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Why is my 3-month chihuahua weak and sluggish? What can I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Female | 3 months and 13 days old

Additional question for my 3mos old chihuahua. She is showing signs of weakness, sluggish eyes but still have a strong appetite for food. Our vet here gave her LC-Vit and nutrical as supplements. Saying she has a hypocalcemia. And observe if she will improve in 7days. I have a copy her blood chem. Please suggest what else we can do? A big thanks for anyone who will answer.

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on August 9th, 2017

The CBC that you posted does not show any significant abnormalities. Hypocalcemia (low blood calcium) is not terribly common in puppies, it is most common in pregnant or nursing dogs. Hypocalcemia can be caused by severe malnutrition. More commonly, small breed puppies, like chihuahuas, can easily become hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). Sometimes this is caused by not eating frequently enough. I recommend that Bread be fed a good quality puppy food every 6 hours to prevent hypoglycemia. If she is lethargic, you can rub honey or caro syrup on her gums to help. If she will lap it up, you can also offer her a small amount of sugar water (but don't leave it out longer than a few minutes as it can quickly go bad and grow bacteria). In the US, we have a supplement called Nutrical, but it is not a calcium supplement, it has some vitamins, fat, protein, and sugar to help prevent this from happening. Other causes of hypoglycemia in puppies are congenital defects like portosystemic shunt or hydrocephalus, and other issues like bacterial infection (less likely based on the CBC), intestinal parasites, stress, or diarrhea.

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hypocalcemia would be unusual in a young dog but could be related to certain toxins, pancreatitis, or hypoparathyroidism. You may want to ask your veterinarian about sending out an ionized calcium level that would be a more accurate measure than the total calcium usually included in lab work. Your picture shows the results of a complete blood count, which is normal other than a very mild anemia, but no results of a chemistry panel that would include calcium. If Bread is not improving I would recommend rechecking with your veterinarian.

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