Quote:
Originally Posted by katelin  Jim, just a word about the tails and dew claws. My vet wants them all over 4 oz. before he will do them. My last large litter we did in 2 stages, and the little ones were a week old before they were docked. I was glad I waited on them. They all did fine. |
Katelin, that's something I've considered already and am frankly a little worried about it. In the past, I've had one as small as 3 ounces get the tail and dew claws done with no problem. That was, of course, a baby that was vigorous and thriving. In this case, these babies are already a week old. I know we're on the outside edge of a good time to get them done. In this litter, I have two that are certainly thriving and should handle it well. A third one, though I'm still supplementing her, is doing well and is eating more from her Mom than my supplementing. She is now 3.4 ounces. The one that's caused me so much worry is doing much better and doesn't appear frail anymore but she is small, only 2.4 ounces. I certainly won't risk any one of them for a docking procedure and my smallest one I'm very unsure of. I saw the vet on Monday and he wouldn't consider them for docking at that time (neither would I have, for that matter). I'm not pushing the issue with him and will have to rely on his judgement. What I'm thinking is if he wants to delay the smallest one more than a day or two, then I probably won't have it done due to her age. I've heard only about maybe 10 days old being the outside limit before it gets to be more like an amputation. I just may wind up with a Yorkie with a tail but that's fine, as long as she's healthy. She'll be gorgeous anyway
. If anyone has any experience with having the tails done past 10 days, I'd love to hear about it. Jim