Help! My breeder said...

[Anya]

a number of things including 1) no flea medicine "because cavs don't get fleas and its just poison"; 2) no heartworm medication or Giardia "because dogs don't get heartworm in California"; 3) no rabies shot until 8 months; and 4) not to spay until after first heat. Please Help!!! I am seeing so much conflicting information and I don't know what to do, To make things worse, my husband and I just found 2 fleas on our 17 week old pup. We took her to his mom's to "visit" NOT even thinking that their dog could have fleas. We should have known better. I am going to call the vet tomorrow but I want to be prepared about the flea medicine situation. ANY advice would be appreciated.

[qwickkertje]

a number of things including 1) no flea medicine "because cavs don't get fleas and its just poison"; 2) no heartworm medication or Giardia "because dogs don't get heartworm in California"; 3) no rabies shot until 8 months; and 4) not to spay until after first heat. Please Help!!! I am seeing so much conflicting information and I don't know what to do, To make things worse, my husband and I just found 2 fleas on our 17 week old pup. We took her to his mom's to "visit" NOT even thinking that their dog could have fleas. We should have known better. I am going to call the vet tomorrow but I want to be prepared about the flea medicine situation. ANY advice would be appreciated.

Well I can't help on all the problems but for the flees, I suggest you take some flee shampoo and some flee spray.. over here we don't even have flee medicins.. just spray and shampoo also don't forget to wash all blankets she lay's on...
As for the the rabies, ask your vet, that's what we do.. and for the spay, that's right though, our vet said it as well, let them have their first heat, then spay them...

That's about all I can tell you about your questions.. I hope it helped a little bit

[Caraline]

a number of things including 1) no flea medicine "because cavs don't get fleas and its just poison"; 2) no heartworm medication or Giardia "because dogs don't get heartworm in California"; 3) no rabies shot until 8 months; and 4) not to spay until after first heat. Please Help!!! I am seeing so much conflicting information and I don't know what to do, To make things worse, my husband and I just found 2 fleas on our 17 week old pup. We took her to his mom's to "visit" NOT even thinking that their dog could have fleas. We should have known better. I am going to call the vet tomorrow but I want to be prepared about the flea medicine situation. ANY advice would be appreciated.

{clears throat} I supposed Cavaliers dont pee or poo either. Sorry, couldn't help that! Cavaliers, just like any dog can get fleas if they live in a flea prone area.

Presumably your puppy is new, so you will be taking him to the vet for a checkup & shots? I'd ask the advice of your vet who will know what parasites & nasties lurk in your area that can make your baby sick.

As I live in Australia, I don't know what parasites are prevalent in California. We use Frontline for fleas & the paralysis tick. But yeah.... speak with your vet.

[coconut]

all dogs can get fleas and i always give mine flea treatment!!!

[Barbara Nixon]

Any fury or human can get fleas (different strains like different hosts) and cavaliers certainly can. I must admit though, that i've never had a dog get fleas, so don't routinely treat.

Regarding heart worm : if it's in your area you must take preventatve action. Only last year a member of this forum and one on another list, both reported losing pupies to this and they are in the UK where it is very rare.

Spaywise. Talk to your vet. Some say that you should allow some maturity before, but others say that spay before a first season reduces the chance of mammary tumour to almost zero, after one season, reduces the chances rather less and after two makes hardly any difference. All spaying, of course prevents pyometra.

[Cathy Moon]

It would be in your best interest to consult with your vet without delay!!! Fleas are a serious problem. Your vet may prescribe a Capstar tablet, followed by a Frontline Plus application, but I'm not sure due to your puppy's age. Later the pup will need to be wormed, as fleas carry worms. Your puppy may also need an antibiotic and prescription shampoo if the flea bites have caused a skin infection. You'll need to vaccuum and wash everything religiously, and possibly treat your house with something from the vet.

We have California members who have battled fleas in their cavaliers. I brought a rescue cavalier from California home with me to Ohio, and he had a terrible case of fleas and flea bite dermatitis. The folks who were fostering him didn't even know he had fleas, and he had a smelly skin infection. It took a lot of effort to heal him.

[Karlin]

Dogs in California NEED HEARTWORM MEDICATION! It is endemic there in some counties and probably needs treatment 12 months of the year in most parts of the state. Heartworm is extremely serious and even the Whole Dog Journal, a much respected publication that generally offers many holistic approaches to animal care, says *heartworm medication is the one area that holistic remedies should never be used as an alternative -- way too risky. More info on heartworm with a map showing the US states and how many months of treatment are required: http://board.cavaliertalk.com/showthread.php?t=8932

This is very informative: http://www.heartwormsociety.org/article.asp?id=17

An infested heart.

Because of the year round moderate weather California dogs tend to have more problems with fleas than in some other parts of the country especially if they are exposed to other dogs.

To be blunt: I don't know who your breeder is (please do not name her), but even allowing for different care approaches and philosophies, some of that 'advice' is extraordinary and worryingly misleading -- I would actually say *shockingly irresponsible*, especially on heartworm.

You do need to talk to your vet for advice on all these things (with all due respect, on medical issues keep in mind that we may all freely offer advice but NONE of us has medical training here and what we say may be totally untrue or off the mark. You need to weigh all advice against the professional advice of a vet, always . If you don't trust your vet's advice, yhen get one whose advice you do respect. ). Yes you can wait til after the first heat but this does increase the chance of mammary cancer somewhat over your dog's lifetime and means you need to be fully responsible managing her for a heat -- which means keeping her entirely confined inside for 4-5 weeks. No walks. There is some evidence that spaying after the first heat actually increases the chance of incontinence in females as well. I and others in rescue spay dogs and cats all the time before first heat and everyone I know spayed before first heat... with no problems in any of these dogs. But it really comes down to whether you feel you can manage your dog through the weeks of a heat and are ultra cautious in the weeks around the time she is approaching first heat to make absolutely sure you see it when it starts so that she can be safely confined.

[WoodHaven]

a number of things including 1) no flea medicine "because cavs don't get fleas and its just poison"; 2) no heartworm medication or Giardia "because dogs don't get heartworm in California"; 3) no rabies shot until 8 months; and 4) not to spay until after first heat. Please Help!!! I am seeing so much conflicting information and I don't know what to do, To make things worse, my husband and I just found 2 fleas on our 17 week old pup. We took her to his mom's to "visit" NOT even thinking that their dog could have fleas. We should have known better. I am going to call the vet tomorrow but I want to be prepared about the flea medicine situation. ANY advice would be appreciated.

These are just generalized opinions-- everyone has to deal with 'real life' where they live.

1. I bought a package of frontline plus 7 years ago-- I still haven't used it. We don't have a flea problem where I am. (cold winters have to be good for something).
2. I use heartgard 'seasonally'-- meaning April or May thru Oct or Nov-- I also do yearly blood test to make sure nothing happened. IN 40 years of owning dogs (and I've had many) not one has had heartworm so far.
3. Our state says 4 months for rabies-- I would prefer to wait until at least 6 months. Yes, you can get in trouble-- YES it is probably better for the dog if you wait.
4.Due to the new info out there- plus personal experience-- I would wait until a dog is a year to spay--- longer to castrate. I've had experience with close to 50 dogs that weren't neutered before a year-- so far not one has had mammary cancer.

Frontline makes a spray that is one spray per pound of dog.

[Daisy's Mom]

"Cavaliers don't get fleas." Either she is dreaming or she is in denial. Very strange. On the upside, she sounds like she is very concerned for her pups she places, so that's good.

I can attest that Cavaliers get fleas. Daisy has been on Frontline Plus her whole life (every single month except the first two or three months), and still, when we travel, I will often find a few fleas on her. Hopefully, they are dead or rendered infertile from the Frontline before we reach home. And the places where she has gotten the fleas are all North of here (Indiana and Ohio), and the first time she got them was over Christmas in the dead of winter in Northern Ohio, so you can never be sure. We live in Tennessee, and there is LOTS of heartworm here and fleas year-round, so there's no question about treating her for both heartworm and fleas.

On the heartworm -- I would do lots of research and talk to your vet as others have said. I don't know too much about California, but I wouldn't take her word for it by any means.

My breeder agrees with her on the rabies shots being delayed. We waited as long as we could before vet pressure finally made me give in. I don't remember how old Daisy was.

Good luck with your decision -- I know these things can stress a conscientious owner out!

[Cathy T]

Writing to you from.....California....and guess what?? We have fleas!! Am currently dealing with flea allergy dermatitis on my boy. That's a really odd statement for someone to make. I give a monthly heartworm preventative. No advise on the rabies.....mine are now adults so it's no longer an issue at what age. Spay/neuter....do it when you're comfortable. Both of mine were altered at six months and I don't regret not waiting. This is such a personal decision. Both sides of the argument for now versus later have validation.