Yorkie first aid — what to do when every minute counts

Your Yorkie is choking — now what?

Yorkies are notorious for inhaling food without chewing. A piece of chicken, a rawhide scrap, or even a kibble that is just a bit too big can block their tiny airway.

Signs of choking: Pawing at the mouth, gagging or retching without producing anything, blue or pale gums, panicked expression, collapse. A coughing Yorkie is not choking — a choking Yorkie cannot make sound because the airway is blocked.

What to do:

1. Stay calm — your Yorkie is panicking, and your panic makes it worse.
2. Open the mouth carefully with your fingers. Use a flashlight. If you can see the object, try to sweep it out with your finger — but do not push it deeper.
3. If you cannot see or remove it, place your Yorkie back against your chest (like a baby burping position). Find the soft spot just below the ribcage and give 5 sharp inward-upward thrusts.
4. Flip the dog over and give 5 firm back blows between the shoulder blades.
5. Alternate between thrusts and back blows until the object dislodges or you reach the vet.
6. Get to the vet immediately, even if the object comes out. Choking can cause throat swelling, bruising, and secondary complications.

Yorkie overheating in the SA heat

South African summers are brutal for a 3 kg dog with a flat face and a thick coat. Never, ever leave a Yorkie in a parked car — even with windows down, temperatures hit lethal levels in minutes.

Signs of heatstroke: Frantic panting that does not stop, drooling, bright red gums turning pale or grey, staggering or weakness, vomiting, collapse, seizures.

What to do:

1. Move your Yorkie to shade or air-conditioning immediately. Get them out of direct heat.
2. Pour cool (not icy, not freezing) water over their body — head, neck, belly, armpits, paws. Room-temperature tap water is perfect.
3. Place a fan directly on them to increase cooling through evaporation.
4. Offer small amounts of cool water to drink if they are conscious and willing.
5. Do not use ice or ice water. It constricts blood vessels and traps heat inside the body, making things worse.
6. Do not force water down the throat of an unconscious or semiconscious dog — they will inhale it.
7. Get to the vet urgently. Internal organ damage continues even after your Yorkie seems to recover. Heatstroke can cause kidney failure, brain swelling, and blood clotting disorders that take hours to show up.

Your Yorkie was bitten by a snake

South Africa has some of the deadliest snakes on earth, and a Yorkie's small body means venom hits hard and fast. Puff adders, cobras, mambas, and even the Mozambique spitting cobra in certain areas are real risks.

Signs of snake bite: Sudden weakness or collapse, swelling at the bite site (puff adder), difficulty breathing (cobra/mamba neurotoxins), drooling, dilated pupils, paralysis, blood in urine, or your Yorkie simply seeming "not right." You may not see the bite — checking for fang marks is unreliable on a hairy Yorkie.

What to do:

1. Keep your Yorkie completely still. Movement spreads venom through the bloodstream. Carry them to your car. Do not let them walk.
2. Phone your vet or the nearest emergency vet on the way. Tell them you are coming with a suspected snake bite. This lets them prepare antivenom, which is often not stocked at every clinic.
3. Keep your Yorkie warm and calm during the drive.
4. Do not cut the wound, suck the venom, apply a tourniquet, or wash the wound. The vet may need venom residue to identify the snake species.
5. Do not give your Yorkie anything to eat, drink, or any medication (not even painkillers) unless the vet instructs you.
6. If you saw the snake, try to remember what it looked like — colour, pattern, head shape, size. Do not try to catch or kill it. A photo from a safe distance is useful but not worth a second snake bite.

⚠️ Critical: Antivenom is species-specific. Not all vets carry all types. The quicker you phone ahead, the quicker they can source the right antivenom or refer you to a hospital that has it.

Your Yorkie ate something toxic

Yorkies will eat anything. Their tiny body weight means even a small amount of a toxic substance can be lethal. Know what is dangerous in a South African home.

Common SA toxins dangerous to Yorkies:

• Chocolate (especially dark and baking chocolate) — theobromine poisoning
• Raisins and grapes — kidney failure, even in tiny amounts
• Xylitol — in sugar-free gum, some peanut butters, and sugar-free sweets. Causes liver failure and hypoglycaemia
• Rat poison and snail bait — common in SA gardens and garages
• Macadamia nuts — weakness, vomiting, hyperthermia
• Onions and garlic (powdered forms are highly concentrated) — anaemia
• Household medications (paracetamol, ibuprofen, antidepressants) — even half a pill can be lethal in a 3 kg dog
• Toxic plants: lilies, sago palm, oleander, cycads, dumb cane (Dieffenbachia)
• Avocado — contains persin, dangerous in concentrated amounts

What to do:

1. Phone your vet or the SA poison helpline (0861 555 777) immediately.
2. Collect a sample of what was eaten — the packaging, the plant, the label. Estimate how much was consumed.
3. Do NOT induce vomiting unless a vet specifically tells you to. Some substances (rat poison, sharp objects, caustic chemicals) cause more damage coming back up.
4. Do not give milk, water, food, or home remedies unless instructed by a professional.
5. Get to the vet. Bring the toxin sample with you.

Low blood sugar — the Yorkie emergency that creeps up fast

This is one of the most common emergencies specific to Yorkies, especially puppies, small adults, and underweight rescue dogs. A missed meal, a bout of vomiting, stress, or simply running around too much on an empty stomach can trigger it.

Signs of hypoglycaemia: Trembling or shaking, weakness (especially in the back legs), unusual sleepiness or lethargy, disorientation (walking into walls, seeming drunk), staring into space, loss of appetite, and in severe cases — seizures or collapse.

What to do:

1. If your Yorkie is conscious: rub a small amount of honey, glucose gel, or sugar water directly onto their gums and the inside of their cheek. It absorbs through the oral tissues even if they cannot swallow properly.
2. If they can swallow: offer a small amount of sugar water or the electrolyte solution (Rehydrate / Pinet).
3. Keep them warm — wrap in a blanket or towel.
4. Get to the vet immediately. Hypoglycaemia that does not respond quickly to oral glucose needs intravenous dextrose. Seizures or collapse need emergency treatment.
5. If your Yorkie is seizing or unconscious: do not put anything in their mouth. Wrap them loosely in a towel to prevent injury and get to the vet now.

⚠️ Prevention: Yorkie puppies need small, frequent meals. Never let a Yorkie puppy skip a meal. If they are off their food for any reason, watch them like a hawk. Hypoglycaemia prevention is better than treatment.

Broken bones, falls, and jumping injuries

Gareth wrote about this on the original Yorkiesa site — the number of puppies that get dropped, jump off furniture, or fall from arms is frighteningly high. Yorkie bones are soft. A fall from a bed or a squirm out of a child's arms can shatter a tiny leg.

Signs of a fracture: Sudden lameness (holding a leg up), crying or yelping when touched, swelling at the injury site, obvious deformity (the leg looks wrong), reluctance to move, and signs of shock (pale gums, rapid breathing, weakness).

What to do:

1. Do not try to straighten the leg or pop it back in place. You will cause more damage.
2. Do not apply a splint — on a tiny Yorkie leg, a bad splint is worse than no splint.
3. Place your Yorkie on a flat, firm surface — a baking tray, a wooden cutting board, or a sturdy book wrapped in a towel works as a stretcher.
4. Wrap them loosely but securely in a towel to restrict movement and prevent shock.
5. Keep them warm. Shock is a real risk in small dogs with painful injuries.
6. Get to the vet immediately. Do not let them put weight on the injured leg.

Prevention is everything: Do not let visitors pick up your Yorkie — especially children and people unfamiliar with tiny dogs. Do not let your Yorkie jump off beds, couches, or high surfaces. Use pet stairs or ramps. A Yorkie that falls from chest height can break a leg.

Your Yorkie was attacked or bitten by another dog

A single bite from even a medium-sized dog can be catastrophic for a Yorkie. Their small ribcage does not offer much protection. Even a puncture wound that looks small on the outside can hide internal damage.

What to do:

1. Separate the dogs safely. Do not put your hands near fighting mouths.
2. Stop visible bleeding with clean gauze and gentle pressure. Do not apply a tourniquet.
3. Clean superficial wounds gently with chlorhexidine or saline.
4. Wrap your Yorkie in a towel and keep them warm. Small dogs can go into shock from pain and fear even if bleeding is minimal.
5. Get to the vet immediately — even if the wounds look minor. Puncture wounds need antibiotics, require professional cleaning, and may hide internal damage that is not visible externally.
6. A bite the size of a pinprick on a Yorkie's chest can puncture a lung. Do not assume it is fine because it is small.

Tick paralysis — South Africa's hidden Yorkie danger

The Karoo paralysis tick (Ixodes rubicundus) and the bush paralysis tick are common in South Africa and can kill a Yorkie in days. Unlike tick bite fever, which develops over weeks, paralysis ticks act fast because their saliva contains a neurotoxin.

Signs of tick paralysis: Weakness in the back legs that spreads forward (the tell-tale sign), a change in your dog's bark (softer, hoarser), difficulty swallowing, drooling, vomiting, laboured breathing, and eventually paralysis of the respiratory muscles.

What to do:

1. Check your Yorkie's entire body — especially between the toes, inside the ears, around the anus, under the collar, and in the armpits. Paralysis ticks are often small and easy to miss.
2. Remove any ticks you find using a tick remover hook or tweezers. Pull straight upward with steady pressure — do not twist or crush.
3. Get to the vet even if you remove the tick. The neurotoxin is already in your dog's system. Your Yorkie may need tick antitoxin serum and supportive care. Recovery takes 24–72 hours.
4. Prevention: year-round tick control is non-negotiable for Yorkies in South Africa. Bravecto, NexGard, or Simparica are commonly used. Talk to your vet about which product suits your Yorkie best.

Minor wounds and how to handle them

Not every wound needs the emergency vet, but Yorkies lose blood fast because they have so little to begin with. Know when you can manage at home and when to go in.

What to do for a minor cut:

1. Clean the wound gently with saline or chlorhexidine solution. Do not use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide — they damage tissue and delay healing.
2. Apply gentle pressure with sterile gauze to stop any bleeding. If it does not stop after 10 minutes, you need the vet.
3. If the cut is on a paw pad, keep it clean and dry. Paw pad injuries on Yorkies bleed impressively but often look worse than they are.
4. Monitor for signs of infection over the next 48 hours: redness, swelling, discharge, heat, or your Yorkie licking the area obsessively.

When to go to the vet for a wound:

• Bleeding that does not stop after 10 minutes of steady pressure
• A wound that is deep, gaping, or you can see fat or muscle
• A puncture wound (has a small opening but could be deep underneath)
• Your Yorkie seems weak, pale-gummed, or is in obvious pain
• Any wound to the eye, chest, belly, or genital area

What to do in the car while driving to emergency care

The drive to the vet is when most owners panic. Here is what helps and what hurts during transport.

• Phone the vet while a passenger calls, or pull over briefly. Tell them: what happened, what symptoms you are seeing, and your estimated arrival time. They can prepare.
• Keep your Yorkie in a secure carrier or wrapped in a towel on a passenger's lap. Do not let them roam the car — they can worsen injuries and distract the driver.
• Keep them warm. Shock causes hypothermia. A towel or blanket helps.
• Speak calmly. Your voice is reassuring even if your hands are shaking.
• Do not give any medication, food, water, or home remedies in the car. If the vet needs to sedate or anaesthetise, an empty stomach is safer.
• Do not try to diagnose or treat on Google in the passenger seat. Focus on getting there safely. The vet is five minutes away from treating what took you twenty minutes to Google.
• If your Yorkie is unconscious or seizing, keep them on their side with their head slightly lowered to prevent aspiration. Do not put anything in their mouth.

Quick answers — Yorkie first aid FAQs

Keep learning — related health & care guides

The best first aid is prevention. These guides help you keep your Yorkie healthy enough to avoid emergencies in the first place.