Veterinary Care
Regular visits to the veterinarian’s office play a necessary role in ensuring your puppy’s continued good health, by both preventing and treating dog ailments and diseases. With a little foresight, you can help make these visits less stressful for your pet.
A veterinary office can be a frightening place for a puppy. It is filled with strange sights, smells, and people — some dressed in unusual costumes (to a pup, anyway!). If your puppy associates a visit only with injury, illness, injections, and sometimes pain — and no pleasant experiences at all — the puppy’s fear of the place will grow and can stay with him all his life. One way to try to avoid this problem is to take your puppy to visit the veterinarian before he has to go for treatment.
Regular routine checkups by a veterinarian can identify potential health problems at an early stage when they are more likely to be successfully treated.
In some areas, veterinary practices now hold special open days, or “puppy parties”, when owners can take their puppies to meet the veterinarian and the staff in a relaxed and friendly way. Puppies are encouraged to play and to get used to the unusual sights, sounds, and smells. The staff will handle the puppies and play with them, too. When the puppy has to visit the vet for treatment, he will then think of it as a nonthreatening place with nice people who mean him no harm and lots of interesting sensory experiences, and not at all a scary place where strangers only do unpleasant things to him, such as clipping his claws.
You could contact your local vet and ask if the staff organizes open days like this that you can attend. If not, perhaps you can organize your own by asking some other puppy owners to come along with you. If this is not possible, ask if you can visit the office once or twice on your own with the puppy, but make sure that they are not too busy. You will need to wait until your puppy has been vaccinated, so contact your vet’s office before you go.
ROUTINE VETERINARY CARE
Your puppy should receive a routine physical examination with 48 hours of purchase to check his general health, so that the puppy can be returned if there is a major problem. This is especially important if the breed is prone to congenital (genetic) disorders. If you are planning to have your pup neutered or spayed, consult your veterinarian early, because opinions differ as to the best age for this to be done. The following medications are usually administered routinely, although some may be given at the discretion of the veterinarian and may depend on the locality and on the incidence of that particular disease in your area.
• Combined distemper-hepatitis-leptospirosis vaccine
• Parvovirus vaccine
• Parainfluenza virus vaccine
• Rabies vaccine
• Lyme disease vaccine
• Kennel cough vaccine
• Heartworm preventive medication
Regular Home Health Checks
Puppies are particularly vulnerable to disease, so prompt treatment is vital. The best way to make sure that you spot signs of ill health as soon as they appear is to get to know how your puppy looks normally. If you bought your puppy from a reputable breeder, you can be pretty certain that he arrived in the best of health. Note how he looks when he arrives now and examine him regularly, especially during grooming sessions, and you will be able to spot any abnormal changes immediately. For example:
Eyes: Look at the eyeballs and eyelids and check for pink coloration, excess discharge, watering, or sensitivity, which could indicate inflammation due to infection, or a disorder such as an in-growing eyelash.
Ears: Recognize the normal coloring of the inner ears and watch out for unusual odor, discharge, or excess wax.
Mouth: Check the mouth, especially the teeth and gums. Regular toothbrushing should help ensure good dental health, but it is important to check for tartar buildup, inflammation, and chipped or broken teeth.
Nose: A puppy’s nose should be cold and damp. A warm, dry nose—especially if there is any flaking skin—warrants further investigation.
Skin and fur: Regular grooming and preventative medications should help control fleas, ticks, and lice, but it is important to part the puppy’s fur and check the skin regularly to look for ticks (especially if your puppy has recently been in wooded areas or other places where deer and other tick-carrying animals live), flaking and scaling, lumps, inflammation, and general irritation and skin sensitivity. In long-haired breeds, check for excess hair around the eyes and matting around the anal region (see feeding and grooming) since this can lead to irritation, inflammation, and disease.
Body: Your puppy should be perfectly symmetrical, so any differences in the look and feel of one side of the face or body compared with the other could indicate a swelling or lump due to inflammation or growth. Swollen lymph nodes and/or salivary glands may be a sign of an active infection or other disorder. So check for abnormal swelling below the ears, around the jaw and neck, and around the “armpit” and groin region at the tops of the legs.
Legs and Paws: Try to observe your puppy when he’s walking or running. Look out for limping, whether your puppy is “favoring” a paw, or other signs of an unusual gait. Examine the paws regularly for thorns, splinters, cracking, and bleeding, and any discharge. (See Checking Your Puppy for guidelines on how best to handle and examine your puppy’s paws.).
Puppy first aid
Puppies are vulnerable to injury because they are naturally inquisitive, but often don’t have the experience to recognize danger. If the injury is serious, seek veterinary care immediately. Calm the puppy by stroking him and talking soothingly while you assess the situation. If the cause of the puppy’s injury or distress is not apparent, briefly look for clues but don’t delay treatment too long. For example, opened bottles of chemicals, such as pesticides, might indicate poisoning. Close proximity to fields or weedy areas may suggest snake bite or injury caused by another animal. If there is a damaged electrical cable nearby, suspect electrocution. (In this case, switch off the power or use a wooden handle to break the connection, if you can do so safely.) Examine the puppy for inflammation and swelling, especially around the mouth, and also look for bruising, cuts, or other marks. You may notice embedded stings, skin punctures, or other minor wounds. Seek veterinary help immediately if the injury is serious or the puppy is in distress. The following first-aid measures may, in emergency situations, temporarily ease a puppy’s pain and suffering, but don’t delay getting professional aid:
Bites and stings: These may cause swelling at the site of the wound. They may be life-threatening if highly toxic or affecting the mouth or throat. Some puppies may be allergic and will react badly. Remove any stings embedded in the wound using tweezers and apply an ice pack to the swelling. Don’t approach a snake or other dangerous creature (even if it looks dead) or you may put yourself in danger. (Don’t try to remove porcupine quills; leave them for the veterinarian to deal with.)
Burns and scalds: Flush away caustic chemicals using copious amounts of cool water. Apply copious amounts of cold water on an ice pack to burns or scalds for at least ten minutes. Once cool, cover serious burns with a gauze pad and rush to your vet’s office at once.
High temperature/hyperthermia: Puppies are most at risk in cars or other vehicles during warm weather or with the heater turned on high. There may be rapid, heavy panting, drooling, weakness, and possible collapse. This is always an emergency requiring prompt first aid and veterinary care. Remove the puppy from the hot environment and reduce his temperature by sponging or spraying with cold (but not ice-cold) water, or by wrapping in damp towels. Apply cold water to prevent the towels from getting too warm. NEVER leave a dog unattended in a car, even with the window partially open. Even in mild weather a car can quickly heat up to a dangerous level.
Applying an ice pack will help to soothe burns and scalds until you get your puppy to the veterinarian.
Low-temperature/hypothermia/frostbite: Puppies most at risk are small or short/smooth-coated breeds in sub-zero temperatures or after immersion in freezing water. Rub the puppy with a thick towel to dry and warm him. Wrap him in a warm towel or blanket (but take care to avoid overheating). Frostbite mainly attacks the extremities such as ears, tail, and feet, which become cold, numb, and pale. Gently massage ears and tail with a warm towel; warm paws in bowls of tepid (not hot) water.
PHOTO CAPTION: If your puppy develops hypothermia, wrapping him in a warm towel or blanket will help restore his body temperature.
Major woulds/bleeding: Place a pad, ideally made of absorbent gauze (or, in an emergency, use a menstrual pad or your hand) over the wound and apply firm pressure until the bleeding stops. Secure the pad with a bandage and rush to your vet’s office immediately.
Minor wounds/bleeding: Bathe the area with warm water containing a suitable antiseptic, and, if necessary, apply a mild antiseptic ointment or cream, as recommended by or obtained from your vet. Never put creams on punctured wounds, no matter how small. They have to be washed off before suturing, causing more tissue damage. Consult your vet if wounds are serious.
Poisoning: Chemical or plant poisons and animal toxins can cause trembling, drooling, vomiting, and possible collapse, and the puppy’s pupils may be dilated. There may be swelling around the mouth and throat or around the area of any bite or sting. If you can see the plant or animal responsible, note identifiable features such as shape, size, and coloring so you can describe it later. Always take with you any poison container or plant leaves (if safe to do so) to the vet for identification, and telephone ahead to allow the vet to find out the correct antidote.
Puppies suffering from shock should be kept warm and held closely and securely by their owners.