter. His little sister (which fits ALL of these characterisitics in this article) died at 6 months old... she never made it to even 1lb, thats how tiny she was.
