[4Scrappy]

Hi all,
We took Cassie to the vet yesterday and here is what she had to say:
Cassie appears to be older than 14 months because the pads on her paws are enlarged and she has tarter build up on her teeth. She also has dry flaky skin and a double row of molars on one side. She also said she is a little small at just under 5 pounds and we should feed her a half an egg a day until she's over 5 lbs. She said Cassie has not been in heat yet but she doesn't want to spay her until she gains some weight.

We had an intense dicussion about a Rabies vaccine. I am very frustrated that the talk about the Rabies vaccine resulted in her telling us a few horror stories about Cassie possibly scratching someone and us having to have her impounded. She told us rabies is in our area with many bats and raccoons having it. OK, Cassie lives in the house and when she goes out to our tiny yard, we are always with her. Nothing we said seemed to sway her. So, we paid for the rabies vaccine and are bringing her in Monday morning for the shot. In case there would be adverse reactions, the vet office is open, we were in there near closing time yesterday. I guess we have to go through with it. All six of our other dogs have had all the vaccines and I never thought twice about it. But I am wiser now and have read a lot of scary information about vaccines. I'm not feeling good about her getting the vaccine but since it's the "law" here, what recourse do we have?

As for Cassie's paw pads, I did notice her feet seemed huge for her size. Vet said it happens if the puppy has to stand in moisture, it can make the pads thicker. Painted a picture of Cassie's life at the breeder's house. Cassie is the fourth Yorkie we got from her. The others were young puppies, 10 or 12 weeks. Of course, puppies would not be subjected to standing on wet paper (if that is what it was) long enough to make their paw pads thicken. I am not going to bash this breeder for several reasons. The important thing is, we now have Cassie.

I am now scared that I am hurting by having her get the rabies vaccine, that it could unleash horrible symptoms. We will get her spayed, after we fatten her up, and they will do a dental on her then, perhaps extracting an extra molar if they can ensure the roots aren't tangled. So, rabies shot Monday, then maybe spay on Thursday or the following Monday. I wanted to have the spay while I'm off work next week. At least my husband is home though if we have to postpone it.

On the drive home I said to my husband that I thought we had a healthy dog until we went to the vet. I am just down about this whole thing. They regulate the shots but it is not based on science, it seems to be based on fear. The cynic in me thinks it's all a money making scheme. Not to say every vet is out to make money at the expense of our dogs' health, but it seems to me all of a sudden so many dogs have allergies, need vet prescribed foods, and other things only vets can provide. Next time I talk to our vet, I'm going to ask her about doing a titer test to see if Cassie really needs "boosters" for the vaccines other than rabies. And I pray pray pray that Cassie has no adverse reactions to the rabies shot she is getting Monday. Oh, and after having six other dogs vaccinated there, she finally told me there is a rabies booster that lasts three years! Alice had horrible reactions to rabies shots and none of those vets told us that. She also said if the dog has reactions, she can write a letter to the county to excuse Cassie from further rabies shots but that would not absolve her having to be impounded when this mean aggressive 5-lb Yorkie takes to biting and scratching strangers. Again, none of the other vets in that practice ever offered any of these options, even when we told them, in tears, how awful Alice's reactions were! The vet we saw is the newest one in the practice.

I asked for a blood test; all the vet suggested was to test for heartworm but after Alice, I wanted to be sure Cassie's kidneys, liver, etc were working properly. Vet called this morning and said her blood work came out great, everything normal and no heartworm.

I'm posting this in hopes of hearing from other Yorkie veterans. I want to be informed about all this in a realistic way. Some websites about this issue are just frightening and I leave just as confused as before.

Please share any and all opinions, experiences, or other information as you see fit.

Thank you!