Disappointed:-( Puppy has a bad tummy and can't come home to us.

[Gorran]

We were supposed to pick up our puppy chocolate labrador tonight, but she's poorly with a bad tummy so the fosterer (quite rightly) wants to keep her there until she's better.

We're all so disappointed! The fosterer seems to think the cause for the tummy problem is either her vaccinations which she had yesterday, or too much food as she increased their food intake today. I do hope it's nothing more serious. I gather pups are quite prone to poorly tummies?

yes they can get a bit squiffy from time to time, and you won't want to be clearing that up. You will have many years of poop scooping so have a few days grace!

My thoughts really, Yardbroom - though I still can't help but feel a bit disappointed! x

we had this situation once. Pup had worms and was vomitting them up. Then he got kennel cough. We ended up not taking him as we were worrined he would have ongoing health issues (hips, elbows etc) . he was a lab collie cross from a puppy farmed bitch through a rescue

Have you got insurance yet?

Recommend you take out a policy tonight without mentioning his tummy problem, before he gets home. There is a 14 day exclusion period and you will be sorry if something comes up in that period as it will then class as a pre- existing condition.

He may come with 14 days free insurance but if you take out your own policy now there will be no uninsured period.

I see it as a good sign personally that the fosterer is not taking any chances. We were handed a puppy that our vet later informed us was at death's door, but the fosterer had neglected to mention anything about her condition when we drove miles to collect her and bring her home. Fortunately, and through a LOT of hard work and constant care, she's now 2yrs old and the queen of our domain, and as robust as they come.

I totally agree BetterOnACamel, I'm not faulting the fosterer at all, but I'm just naturally a bit disappointed. Still am this evening as she's decided to keep her for a while longer, her sister went to a new home tonight, but the fosterer think it's a good idea to keep Daisy with her tonight so she can split up the remaining two pups and make sure there's no more bad tummy.

Incidentally - she's attributing the bad tummy to either vaccs, eating the others' poo or too much food. She did say, out of all of them, Daisy is the one with the sensitive tum. Would any of this worry you?

Daisydotandgertie - no, that was actually my job for tonight. Do you recommend anyone specific? I know to go for a policy with a condition limit of not less than £4k per annum. Anything else I should know?

I wouldn't skimp if at all possible. Mine are with John Lewis or M&S, although I think that JL currently is the better of the two; pet plan is also gold standard.

I don't think that a £4k limit per year is enough, tbh. A blockage for one of mine last year added up to more than that in the blink of an eye - disasters always happen at peak price time; bank holidays and weekends. Two operations, an admission or two, scans, X-rays and much medication and we were over £4K in a flash.

Also, 4k wouldn't cover the cost of joint replacement or any other nasty which might occur. My min annual amount is 7k with M&S and 10k with JL.

I absolutely hope that your pup never needs any of this but I have recently read a list of problems suffered by a rescued pup which made me sob - and the owner is very relieved to have enough insurance cover to pay for his treatments.

It could be caused by what ever food it is on? when i got our pup she had a bad tummy and it was due to the food she was on (a reaction to gluten i think), we changed her to a different food and within 2 days she was fine, we still have to be careful with what we feed her (no treats just her dry food), when ever she eats something other than her dry food she gets runny tummy or tummy ache.

Please do get insurance though as vet bills can cost a fortune (as we have just found out with our cat).

I certainly won't skimp, and am fortunate to not have to. So, what should I be looking to pay per month, the list of quotes I have just received from moneysupermarket (including John Lewis, M&S, DL etc.) have varied from very cheap (

Marne - that was my thought (hope?) too. The pup is on Royal Canin junior labrador kibble at the moment, which the fosterer describes as being 'the best'. However from garnering opinions on here, and the net in general, I know this is not the case. I'm hopeful a change (gradually, obviously) in diet (I'm going to try Fish4Dogs) might help her sensitive tummy.

Royal Canin can give them a bad tummy, i tried my dog on it and it made her poorly, it is a good/expensive food but doesn't suit all dogs. Mine can oly eat 'James well beloved' (she has the fishy one which is similar to fish4dogs). I think the first thing to look at with a poorly tummy is what they are eating (its often the problem).

Fingers crossed you get her soon xx

I'd recommend JL at the moment - or Pet Plan top cover level. M & S is v good indeed, but the premiums rise a lot once they've hooked you in.

Our dog ended up with diarrhoea about 24 hours after both of his puppy vaccinations, so it may just be that. He was fine, though, after his 1 year booster.

We have got petplan life cover after being reccomended on here. Hope you get your pup soon xxx

Well, hopefully the fosterer will be able to figure out what's causing the upset tum. Because of the state of our pup, I had to home cook her meals for the first few months, which helped later on as I could control the ingredients and rotate them and isolate the problem (rice! she couldn't digest it due to the existing damage to her insides). She had obviously had a really bad case of worms, and her insides were mush, so it was a trial having to care for her every minute (could only be fed a tablespoon of food every hour) and watching such a tiny creature suffer tears your heart out! Gosh, I've gone off on a self-absorbed tangent! Sorry! Long story short - she moved onto Waitrose own brand dog food trays, then Cesar's (which she now has occasionally as a treat) and is now on dry food - Vet's Kitchen Salmon & Potato (and kitchen scraps!)