HeartGuard and Frontline

[Kevlarsdad]

How soon can I start Heartguard and Frontline? She weighs little over 6lbs and is exactly 8 weeks today.

[targonrotts]

go ahead!
safe to use already!
heartgard- do the blue(under 25 lbs) chewie. you can wait till the 1st of october if you want so you can go ahead and use that as your monthly reminder date. and since you are a fellow floridean, monthly for life is highly recommended.

for the frontline, use the under 22 lbs. use 2 days after you bathed the pup. i use it monthly in the summer and cut back to every other month the rest of the year if no real flea problems.

remember to keep the pups' weight in check to know when to move up to the next size.

[brunie's mom]

You can even give half of the Blue Heartgard.
6 lbs at 8 weeks of age? That's really small. How many pup's in the litter?

Most rottie pups at that age both male and female pup's are over 10 lbs.

Make sure she is checked for worms.

Gina

[Kevlarsdad]

Thanks all,

I got her on the 14th in the morning. She is exactly 8 weeks old. She weighs 6.2lbs, the runt of the litter. She eats fine (little over 1/2 a cup twice a day, canidae. There were 6 in the litter, 4 males and 2 females. The other female was also a runt, weighed only 2.9lbs. She had a open fontinel and the breeder said no way he can let her go. He can't due to possible health issues in the future. He said he will give her a month or so to see if it closes. My breeder did tell me she is a bit small but will grow at a normal rate now because she doesn't have to struggle to eat because her littermates are not there to take her food away.

He had a vet and a vet tech to do the PAT. He had asked me what I wanted to do with the pup and also asked about my daily activities. He picked 2 pups for me to choose from. He came up with 2 pups, one male and one female. We chose the female of course, he did not know that we wanted a female from the beginning.

I had to take her in to the vet yesterday to get her checked out to get the heartgard, frontline, and to see why her eyes and nose was discharging a clear liquid. She just had her first round shots (distemper,hepatitis(cav),parvo,parainfluenza along with bordetella) and did a fecal exam on the 13th by the vet who issued her health cert and I thought that it might be due to the shots.

My vet said she might be just stressed out due to her new enviroment which lowers the immune system or she might be sick. She is a bit lethargic. He did another fecal and some blood work. The fecal came back negative for worms and I am still waiting on the blood work. He gave her a shot of antibiotics and sent me home with nutri-cal, Clavamox, and Cloropheniramine for her eyes and nose discharge. I did get the heartgard blue chewy and the frontline+ but along with a $200 bill. I am a bit pissed, I didn't even get a reach around when the bill was handed to me.

I am not too happy with the breeder's vet. She was probably sick or allergic to something and he did not notice.The breeder is a bit pissed too at his vet, but swears up and down that he did not notice any discharge and tells me that she might just be stressed. I had a friend to bought a dog too and his dog is perfectly fine. (male 11lbs)

Oh well, we will see what the blood work shows. Thanks all again.

Arturo

[brunie's mom]

Geezzz...I'm starting to see some red flags here.
Your pup is very tiny...runt or no runt...this is not the weight of a healthy puppy at 8 week so age. Was it not in your contract that you must see a vet of your own choosing 48 hours after buying it? This was not a big litter...all of the puppies should be much bigger. I thought that maybe it was a litter of 10 or 12???...sometimes the pup's are a bit smaller than average till they start growing in huge litters. My Baxter was from a litter of 10, and he was one of the smaller males...and he weighed 12 lbs at 7 1/2 weeks when we got him.

Healthy puppies do not need to be on medications,etc.
I would be giving the bill to your breeder.

Also your pup should be eating 3 times per day till at least 4-5 month of age...it must be starving?? Feed at least 1/2 cup of Canidae three times per day...and as she grows...up it to 3/4 cup, three times per day.

Gina

[Kevlarsdad]

I know, I know. She is small, but her temperment along with another male was chosen for me by the breeder. No, he did not know we were looking for a female from the beginning. I have seen many small rotties before and they were all healthy. I have no worries with this one. The contract does state that I have 72 hrs to take her to a vet of my choice. I made the mistake and took her to one the local vet chains located in a pet chain store.

All I can say is that he did a bunch of tests that were not called for. He did a fecal exam that was just done a few days before. He did a blood exam that was also done before by the original vet (due to her size, wanted to make sure there were no problems). I found out by my breeder yesterday that the bordetella shot\nose thingy is what is making her have a runny nose and discharge from the eyes. Also the first round shots could also make her feel a bit sick or lethargic. The vet from the chain store preyed on my feelings and took advantage of us. Lesson learned.

I took her this morning to another vet, who has her own practice for 19yrs, and confirmed this. It does not happen to all dogs, but just a few. As long as the substance is clear and not yellow and gunky, I am in the clear. She is a super vet in my eyes and the best thing is that she has 2 rotties of her own. She loves the breed and knows a great deal about them. She felt so bad for us that she did not charge us an "office visit" fee. It was just about a free visit with the exception of a $5 charge to set up a record/file to establish a patient/doctor thing.

My breeder did offer to pay for the $200 bill, only because he saw that I was taken advantage of by the other vet. My new vet told me to keep giving her the antibiotics just to get rid of the sniffles and eye stuff. She did tell me that she is in perfect health, even though she is a bit small. Thus, keep her on the Nutri-Cal supplement.

She told me to feed her 2x a day until she reaches 10lbs, then up it to 3x a day. She said this only because she feels that her stomach is a bit small and doesn't want to hurt her by possibly over feeding and giving her bloat or distending the stomach.

All in all, I think I am in the clear. Just a little bump in the road.

Thanks again

Arturo

[brunie's mom]

Honestly, I am worried about this pup. The other female has an open fontenal, and only weighs 2 lbs, your female at 8 weeks weighs 6 lbs.
The first vet was probably worried about her tiny size...and thought it appropriate to take a blood test...and check things out.
I've never heard of a 8 week old puppy getting a Kennel Cough shot, that's not done at that age.

And please feed your puppy 3 times per day...I can't imagine what it has to do with her small stomach needing to be fed twice. You probably should be feeding her 4 times per day...because she is so tiny, she cannot take in much food. It's also much better for her blood sugar levels to be fed more often.

I hope I am wrong, and your pup will grow strong and healthy. If you had boughten your puppy from a COE it should have been healthy. You should not have had to spend any money at the vet's office...just the price of an examination....that's all.

Gina

[Kevlarsdad]

The bordetella was given as part of the first round shots. You are right about her being small but she seems fine. The first and second blood work proves it. Thanks anyway.

Arturo

[targonrotts]

bordatella vaccine can be given as early as 3 weeks. i do them at 7 weeks so by the 8th week, if anyone got the sniffles, they are in the clear to go.
yes, i have seen pups that small at that age. just feed a good diet and keep tabs on her growth.
i do agree she should eat 3 small meals a day than 2 bigger ones. even after a bloat surgery our preferrence is various small meals a day to adjust the belly.
hope all is good with your pup!

[Kevlarsdad]

Kevlar is doing great. She has stopped with the sniffles and eye discharge. I cleaned her eyes last night and there was no stuff when we woke up this morning. Also, I have noticed that she looks bigger, not huge, but just bigger. When I pick her up, she feels a bit heavier. I am going to take her to petsmart today to buy a place mat for her bowls, while there, I am going to weigh her. On saturday she weighed exactly 6.2lbs, I suspect she probably broke 7lbs. Strange.

I was a bit worried about her huge belly, well it was not huge, just not proportioned to her body. It has gotten dramatically smaller. But as of yesterday, she has been a pooping machine, and not to mention, the farting! I counted 6 times that she went to poop. I will change her to 3x a day feeding her, I noticed that her belly gets too big when I feed her slightly over 1/2 cup. Thanks for that advice folks. 3 smaller meals (1 1/4 cup total) a day is better for her stomach than 2 larger ones.

I recieved my money from my breeder today. To be honest, I thought he was going to take his time. He put it back on my credit card.

I will be posting pictures of her today, keep a look out.

Thanks all again

[brunie's mom]

Around here they do not give the KC vaccine till the third set of shots or with the rabies vaccine at over 4 months.
Maybe KC is not as common up north? Baxter did not even get his KC vaccine till we went in for our 18 month booster. It does not seem to be pushed here as much. They also don't push Lyme's or Lepto vaccines.

Glad that puppy is feeling better, and I agree that feeding 3 times a day...or even 4 for this puppy would be best.

Does your breeder take credit cards to pay for your pup??

Gina

[Kevlarsdad]

Only the deposit is accepted as credit which is put back on the card when you go and pay the full amount in cash. His wife is a professional photographer who has her own store with the credit card machine.

The lyme shot is pushed here in the states, especially in the south. The lepto shot, I was told by the breeder, not to get at all. Not sure why, but he did tell me that it was pointless or not necessary. Both of the vets that I saw i the past days told me the same. Parvo, distemper, corona, canine hepatitis, and parainfluenza shot is a must, along with the bordatella up the nose. I have noticed that different vets do have a different schedule when it comes to when to give what shot at what time of the pups age. All in all it is every 3-4 weeks in between and it is a total of 4 rounds.

My new vet believes that annual shots are not necessary. Only the rabies vacc. is done annually due to the law. What is your take on this? I have looked at the threads and I see that some do it annually and some just to the titters after the puppy shots a yr later.

Arturo

[bessy-senior]

Hello

This is regarding your original question about Frontline.

When Bessy was a little 2-month old, I used the Frontline spray on her instead of the spot. Reason I used the spray instead of the spot was cos her weight and size hadn't stabilized as yet, and it was more economical to buy the spray (which i could use on her as she grows), versus the spot which is weight and size specific.

[Kevlarsdad]

Thanks bessy, I got the frontline in a single dose from the vet. He told me to do this month by month until she stabilizes her wieght. Even though it is not cost effective, it's alot better than throwing away the extra tubes because I won't know how much of a second or even a third tube to put on. I did ask about the spray, he told me the dose/tube thingy is slightly better.

[targonrotts]

we usually give a free dose on pup's first visit and if still too small the following month, we give a second free. merial, the company, gives us coupons and puppy packs to cover that. yes, the spray is a great idea too. you can use it instead and it is 1-2 pumps per pound monthly. it comes in two sizes(bottle size).

here we do not push lymes unless they are going to the carolina's or more up north. we do lepto only on service dogs(police,customs,tracking) and on dogs with high outdoor exposure or standing water/rat problem areas. we don't generally do indoor dogs or small breeds. kennel cough for us with show dogs and working dogs, we do annually or bi-annually-especially those who frequent boarding or dog activities.

please be careful with your very young pup in petsmart or public places until it has a few more sets of vaccs or titer...you never know who weighed their pet there last or the pups that were there previously if not sick.

yes, 3-4 smaller meals will help cut the gas and bloated look. also, some diets can cause more gas than others.add a teaspoon of yougurt per meal. it helps somewhat.

regarding rabies, find out what the law specifies in your area. miami now accepts the 3 year booster...just got to buy the tag yearly. the other vaccs you can do titers for after your 16 weeks boosters are done.and then decide with your vet on that.