My 8-week-old puppy is sick, cold, weak, not eating. What's wrong?

Poor guy. It sounds like your puppy likely has a severe infection. I would highly recommend getting him seen first thing in the morning at any vet that is open and able. If an ER vet is the only option, then I would highly recommend going there. The vet needs to check your pup for parvovirus. I do hope that your puppy Billy is going to be able to make a full recovery from his illness. Best of luck and take care.

Hi there! Sorry to hear that Poppy is not feeling well. The clinical signs you describe are concerning when they occur in a puppy as they can be seen with serious gastrointestinal infections such as Parvovirus. Other possibilities include intestinal worms, gastrointestinal obstruction and dietary indiscretion, among other possibilities. The sooner these conditions are treated the better the outcome tends to be. For this reason, I recommend that you have Poppy evaluated by a veterinarian to check for these possibilities and to start therapy based on findings. At the very least they can address dehydration if present and start him on medications to try to make him feel better. Good luck! Keeping my fingers crossed for your boy!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Smokey. I recommend that he sees a veterinarian today. Parvovirus infection is unfortunately common in his breed. The veterinarian will examine him and likely perform fecal testing for this disease as well as other infections. Based on these results, treatment can be started to help him feel better. Try to encourage him to eat or place some karo syrup on his gums to prevent his blood sugar from dropping too low. I hope this information helps!

I’m so sorry to hear about Marley. Unfortunately this is a potentially very bad situation. These tiny guys get low blood sugar, low blood volume, and low temperature so easily. These can lead to shock and death pretty quickly. I urge you to take her in to a 24 hour emergency clinic as soon as possible. They may want to start active warming, place an IV, and give glucose and fluids straight into the IV. If taking her in is out of the question, apply Karo syrup or honey to the gums, get a thermometer (or sacrifice one you already have). And warm her up with a towel over a heating pad or hot water bottle. Take a rectal temp every 15 minutes and keep warming until her rectal temperature is 99F. Under NO circumstances should the heat source touch her directly as she can burn easily. If she can hold her head up and seems alert, offer water in a bowl to her face at least once an hour. Small frequent hi-calorie meals (such as nutrical or canned puppy food) should be offered all night. Sadly, this all may still fail without IV fluids and other veterinary intervention. Worse yet, I have temporarily pulled little guys like this out of shock two or three times only to have them finally pass or the owners euthanize. I suspect that these guys often were born with an organ abnormality that was unknown. I know that was a lot of information so please feel free to reach out to me via text or phone consultation if you have more specific questions or need further guidance. (See link below.) Best of luck to you and Marley!

Unfortunately, these are very vague symptoms with multiple causes. Make sure Jack is warm, fed and clean. Rub a dab of Karo syrup or honey on his gums. If he responds, offer a meal. Given his young age, you may need to have him physically examined by your veterinarian to diagnose or rule out serious viral or bacterial infections.

I'm not sure what "puppy dp" (perhaps a distemper/parvo vaccine) is but I'm concerned about Billi. Sometimes only one deworming treatment doesn't completely resolve a worm infestation. Ideally, puppies are dewormed every 2 weeks starting at 2 weeks of age until they are 12 weeks old. However, I rarely see puppies actually feel bad if worms are present, especially if they have been dewormed once. My bigger concern is another, more serious problem, such as parvovirus or an intestinal foreign body/blockage. Puppies aren't fully protected with just one vaccine (if that is what you mean by "dp") so it is possible for them to contact it. He needs to be seen very urgently, as I'm worried about hypoglycemia and dehydration. Please get him checked out by a vet as soon as possible.

A high fever and lethargy should be addressed by your veterinarian. In a puppy this young they will want to rule out disease processes such as the Parvovirus, and will likely want to obtain some blood work. While it could be a simple cold, typically these do not cause high fevers. Antibiotic therapy may be required if there is an infection.