Maltipoo nutrition: calories, gum disease and tear staining

A Maltipoo is a cross between a Maltese and a Toy or Miniature Poodle. Most are toy-sized, and adult weight depends largely on which Poodle is in the cross. That small size drives the feeding decisions. A very young puppy has little in reserve when it misses a meal. An adult needs so few calories that treats take a large share of the day. And small dogs get more gum disease than large ones.

Low blood sugar in toy-sized puppies

Very small puppies have trouble keeping their blood glucose up. A Veterinary Partner article on toy breeds, which names the Maltese and the Toy Poodle among its examples, sets out why. Toy puppies often cut their baby teeth late, so hard kibble is difficult to eat. They also lose body heat easily and turn listless when cold. Both problems cut food intake. The brain runs almost entirely on glucose, so as blood sugar falls the puppy becomes listless and uncoordinated, and in severe cases it loses consciousness or has seizures.

The practical answer is small, frequent meals. The same article says a young toy puppy may need feeding four to six times a day, with soft food if it cannot yet manage kibble. The risk falls with growth: teeth get stronger, fat stores build, and low blood sugar becomes much less likely. Most puppies can move to fewer, larger meals as they near adult size. How quickly depends on weight, appetite and any episodes so far, which makes it a question for the vaccination visits.

Signs of low blood sugar in a puppy:

• Listlessness, or less interest in food and play than usual
• Wobbling, stumbling or poor coordination
• Feeling cold
• Collapse, loss of consciousness or seizures

Size and youth are enough to explain an occasional episode, but not always. Infection, parasites, diarrhea and stress all raise the demand for glucose. A portosystemic shunt, a birth defect in which blood bypasses the liver, can also cause low blood sugar, and a liver function blood test can rule it out. A puppy with repeated episodes, or an adult dog with low blood sugar at any point, needs a vet to look for the cause.

For the food itself, choose one labeled complete and balanced for growth. The minimum protein for growth diets under AAFCO guidelines is 22.5% of dry matter, compared with 18% for adult maintenance. Claims that particular carbohydrates keep a puppy's blood sugar steadier are common, but the veterinary advice above rests on something simpler: regular meals that the puppy actually eats.

Daily calories by body weight

Energy needs do not rise in a straight line with body weight. A small dog needs more calories per kilogram than a large one while eating very little in total. The Merck Veterinary Manual gives a standard starting point. Resting energy requirement (RER), in kcal per day, is 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms raised to the power 0.75. That figure is then multiplied by a life-stage factor: 3 for puppies under 4 months, 2 for puppies over 4 months, 1.6 for a neutered adult, 1.8 for an intact adult and 1.4 for an adult prone to weight gain.

Worked through for the weights a Maltipoo is likely to pass through, rounded to the nearest 5 kcal:

Treat these as starting points. The same reference notes that two animals of the same weight can differ by as much as 30% in what they need, so the scale decides the portion in the end. A workable routine is to weigh a growing puppy weekly and an adult monthly, and to adjust portions in small steps. There is no separate factor for older dogs: Merck points out that the AAFCO and NRC nutrient profiles do not divide adults by age, even though research suggests needs change as dogs get older. An older Maltipoo is fed by weight and body condition like any other adult.

Treats come out of the same budget. By the formula, a 3 kg neutered adult needs about 255 kcal a day, so a 25 kcal biscuit is a tenth of its day. Check the calories per treat on the pack, break larger treats into small pieces, and trim the meal on days with a lot of training.

Teeth and gums

Gum disease is the dental problem to plan for. In a UK study of 22,333 dogs under primary veterinary care, 12.5% were diagnosed with periodontal disease within a single year. Toy Poodles had the highest odds reported, almost four times those of crossbred dogs. Across all dogs, the odds fell steadily as adult body weight rose. Many Maltipoos have a Toy Poodle parent, and all of them are small.

Periodontal disease starts with plaque on the teeth, which hardens into tartar and inflames the gums. Left alone, the tissue and bone that hold the teeth break down, and teeth loosen and are lost. Home care slows the process:

• Toothbrushing, ideally daily, with a small brush and a toothpaste made for dogs rather than people. Start while the dog is young so it accepts the routine.
• Dental chews sized for toy dogs, with their calories counted in the daily budget. The Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) seal shows that a product met the council's standard for reducing plaque or tartar in trials.
• Mouth checks at every vet visit, including a check around six months that no baby teeth have stayed in beside the adult ones, and professional cleaning under anesthesia when the vet advises it.

Evidence that ordinary kibble keeps teeth clean is limited. Brushing is the better-established habit, so feed whichever food the dog eats reliably and put the effort into the toothbrush.

Tear staining and what diet can do

Reddish-brown marks under the eyes show clearly on a pale coat. The staining is a sign of epiphora, an overflow of tears, rather than a disease in itself. VCA Animal Hospitals lists the causes in two groups. Some dogs make too many tears, from conjunctivitis, allergies, abnormal eyelashes, corneal ulcers or eyelids that roll in or out. Others make normal tears that fail to drain, because hair around the eye blocks the tear duct opening, debris plugs the duct, or the shape of the face lets tears spill over.

Diet advice for tear staining is widespread and poorly supported. We found no published studies showing that filtered water, additive-free food or avoiding a particular ingredient reduces staining. VCA notes that no remedy has proven fully effective, that over-the-counter stain products have not been shown to work in research trials and some can harm the eyes, and that low-dose antibiotics are no longer recommended because of antibiotic resistance. What helps is keeping the area clean and dry and trimming the hair short around the eyes. There is some evidence that a daily probiotic helps, though improvement can take a couple of months.

Allergies are one cause of extra tears. If staining comes with itchy skin or ear trouble, a vet can decide whether a food elimination trial is worth doing. New tearing with squinting, redness, cloudiness or pawing at the eye needs a vet visit promptly rather than a change of food.

Shaker syndrome and steroid treatment

Shaker syndrome causes tremors of the head and body, usually starting between one and two years of age. The tremors tend to worsen with excitement and ease during rest or sleep. The condition is also called steroid-responsive tremor syndrome. It picked up the name "little white shaker syndrome" because, as VCA explains, it is most common in small white dogs such as the Maltese, though dogs of any color or size can develop it. The cause is unknown and thought to involve the immune system. Vets diagnose it by ruling out other causes of tremors and treat it with the steroid prednisone; most dogs improve within one to two weeks.

Trembling in a small dog has other causes, low blood sugar in puppies among them, so a shaking Maltipoo needs an examination rather than a guess.

Treatment is medical, not dietary. Food still matters during treatment, because prednisone commonly increases appetite, thirst and urination. A dog on steroids asks for more food, and on a 3 kg frame extra food turns into weight quickly. Weigh out the daily ration, keep treats inside the calorie budget and keep fresh water available at all times. We found no studies testing antioxidant or omega-3 supplements for shaker syndrome, so ask the vet before adding either.

Coat and skin

Hair is made mostly of protein, and the Maltipoo coat needs regular grooming whichever parent it favors. When a diet falls short on protein, the Merck manual lists a dull, unkempt coat among the signs, along with weight loss and muscle wasting. A food labeled complete and balanced for the dog's life stage meets the AAFCO protein minimums given above.

EPA and DHA, the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, are required nutrients for growing puppies, according to the same reference. Fish oil is also widely given to adult dogs for skin and coat. Doses depend on body weight and on what the food already contains, and the oil adds calories, so ask the vet for a dose instead of following a label written for larger dogs.

Biotin supplements are sold for coats as well. Merck notes that in higher-income countries nutritional diseases are rarely seen in dogs fed a good-quality, complete and balanced commercial diet. A poor coat on such a diet is more likely to have another cause, such as skin disease, parasites or a hormonal problem, and deserves a vet check before a supplement goes in the bowl. Raw egg is not a coat remedy either: raw eggs contain avidin, which destroys biotin.

Body weight and lifespan

Body condition in middle age is linked to how long pet dogs live. A study of 50,787 neutered pet dogs in 12 breeds compared dogs that were overweight between 6.5 and 8.5 years of age with dogs in normal body condition. In every breed, median lifespan was shorter in the overweight group. The largest difference was in Yorkshire Terriers, another toy breed: 13.7 years for overweight dogs against 16.2 years at normal weight. The study was observational, so it shows an association rather than proof that the extra weight alone shortened those lives. Maltipoos were not included.

On a dog this size, small amounts add up. Three hundred grams is a tenth of a 3 kg dog's body weight. A lean Maltipoo has ribs that are easy to feel under a thin layer of fat, a visible waist from above and a tucked-up belly from the side. If the dog is gaining, cut treats first, then reduce meals in small steps and weigh again after a few weeks.

Sources

1. Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar) in Toy Breed Dogs. Wendy Brooks, Veterinary Partner (VIN), revised 2025.
2. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual, 2023.
3. Epidemiology of periodontal disease in dogs in the UK primary-care veterinary setting. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 2021.
4. Eye Discharge (Epiphora) in Dogs. VCA Animal Hospitals.
5. Shaker Syndrome in Dogs. VCA Animal Hospitals.
6. Association between life span and body condition in neutered client-owned dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2019.