Fasting for blood test and X-ray

[Iris]

Hi

My name is Iris, I just joined the group. We have a 5 month old, 5 pound male yorkie, his name is Tiko. This is our first puppy ever, so we are very nervous parents. And he has my husband and I very worried. He's been throwing up about once a week sometimes bile sometimes food and once in a while seems to be gasping for air. The vet thinks that he's okay, nothing serious but wants to do blood work and an X-ray of stomach and trachea just to be sure.

She wants Tiko to fast for 20 hours, no food and no water. I don't know how we can keep him without water for that long. Tiko loves to eat and drinks a lot. We're just so afraid to do this. I'm also concerned with his sugar level dropping during the fast. When we first got him we were told that we had to be careful with his sugar level dropping especially during the first 6 months.

I'd like to know if any of you have had to make your yorkies fast, and how did it go. Actually, I need to be walked through this, because I'm scared to do it and scared not to do it. Advise please. Iris

[mmyorkies]

I have never know a vet to have any toy dog fast for 20 hours, are you sure they said 20 hours. The usual is 12 hours, and that is for blood draws for a bile acid test, and even for surgery is only 12 hours. Fasting a yorkie 20 hours could cause them to go into a hypoglycemic attack. If your vet insists on a 20 hour fast, and no water, which could also cause dehydration in a toy dog, I would most certinaly contact another vet and get a second opinion, or at least ask another vet what is a safe amount of time to fast a toy dog.

Also, contact the person you purchased your pup from and ask them about fasting times for toy dogs

[Iris]

Yes, I'm sure she said 20 hours. We've gone back and forth with her assistant over the amount of hours. We told them about our concern regarding the sugar level and was told to watch him and give him glucose if he got lethargic.

Iris

[ldenise]

when Buckeye threw up blood from us feeding him table food the vet said to make sure his stomach was empty and not give him food or water for 24 hrs. that was really tough to do but we did it. poor thing was trying every thing he could think of for some water. even doing his tricks. it broke my heart. i gave in before we went to bed and gave him a little water. at the ed of the 24 hrs we could then give him food and water and an antibiotic. he was fine after that. but no more table food for his sensitive stomach.

[Chelsie1978]

Iv never heard of that before..20 hours is way to long for a pup,especially a toy breed! Even when my oldest yorkie was spayed I was allowed to give her her breakfast at 9am, and she was spayed at 5pm..she only had to go without food for 8 hours but by no means without water,and she was under 2lb´s!
I would also get a second opinion,20 hours is a long time even if they do plan on giving him glucose.
Toy breeds need to eat regulary becuse the sugar in their blood can drop REAL fast,and they need to drink regularly because they can dehidrate just as quickly.I know a woman on another board that took her male in to be neutered..she had already had him without food all ready for surgery,but the vet later delayed surgery and he went even longer without eating...he died that day due to low blood sugar which weakened him,making the anestesia fatal He just didnt wake up..
20 hours in a very long time for these little ones..I would deffinately get a second opinion

[troubletb]

I don't know about the 20 hour thing, but you could always just call another vet and ask if they think its too long. As far as the throwing up, the little fellow is probably throwing up food because he ate too much, and the bile because hes stomach was empty. My Bell was not eating for awhile because she didn't like the food I gave her and was throwing up bile because she had an empty stomach. But she was fine after I found food that she liked. ( all along I thought she had morning sickness, but the vet said she didn't think Bell was pregnant after all)

[camillek]

I was talking to my vet today about getting cecilia spayed and he told me that she should fast for about 6-8 hours maximum. she is 4 pounds.

[QTParis]

I would absolutely ask your vet more questions about this. What type of blood test is he doing?

Paris had a fasting blood test and was to fast for 12 hours...but she could still have water. She too spent about 2 weeks vomitting bile and any food she ate. They were testing her for Portosystemic shunting.

20 hours is way way way to long.

[mmyorkies]

Iris, Is the vet you have familiar with toy dogs? I know that a lot of vets don't really know a lot about the toy dogs and how they react to fasting too long or not having any water. It is way different than it is for a larger dog.l

[Iris]

Hi all,

Thank you for all the advise, I did get back in touch with my vet's office and requested to speak to her personally regarding the fasting instead of her office staff. As it turns out her staff had misinformed us. He is allowed to have as much water as he wants and the fasting is a minimum of 12 hours. She did say that longer would be better for the test to be accurate. It's a bile acid test. She said that she doesn't feel that at his age and weight there would be a risk of hypoglycemia shock if he were to go on a longer fast but he doesn't have to. We just run the chance that if the test is not accurate they'll have to perform it again. I was so relieved. I want to get these tests done. I'll be setting up the appointment for next week, hopefully. Again, I thank you all so much for your advise. I'm glad that I found this yorkie group.

Iris

[mmyorkies]

12 hours is the standard that is used for the fasting time for the Bile Acid test. A blood draw is taken after the fast, then the dog is fed and another blood draw is taken 2 hours after eating. This test will determine if there is a problem with the liver.