Advice Needed

[Pixelate]

Hi,

I have been lurking for months but this is my first post here.

When my husband and I decided on a puppy, I did an extensive amount of research. We decided on a Yorkie, I then did a lot of research into breeders and found someone that came highly recommended by many people. Health was our top priority.

We paid top dollar for a beautiful Yorkie puppy. The breeder had assured me that the puppy would be checked head to toe prior to us receiving him and that he would have a clean bill of health. The contract guarantees hereditary defects and states the puppy has no known health problems and is completely healthy at the time of purchase.

We've had the puppy a few days now. We love him. He has a great personality and is very well behaved. We took him to the vet yesterday and were shocked to find out that he has a bunch of health issues.

The vet said that he has a sinus (heart) arrhythmia and should be watched but generally these things are not anything to worry about. They gave him and EKG and had a 2nd vet look at him as well.

She also said that his right knee looks like he could potentially have a problem with luxating patella down the road.

He has an ear infection in his left ear and they gave us drops for that. He also has a little lump on his right side. She is not sure what that is. It may be a reaction from a shot. She wants us to watch that and call her ASAP if it gets any larger. She said if it is not gone in a week or so she will want to see him again and will aspirate it for testing.

He has also had a problem with coughing that the breeder said was a horse virus. We had not been informed of the cough prior to purchase.

The vet also called this morning and said that he has Coccidia. We have to go over there later and pick up a medicine for the parasites.

So, we called the breeder and she said she was "concerned" but was somewhat nonchalant and said these are "common problems". She offered to take the puppy back.

We love the little guy and have no intention of giving him back. We feel were misled by the breeder as far as the health pf the puppy is concerned. We paid a lot of money for this little guy and think the breeder should be assuming responsibility in this situation. Does anyone have any advice on what we should do next?

Thanks in advance.

[mustangbee]

Welcome to YT.
Sounds like you have a lot of things going on right now.
How did you find your Breeder? With all the health issues,
I would talk to your Vet and find out eveything you can.
I'm sure there are some people here on YT with some answers.
I would be very concerned, as I'm sure you are.
I wish I had some answers for you. Good luck to you,
and again Welcome to YT.

[my2yorkies]

Did you sign any kind of a contract with the breeder? Some breeders will guarantee their babies against certain health issues. In most cases they will replace the pup instead of paying for medical bills. Did the breeder guarantee that the pup would have no luxating patella or heart conditions? If so than you can call them on it. As a breeder, I have stated in my contract that no money will be given back but that the pup will be replaced if they develop certain health conditions. I guarantee against certain things and have my pups checked out before going to their new owners. I do state in my contract that the new owner must have their vet check the pup within 72 hours and to contact me with any problems. Most of the time, the new owners have gotten so attached that they do not want to part with their furbaby ...in that case I think the medical expenses are up to you. I know when I purchased my babies I wouldn't be able to part with them if they had any health issues and I would have to pay the expenses myself. Myself, as a breeder, I think that even though my contract stated no money will be returned, I would feel that the right thing to do would be to offer a new pup or to offer to atleast pay half of the cost.

[Bentley&BitsysMom]

Good gracious!!! That sure sounds like a LOT of problems!! Did you speak with the breeder when she called you about the Coccidia about all of the health issues your vet informed you of??? If so, what did she say? I would think you might be reimbursed for some of the medical expenses, if any.

BTW, Welcome to YT!! You should get some great advice here

[my2yorkies]

I just reread the part about the breeder guaranteeing that the pup was completely healthy at time of purchase....how many days have you had it? I would have my vet make a written statement with everything the pup has and forward it to the breeder with a copy of her contract....highlight the healthy at time of purchase part and ask her to help cover the cost of vet expenses. If she is a responsible breeder than she should be willing to stand behind her pup.

[Pixelate]

Thanks everyone for the feedback & the welcomes. I will try to answer everyone's questions in this post.

We have had the puppy for 3 days.

When my husband spoke to the breeder this morning she offered to take the puppy back and said she was "concerned". There is another person that I know that got 2 puppies from this breeder at the same time we got our puppy. The breeder said that this other person had had no problems with her puppies. A bit of a lie, really. I spoke with the other person this morning and it turns out that she has not been able to get an appointment with her vet yet. So, her puppies have not been checked out...of course she has not had any health problems as of yet.

Our contract with the breeder covers hereditary defects, states that the puppy is completely healthy at the time of sale and that no health problems are expected.

Most of the time, the new owners have gotten so attached that they do not want to part with their furbaby ...in that case I think the medical expenses are up to you. I know when I purchased my babies I wouldn't be able to part with them if they had any health issues and I would have to pay the expenses myself.

You are correct, we love this puppy and it would break our hearts to have to give him back at this point. However, we have only had him for 3 days and these are all obviously problems that he had when we picked him up on Monday. Our vet found all of these issues with a 10 minute exam. This puppy was supposed to have been checked from head to toe and I have an exam checklist from the breeder's vet. If our vet found these problems so easily, I would expect that the breeder's vet would have as found them as well.

The shocking thing is that this breeder was highly recommended by so many other people, including some well-respected breeders. I spoke with about 8 people that had purchased puppies from this breeder and asked all of the right questions.

The vet told us yesterday that none of these issues are life threatening (Except perhaps for the virus which we are not entirely sure the puppy has. The vet thinks he may be doing something called "reverse sneezing"). We were particularly concerned about the arrhythmia but the vet told us it should be ok. The bottom line here is that we were mislead about the health of this puppy and the breeder just seems to think this is really not a big deal.

[nikkizayne]

Originally Posted by Pixelate

Hi,

I have been lurking for months but this is my first post here.

When my husband and I decided on a puppy, I did an extensive amount of research. We decided on a Yorkie, I then did a lot of research into breeders and found someone that came highly recommended by many people. Health was our top priority.

We paid top dollar for a beautiful Yorkie puppy. The breeder had assured me that the puppy would be checked head to toe prior to us receiving him and that he would have a clean bill of health. The contract guarantees hereditary defects and states the puppy has no known health problems and is completely healthy at the time of purchase.

We've had the puppy a few days now. We love him. He has a great personality and is very well behaved. We took him to the vet yesterday and were shocked to find out that he has a bunch of health issues.

The vet said that he has a sinus (heart) arrhythmia and should be watched but generally these things are not anything to worry about. They gave him and EKG and had a 2nd vet look at him as well.

She also said that his right knee looks like he could potentially have a problem with luxating patella down the road.

He has an ear infection in his left ear and they gave us drops for that. He also has a little lump on his right side. She is not sure what that is. It may be a reaction from a shot. She wants us to watch that and call her ASAP if it gets any larger. She said if it is not gone in a week or so she will want to see him again and will aspirate it for testing.

He has also had a problem with coughing that the breeder said was a horse virus. We had not been informed of the cough prior to purchase.

The vet also called this morning and said that he has Coccidia. We have to go over there later and pick up a medicine for the parasites.

So, we called the breeder and she said she was "concerned" but was somewhat nonchalant and said these are "common problems". She offered to take the puppy back.

We love the little guy and have no intention of giving him back. We feel were misled by the breeder as far as the health pf the puppy is concerned. We paid a lot of money for this little guy and think the breeder should be assuming responsibility in this situation. Does anyone have any advice on what we should do next?

Thanks in advance.

Well I think in this situation, if she is willing to take the puupy back and deal with all his health problems, she should be willing to give you your money back to help you pay for the vet bills ect. I am like you if I found out something was wrong with Zayne, I would not want to give him back either. I know that I would take better care of him than anyone else. But I would ask her about that.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by nikkizayne

Well I think in this situation, if she is willing to take the puupy back and deal with all his health problems, she should be willing to give you your money back to help you pay for the vet bills ect. I am like you if I found out something was wrong with Zayne, I would not want to give him back either. I know that I would take better care of him than anyone else. But I would ask her about that.

I worry that if she seems unworried by this pups medical problems the breeder would just try to resell the pup to someone else without informing them.

To Pixelate, I'm so sorry that you are going through this and I hope your breeder does the right thing for you and your puppies sake.
Hugs

[Rockster's Mom]

I feel so sorry for baby. Have you thought about calling the breeder's vet about the puppy?

[Pixelate]

Originally Posted by Rockster's Mom

I feel so sorry for baby. Have you thought about calling the breeder's vet about the puppy?

Actually, I have been thinking about that. I am going to wait and see what the other person's vet says about her puppie's health first.

I did go over to my vet just now and got copies of l of the info from our vet visit yesterday.

[Bentley&BitsysMom]

I hope this works out for you and your puppy is ok!! I could not take a puppy back after bringing it home either. Keep us posted.

[YorkieRose]

The pup should have come with a health check from the breeders vet. If the pup had been checked, the breeder could have avoided your expense.
The heart and knee is probably nothing to worry about..but the breeder could have told you..and you could have decided to buy or not buy.

You needed a health check after the sale anyway....that cost should be paid by you..the cost of the medication for the virus, ear infection and coccidia should be paid by the breeder.
I would not return the price of the pup to you, but I would allow you to return the pup or pay for the medication costs...and if I had failed to do a vet check, I think I would go ahead and pay for your full vet bill. Fair is fair.

And by the way..one pup in the litter does not have coccidia or viruses.it runs through them all.

Once I sold a pup and the buyers vet said it needed medication for ear mites..I hate a FIT!!! I had just paid for a complete check by my vet..the ears were fine.
So I called the buyers vet..this was the story I got...the vet said when he hears a pup comes from a kennel they automatically worm, give meds for earmites and redo shots..he did not care what my vet found or did not find. It was quite plain he had no use for breeders.

In that case I did not pay for the medications that were not needed.