Additional problems found by Vet
 

When i did take lestat to the Vet for the excessive urinating they seem to have found a lot of other things wrong with him, not sure if I should take any of it seriously but I did have a few questions.

so 1st of all here is the list of everything they apparently found:

Ear infection
Floating knee caps on his hind legs
baby teeth that need to be pulled out

so my questions are, the floating knee cap the vet says that a sure sign of this is that Lestat sometimes lifts his hind legs and holds it in the air for a few seconds. he does do that but he never shows any signs of pain, he does not limp or walk funny and he runs.

would the floating knee cap be a congenital defect?

Also on the ear infection the Vet didn't really test for an infection just swabbed his ears and declared that he probably had an infection and wanted to charge me a lot of money for cleanser and ointment, should I just try an OTC puppy ear cleanser for now? my puppy does not scratch his ears or has ever shown any signs of discomfort.

And lastly his teeth, the Vet said he still had 5 baby teeth that have not fallen out, at one point I had given him a toy that was kinda hard but I did notice that as he played with it his loose baby teeth would fall out naturally, he says I should get them pulled. Do i really need to get them pulled or should I continue to let them fall out naturally?

The holding of leg up is probably luxating patella. My 1 yr old male was doing this and when I took him to the vet he was diagnosed with stage II luxating patella. My vet doesn't recommend surgery until stage IV. I walk him alot more now and put him on Zukes supplement and he stopped limping.

BEFORE I GET SLAMMED AGAIN ..... let me say all cases are different. In my case the extra walking and the supplement seems to have worked. It may or may not in your case but it's worth a try before costly surgery in my opinion. Ask your vet about trying it.

John

hi john,

i am sorry that you feel that you might get slammed for saying what you said. :(

i would like to make a recommendation to you though. my baby girl milu also has LP stage 2. and the vet also said that there is nothing i need to do about it. and i also used to give her the Zuke treat with the supplement. but many on here have recommended the actual medication that's been proven to improve LP for dogs. so you might want to check it out and give it a try.

milu has been on it for a month now, and her bones crack a lot less often.

the supplement/medicine is called Cosequin.

i also started a thread about LP before here: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ng-sounds.html

hope this helps. :D

it depends on how old your puppy is. you want to pull it if he is older and the baby teeth as still in, because they are probably not going to fall out on their own, and might cause dental issues for the dog if you don't take care of it.

he is 1 year old, BTW a few hours after I brought him home from the Vet he threw up when I took him outside to eliminate, so far he only threw up once, the only thing they gave him at the vet was a couple treats that the tech gave him, no medication or treatments were administered there, should I be worried? The treats he ate at the Vet is a brand he has never had before. This is the first time he has ever thrown up that wasn't do to motion sickness.:confused:

Well he threw up again, now i'm worried, I take him in for a Possible UTI and he comes out of there worse then he was before.

Everything sounds correct to me and it all needs attention.

Luxating patella (the kneecap issue) is very common in Yorkies and is usually considered congenital. The vet should have graded it. Then you and him could decide whether surgery is a good option or starting your pup on supplements. Grades 3 and 4 do require surgery most of the time whereas grade 2 probably does not.

The vet could have looked at the ear swab under the microscope to give an exact diagnosis but there are some meds that clear up most issues. I would get the med from the vet.

Lots of Yorkies need baby teeth pulled. It is usually done at the time of spay/neuter. If they aren't falling out, they do need to be pulled. It can lead to bad bite, pain and bacterial build up which will set your pup up for periodontal disease that will be very expensive to treat. It is best to start brushing daily now too.

The Vet said the Luxating patella was not an issue yet and because my baby is so small that it may not be an issue for a long time he did mention the supplements but I don't recall the name it was Omega something, anyone have some more info on this?

He never looked at the ear gunk under the microscope, that i know for sure, he was prescribing medication without even looking.

and i do need to get him neutered so i will probably do the teeth at that point.

As for the vomiting, I called the Vet this morning and they said it was do most likely to nervousness and excitement from his visit to the vet in combination with a couple treats that they gave him. This morning he is fine, no vomiting, he ate his food and took his medicine with no issues.

Glucosamine is used for luxating patella.
Quite a few of us use Cosequin.

Is that an over the counter product?

Yes.
I use the capsules for dogs up to 24 pounds.
I break them open and sprinkle on food.
Entirelypets.com

It sounds as if you do not trust your vet. My suggestion would be to get a new vet that you do feel trustworthy and then listen to his/her recommendations. We can all give experiences and opinions, but only the one physically examining your dog can give specific guidance.

Agree with all of this.

To the OP, for ears: when a vet sees a certain amount and color of ear gunk, it is quite easy for them to diagnose an infection without going further. And they may not even bother to look at it under scope bc many ear ointments treat *both* bacteria and yeast, so charging you for a smear-and-scope is sort of a moot point. The vet may have been trying to save you money there.

As for LP, you mentioned he was holding his leg in the air at times. That is a sign of pain, that's why he does it. Size of the dog and age does not determine if LP is a problem - the grade of the LP is what determines it. When LP is diagnosed, in most cases Cosequin is recommended right away and depending on the Grade - surgery.

Best of luck.

You can find Cosequin at Petsmart, PetCo, and most feed stores. There may be other brands a little less expensive but Cosequin is one of the only ones backed up by testing and research, and I believe its quality is worth the extra $$$. You'll need to be sure to get the right strength - for these little guys most use the cat size dose. Or, I buy the bone shaped liver flavored one and break in half (half is a daily dose). Good luck with your baby!

On the ears, the reason why it put me off was because he didn't smear-and-scope and was trying to charge me for it anyway, I think in this case i will just take it to another vet.

On the LP he did Grade it as Lvl 1 which is why he is not worried about it, as I mentioned i do see him lifting his hind leg once in a blue moon, but he only does it when he is outside and it only lasts for like a split second and then he is off running to chase some bug or other.