[SoCalyorkiLvr]

Originally Posted by Marie

I agreed with you a 100%. It makes a lot of sense. I wouldnt use any meds sent by the breeder unless prescribe by the vet. Our babies should see the vet as soon we get them from the breeders.

I am not intentionally trying to be argumentative here, but your advice assumes you can trust the vet more than the breeder to know what is in the best interests of these little guys and my experience has been that the breeders know more and have saved many more puppy lives than the vets have. Obviously, you cannot go wrong by taking the puppy to the vet right away, and I would never discourage that, but you have to be knowledgeable when you do it. It is such a hard thing to make those decisions when the puppy is sick, but most vets just do not know enough about small breed dogs, particularly yorkies and their special needs.

These are only from the vets and breeders that I have had experience with and I am sure there are some who may be as good as the breeders and there are some breeders who are inexperienced, and then you would rely more on the vets advice, but, frankly the first vet I took Buddha to when he got coccidia, refused to eat and became dehydrated, and developed low blood sugar, all but "wrote him off". She was not going to syringe feed him, she was going to treat with albon even thought he was allergic to it, and she wanted to keep him hooked up the IV overnight.

When I told my breeder/broker she demanded that I get that puppy away from the vet and bring him to her. This was her local vet by the way. Her vet of choice lives three hours away out in Riverside and is retired but she learned a lot from him and she takes any animal that is given a "death" sentence by other vets and has had successful cures with this guy. She treated Buddha with chorid (she learned about chorid from the Riverside vet) instead of albon, which is actually a better and faster working med that knocks the coccidia down immediately. She taught me how to syringe feed him and she gave me a special kind of beef flavored water to increase his appetite. She has been saving dogs for over twenty years, dogs that vets just want to "let nature take it's course" with or ones that they they took away from there homes and did all osrts of unnecessary medical procedures on and they dies anyway. It's very similar to our concerns about hospitals. You can get sick in the hospital ust as puppies can get kennel cough and a myriad of other things in the vet hospital. I wouldn't leave my dog overnight in a vet office unless I knew there was someone there with him at all times who was awake and watching him.

Because of her experience and knowledge of just how common coccidia is, she takes the precaution with every pup and treats them with the antibiotic. There is no down side or reason NOT too in her opinion. Buddha survived and is a thriving heatlhy 9 month old today. I am scared to death to have him neutered because he is under three pounds and I am searching for a vet to do it. I will drive to LA if I can't find someone i am comfortble with in San Diego.

It is also the breeders who are taking the initiative to encourage pet owners to question certain vaccines like lepto, bordatella, etc as well as the frequency with which these vaccines are given. Most vets want to give as many vaccines as frequently as possible because it is their bread and butter and more often you bring your animal in the more money they make. The fact is that studies have shown and many authorities believe that these vaccines can cause serious health problems for our pets later in life ike allergies, epilepsy, cancer, etc. Animals not treated like humans by the regulatory agencies so vets are not required to tell us the side effects like doctors msut with us. Please research this on the internet. There are tons of articles on the subject.

I know that some vets are great and really care enough not to over vaccinate and they take the time to explain the potential dangers of whatever medication they prescribe. In my experience, these are few and far between. The experienced breeders (those who have done it for a long time anyway) have lived it for years and they KNOW how to save a puppy's life.

I have switched vets twice since December for various reasons and I am glad to have my breeder/broker close because, as unfortunate as it may sound, I trust her more than I trust my vet. IMO she saved Buddha's life. I called over thirty vets in the San Diego the last time I switched and I interviewed 4. I am now on a waiting list for a vet who practices both western veterinary medicine and homeopathic. Her practice is full and in the meantime I am going to a vet I found in Rancho Santa Fe.

We have all read the horror stories on here about mistakes by vets and I am currently asisting one member with her legal rights after a vet "tubed" her days old puppy, the only survivor out of a litter of four, and caused his death from aspiration. That was, in my opinion, a ridiculous thing for the vet to do and he did not get the owner's permission before he did it. I think the experienced breeders on here would agree. The general accepted analysis is that there is a high risk of death with "tubing" a yorkie puppy.

Another of my pet peeves is the vets telling people that their animal WILL BE DESTROYED if it bites someone and doesn't have proof of rabies vaccine. I am not saying not to have the rabies vaccine (that is a personal decision we each have to make based on the laws in our area and our animals risk factors) but, in most cities, they do not kill the dog, they quarantine in your home for 10 days to 6 months and make sure it is vaccinated. They do not kill it unless it is detemined that it does in fact have rabies. If anyone wants to know the exact language of the law in your city, contact the Health Department there and ask them where you can access the writtien language. Don't let them "tell you in their own words" because their interpretation may be wrong just as the vets are. You need to "read" the law in it's entirety to know exactly what it says. I think these tactics are unprofessional and unethical and it happens all the time.

Anyway, I just want people to be aware and educate themselves and not just "blindly" trust your vet. They are human beings and they are not perfect and you care more about your baby than they do. JMHO