Vet

[Bee6969]

So I had new puppies. I took them for there first check up and last immunisation. My new vet told me that the vaccine that the breeder use wasn’t good enough and I should get different one ( and pay for it more) then he told me that the warming medication that my breeder use wasn’t sufficient enough and I should get different one from them and pay for it more. I told him the puppy had bad tummy since taking the warming medication and I don’t won’t to overdose he said don’t worry give it to him tomorrow. So I did. My dog got very sick. Couldn’t hold eny food. Took him back to the vet they put him on antibiotics and asked for poo samples from next three days. I got there samples they call me next week left the message that he got Gardia and needs more antibiotics. So far I got this puppy sheeting everywhere for two weeks loosing a lot of weighti call my friend in different country and ask her for advice. She said go to pets at home and get this medicine treat all your dog at once ( I go three) disinfect all the floor get the carpet cleaned, fill up the flour beds so there is not standing water watch up for kids ( I got two ) ithey can easily catch it. I did all of that and at the same time I wax thinking why my vet didn’t give me the same advice why did I spend 300 £ when I could just go and get 20 £ worth of medication over the counter and save myself lots of cleaning. And guess what ? Just as I was thinking that my vet call me. It was late after 6 pm he ask how is the pup I said not good he said got to pets at home and get this medication 😳

The breeder presumably didn’t use the correct wormer as your dog got worms. So that seems fair enough.

Antibiotics are dear for animals. So yeah it would cost you a fair bit. I think I paid £30 for antibiotics years ago. Plus the appointment £25. Plus samples getting sent to a lab three days would be over £100. No idea how much. I had bloods done and they were £150 odds I think. It all adds up.

Not really seeing what the problem is here. Your dog came to you sick, the vet gave it treatment and recommended something from a local shop rather than charging you more. So that was helpful. They didn’t have to do that.

Seems like you just wanted general advice but you didn’t get it but didn’t ask either. Next time just ask if you need to know how to prevent something or whatever.

Vets are dear. There’s no denying it. Consider insuring the pups?

Poor pups! What breed are they?

You should be annoyed at the 'breeder' not the vet.

You've been sold 2 (?) sick puppies who were neither vaccinated nor wormed properly. I suspect you weren't advised about littermate syndrome either.

I really hope the puppies get well soon, but this is why it's important to only buy from reputable breeders if you can't adopt from rescue.

The breeder sounds irresponsible. I hope the puppies get better, poor babies.

The fact that the breeder was willing to sell you two puppies suggests they're not exactly reputable and likely cut corners on the worming and vaccinations too.

If the first vaccination wasn't the same brand that this vet used at their practice you'd either have to take them back to the original place for the second dose, or find another vet that uses that brand, or restart the course with the other brand, e.g. if the first dose was Vanguard and this vet uses Nobivac or vice versa. You can't mix and match different brands for the initial full vaccine course.

If the puppy was diagnosed with giardia then the faecal tests and antibiotics were essential. That would not have been fixed by some £20 wormer from Pets at Home, and you would still have had to do all the cleaning up, the puppy was ill - giardia can be very serious in very young puppies. Pets at Home are a shop, they can't prescribe 'medication', they just sell certain brands of worming/flea/tick products, and they aren't going to cure giardia. You can use those products on an ongoing basis for routine worming now that the actual illness has been diagnosed by the faecal tests and treated by the antibiotics.

Also, in the case of giardia, it is recommended that another faecal test be carried out in 2-4 weeks later to ensure that it is no longer present.

Surely giardia can be a killer and the vet's done a remarkable job.

Surely giardia can be a killer and the vet's done a remarkable job.

This.

Another example of irresponsible breeders. And an owner who is the angry about the money it costs to get the pups into better health after likely buying them from a puppy farm. Vets see this sort of thing often and often find it frustrating.
The vet seems to have done all the right things and has likely saved these 2 pups lives. Thank goodness for the vet.

@VetOnCall

Are some vaccines not as good as others?
Would the usual worming treatment you get from the vets kill giardia?

Thanks. Always good to get info from an expert. :-)

I didn’t buy the dogs from breeder but from a lovely family. They were both fine when I got them and only one pick up Gardia after about two weeks being with us. Apparently it’s common in puppies they can get it from puddle water or just from scavenging in the garden. Two weeks of antibiotics didn’t help and yes the medication from the shop fix him in three days. The problem with the vet is he didn’t advise me properly it’s not my responsibility to ask the right questions especially if I don’t now what’s Gardia is. Is his job to inform me that’s what I thought I was paying him for. Also if the first round of antibiotics didn’t help why give him another and only after that also didn’t help told me to go and get over the counter medication. It doesn’t make sense. Unless it was all to try to get as much money as possible from me.

They arent a lovely family, they sold you sick puppies. They could even be puppy flippers. (They sell on puppies from a puppy farm.)

No good breeder would have sold you two puppies from one litter, because of 'litter mate syndrome'. You will need to do some research right now to find out how to avoid that as it can cause serious behavioural problems later.

Also, look up the vaccine and worming protocols. You might want to collect a stool sample from each pup and ask the vet to check to see whats there.
Its not the vet ripping you off, its that you bought sick pups that could have forged paperwork for all he knows, so stop blaming him.

@Bee6969

I didn’t buy the dogs from breeder but from a lovely family. They were both fine when I got them and only one pick up Gardia after about two weeks being with us. Apparently it’s common in puppies they can get it from puddle water or just from scavenging in the garden. Two weeks of antibiotics didn’t help and yes the medication from the shop fix him in three days. The problem with the vet is he didn’t advise me properly it’s not my responsibility to ask the right questions especially if I don’t now what’s Gardia is. Is his job to inform me that’s what I thought I was paying him for. Also if the first round of antibiotics didn’t help why give him another and only after that also didn’t help told me to go and get over the counter medication. It doesn’t make sense. Unless it was all to try to get as much money as possible from me.

Jesus wept

You haven't said the breed but my money is some sort of "poo"/pug/french bulldog/dashund - the fashionable breeds de jour

I’m really sorry I feel sorry for the dogs etc but I am howling at “sheeting everywhere”. I genuinely have the giggles in Starbucks and people are staring.

Our dog was riddled with worms when we got her, breeder said they'd wormed but were lying. We got a health plan with vets4pets which cover all flea/worm treatments and annual boosters.

You're not wrong about the vets though, it does feel like they are trying to squeeze you for as much as possible. Our's has allergies because she got parvo as a pup and it costs loads every flare up, just walking through the door costs us £30.

We do have insurance BTW. But it works out cheaper to not cover the allergies (the hike in premiums was eye-watering) and pay for the flare ups 1-2 times a year.

@Chely

"You're not wrong about the vets though, it does feel like they are trying to squeeze you for as much as possible. Our's has allergies because she got parvo as a pup and it costs loads every flare up, just walking through the door costs us £30."

You pay £30 (which is fairly cheap these days) for a qualified professionals knowledge and advice.

I'm getting seriously fed up of people whinging about the price of vet care! People don't whinge about the price of beauty and haircare, or the price of car maintenance - yet these are luxuries, just as pet ownership is!

The veterinary industry has been through a horrendous 2 years (just as many other professions have), but we have seen more verbal abuse and less patience from owners. Other professions have been hailed as heroes!!!

The average vet wage is £35 -£45k per year, whilst the average registered vet nurse wage is £20 - £25k per year. So we aren't in this career for the money, or to wring clients dry!

I'm very grateful for the ongoing kindness and care from my vet.

As for you @Bee6969 - lovely family? They're grubby backyard breeders and your ignorant ire is misdirected.

Poor puppies. Definitely sounds like that lovely family wasn't quite so lovely after all.

I think part of the problem people have with vet costs is that they don't see the equivalent costs for human healthcare. NHS pros, cons and failings aside, for so long people have been able to walk into their GP 'free at the point of care' and forget they're paying for experience, training, professional responsibility, overheads, insurance etc all in one go. We just don't see it unlike the £30 we pay for the vet.
I've always had excellent care from my vet at a reasonable cost which I don't mind paying at all because a) owning a pet is a luxury, don't have one if you're not prepared to pay for it and b) it's comparable to human health care which we just don't appreciate.

I said feels like, jog on

What was it you bought over the counter?

If they were decent breeders the puppies would have come with a months free insurance.

Genuine question , why should one not buy two puppies from same litter?

@isadoradancing123

Genuine question , why should one not buy two puppies from same litter?

For inbreeding purposes.