neutering "problem?"

Goodmorning guys! This is the best site ever! I have been looking for Cavalier related topics for a long time. Ok so let me tell you about myself since I am brand new ..

My name is Sara and I have a little baby Cav named Kosmo. He's blenheim and he's the most spoiled little doggy around (literally.) I got him from a pet store because I wanted to rescue a dog and although I checked out breeders I ended up returning to the mall the pet store was in and saw this guy all cramped up in a little tiny cage in the back with nothing but a shred of newspaper. Broke my heart so we ended up adopting him into our family. He's been the best "investment" of our lives. I want to get another cavalier "eventually." but I'm waiting until the time is right and I want to rescue one. So until that happens, Kosmo is ruling the roost (and loving it!)

Ok so that brings me to now and my question. I took him in Thursday for his neuter and also he had a hernia which needed to be repaired. After I took him home (the vet kept him for extra long because the receptionist was obsessed with holding him, lol) he seemed back to his old self except for he developed this weird hack. I called the vet the next day and they said that it was probably just the tube they stick in their throat during surgery. 4 days later and he's still hacking and I think he's kind of losing his voice. I tell him to speak and he "mouths" the motion but just will do a tiny little barely audible gruffle and he can usually rattle the windows with his speaking. So, my question to you guys is, is this normal? Has anybody had a dog still hacking (mostly when he gets excited) 4 days post op? I haven't seen anything fly from his nose when he coughs or sneezes and I also vaccinated him against kennel cough, but I have heard of other strains that aren't covered from the vaccine. If this cough doesn't go away, when should I start worrying? Thanks guys for your time!

:? :? Oh my, I swore I wouldn't touch this one. :yikes

How old is the pup? I've not had any issues with intabation-- and usually dogs cough for a day or so to get the gas out of their lungs. I've never given any of my dogs the kennel cough innoculation. Usually petstore pups are overinnoculated. Had one that came into rescue 16 weeks old- It had had 7 different innoculations already- 4 of them were 6 in 1 combo shots.

One of the reasons most rescues don't advocate ever buying from petstores is because if you increase the market for these pups - the store will order more. JMO- Sandy

I think you should just bring him back in and get it checked out. If it wasn't there before it must be something to do with the op.

I agree with you to a certain degree Sandy that it encourages the pet stores to stock more puppies but.... What would have happened to little Kosmo if he hadn't been rescued from the store? Surely he deserves somebody to love him too?

You can't buy puppies in petshops here in Ireland anymore. Pity that's not the rule everywhere.

Hope Kosmo feels better soon.

Joanna

joanna said:

I agree with you to a certain degree Sandy that it encourages the pet stores to stock more puppies but.... What would have happened to little Kosmo if he hadn't been rescued from the store? Surely he deserves somebody to love him too?

Joanna

Click to expand...

They would have lower his price as he got harder to sell. The longer he is in the store, the more it cost for upkeepl Then the breed would have been on a list not to restock. They only stock the ones that sell. Sandy

I've moved this to the health section; it was in breed rescue whch wasn't quite the right place.

I'd probably bring him in to be checked if he seems poorly and this continues. I'd guess that yes, this could be from the tube (maybe Rory's mom could reply to this as she's in vet school, or maybe Cathy T). Or it could be kennel cough, as they can be exposed when in a place where other dogs are kept and there are strains not covered.

On the rescue issue: I totally agree with Sandy on this. I understand the motivation for taking a pet shop puppy, but buying pet shop puppies isn;t really a rescue, but a purchase that supports an exploitative system. The purchase only 'rescues' that one puppy, who would be sold anyway -- and which will immediately be replaced by more on reorder, as they have successfully sold another. It just encourages many more dogs to end up in puppy mill situations and puppies to end up being sold in these same conditions.

Insetad, why not get involved with supporting one of the rescues that takes dogs out of puppy mill situations, such as Lucky Star, or the regional breed rescue for your area in Canada?

Also, consider writing to oppose the store selling puppies in the first place to object to the practice, and work to raise awareness generally on puppy mills/puppy farms. A lot of pet shops rely on people feeling sorry for a caged puppy that will almost certainly find a home (if the conditions it is kept in are poor, better to report the store and the conditions to your local animal welfare agency and write to the manager or the head of the petshop chain, than to buy the puppy).

When you are ready for a second dog, there are a lot of needy cavaliers in rescue, many of which can be found through Petfinder or regional cavalier rescues or Lucky Star. Or consider a special needs cavalier, as they also come in to places like Lucky Star -- dogs which are older, have some sight problems or other issues are very much in need of a caring home.

Enjoy your little fellow but when you are ready for number two, consider the bigger picture -- it is the only way to actually help stop this exploitation. Supporting good breeders or going directly to a rescue is IMHO a much better contribution to the overall welfare of the breed.

I totally understand the draw for taking a cavalier out of a petstore!!

The petstore aspect is very difficult for me. The first cavalier I ever saw face to face was at a petstore. This red and white boy was staring at me. I walked up to the cage and he was staring at me. I put my hand to the glass cage and he put his paw up. It gave me goosebumps. One of the dog handlers ran inside (on his own volition) and took him out. He put him in my arms and said he saw the whole thing. This pup licked my face nonstop--- He was sweet - he was perfect. I handed him back and ran from the store.
I did hours of research when I got home. I was very glad I didn't bring him home. Or I'd be returning to that store to "rescue" every sibling of his that came through that store.
I credit that boy with infecting me with the cavalier bug. He is also the reason I spend many hours a week volunteering for cavalier rescue.
Sandy

hey guys.. thank you for all of your replies. I knew I was getting into a touchy subject when I posted about where I got my Kosmo, but to be quite honest with you all, I felt like it wasn't his fault that he was in that store. I wanted to give him a home regardless of the situation he was born from. I know the complications that arise from buying these kinds of dogs as I did hours of research on Cavaliers, so I have him on something called Vet Insurance that will help if anything unexpected arises. I really do love him though regardless of where he came from. I am planning on making him a therapy dog as he loves EVERYBODY and he's the smartest dog ever. 8) WHenever I figure out how to post pictures on this thing I will show him to you all. Regardless of where he came from, he is still a Cavalier that deserves a home and a place to be loved. I know what it encourages, but it wasn't Kosmo's fault that he was in the situation he was in. I will never go into another pet store though so at least I learned my lesson that way. I have been in touch with a few breeders here and I am still partially considering getting another Cav from one of them, but I think I would rather rescue one. One was up for adoption a few weeks ago and I sent in the app, but he ended up going to home with 18 years of Cavalier experience. I'm glad he went to a good home though.

As for Kosmo he's still coughing a little bit but I think it's getting better. He's back to his normal self today bringing every toy in the house for me to throw for him. For being "bred" to be a lap dog, he sure has a lot of energy! I've been trying not to walk him too long until his stitches are healed completely but if he's still coughing tomorrow I'm going to call back and see what the deal could be.

As for the "over innoculations" I just went on the vet's advice. She gave him 2 sets of shots and then he got his rabies, lepto, and kennel cough. He also was tested for internal parasites and wormed several times but I think those are normal. Kennel cough was also required to go to puppy classes.

Anyways it's still nice to be here and get all of your advice!

hi there sara. Unless i missed it, i don't think you said how old kosmo is.

the bordatella/kennel cough vaccine can cause kennel cough, according to a lot of experienced people. so far, i have avoided it. kennel cough, in a healthy animal, is a self limiting respiratory virus, not a serious illness, though in certain situations it can be fatal. but so can the flu, and certain people should be vaccinated while other people don't need to. maybe because kosmo was probably from a puppy mill, it was reasonable for him to have the bordatella vaccination.

anyway, i don't know when he was vaccinated, related to when he was neutered, but maybe he could be having a mild reaction to the kennel cough vaccination if it was recent or near the time of the neuter.

Is it just hacking, or is it choking? my daughter's cav has this choking thing, somethnig about the soft palate or the uvula or something moving ito the wrong place, not that rare. Zack had that kind of symptom after i accidentally exposed him to airborne diatomaceous earth. hacking and choking in the mornings for a few days.

i sure hope kosmo will be fine soon. feel free to post some photos

oh and for the person that asked, Kos was born on January 20th of this year so he's about 5 1/2 months and he's 8.4lbs.



woohoo i figured it out!

He is adoreable! I am glad he is starting to feel better.

Petstores are tough ones. There used to be one near me, it would make me sad to see the puppies caged. Luckly they went out of business. We need to encourage our legislators to pass laws banning/regulating puppy mills and pet stores.

Kosmo is lucky to have you as his owner. Give him all the love he deserves!

J.

He sure is a little cutie. I hope he is better soon.
Julie and the girls

What a gorgeous baby. Maxx had a cough after some surgery but it was caused by the intubation - it lasted just over a week and I was told to just get him some simple linctus from the chemist for him (this is just flaovoured glycerin that coats the throat and makes it easier to swallow etc.

If he doesn't get any better then take him back to the Vets. Maxx has got a problem with his tonsils that cause the problem of him coughing whenever he runs around or gets really excited as they swell up. We could have them removed but then there is a major risk of haemmorhaging so we've left them.

Good luck with this little man, I don't know that I could have bought from a petstore but I do understand your sentiments - I don't think I could have left him there either....

He is lovely, we got Woody home had the first set of injections then he started coughing (hacking), back to the vets and was diagnosed as kennel cough, then Busta got it - they went onto antibiotics (2 lots for Woody and 1 set for Busta) - the vet just said it is like flu or a cold and would right itself - took about 5-7 and was gone..

Maxxs_Mummy,

Thank you for your comments. I am leaning more towards his intibation being the cause of his coughing. He was vaccinated for kennel cough but it's been so long ago (like 6 weeks?) that I think it's irrelevant to what is going on now. He just coughs a little bit when he gets over excited (like when I go to grab his leash !) It does seem to be getting less frequent with time though. It sure did worry me though! I also think one of his glands are a little bit swollen but it's not bad and it's just one, so I'm going to see how it goes through the next few days. He does have an appointment next wednesday to get his hernia stitches taken out and a follow up exam. Have you ever had any experience with an open wound such as hernia stitches before? Kosmo is being a constant pill because he wants to go on his normal, long walks, but I have been only walking him until he goes wee or #2 because I am scared he'll get some dirt caught up in his tummy. When should I resume the full schedule do you think? Thank you

Hi Arasara,

I wouldn't panic too much about his wound, just keep it clean with some cooled boiled water and he should be OK.

Maxx was neutered at six months due to the fact that he had an undescended testicle which was found attached to the inside of the top of his ribs :yikes he also had a hernia repaired at the same time so you can imagine the scar he had, bless him.

Obviously we tried to stop him from jumping up on the furniture in case he hurt himself but he was absolutely fine. We didn't walk him for the first few days as I thought he would be too sore - Maxx had other ideas though and kept bringing us his lead and harness LOL

Honestly, they heal so much quicker than a human would in the same circumstances, it's unbelieveable

Ozzy had a huge swollen gland - come up twice, looked like he was growing another head - he went on pink antibiotics and it went down - nothing since then.