Between Cali's last two vet visits (Dec 20 and Jan 02), she had absolutely
no weight gain. Is this normal? She was 20 weeks old yesterday. She is
still finishing all her food and getting some training treats. The last 3
days she threw up in the morning once (only water, not food). Yesterday she
tested positive for ringworm so they gave her meds. Could the ringworm and
throwing up be the reason she didn't gain weight or do I need to increase
her food intake? The vet seemed to think it was no big deal that she didn't
gain weight. She didn't say about to increase food or alter anything but I
didn't ask either.

Also, everytime I take Cali to the vet, she screams/cries when they take her
temp in her ear. She doesn't care if her ears are touched with fingers but
she scream something fierce when they use the thermometer. Last time, 3
different techs came in the room to see what the problem was (thinking the
dog was being tortured or something) and laughed to see it was just
temperature checking time. It usually takes 3 or 4 tries to get an accurate
reading so Cali is put through it more than once. It doesn't appear that
the tech is hurting Cali and the vet checked her ears (she didn't see
anything that should cause pain). The vet doesn't seem to be concerned but
I hate to hear Cali screaming. Could something else be going on that the
vet missed or is it probably just that Cali hates getting her ears checked
with the thermometer?

Lastly, when Cali was getting her shot, the tech was holding her and Cali
wiggled a bit. The vet either pulled the needle out or it came on when Cali
moved. Anyway, some of the meds didn't get in (it was in her hair). The
vet had to stick Cali in another spot to finish the vaccine (some was still
in the needle) and now she has to go back in 3 weeks to repeat the same shot
(since it didn't all get it). I was concerned about too much vaccine in
Cali's little body but the vet said there is no such thing. It's better to
have too much than not enough. Has this ever happened to someone else or is
it just me who has bad luck at the vet?

In article , MauiJNP wrote:
Between Cali's last two vet visits (Dec 20 and Jan 02), she had absolutely
no weight gain. Is this normal? She was 20 weeks old yesterday.

She's reaching an age when growth is starting to become kind
of spurty. Disorganized, too - you'll find that over a
couple of days her hind legs will grow faster than her front
legs, that her back will grow faster than other parts, etc.
It's normal.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

The federal debt limit has had to be raised four times
since George Bush took office.

Melinda Shore wrote:
In article , MauiJNP wrote:

Between Cali's last two vet visits (Dec 20 and Jan 02), she had absolutely
no weight gain. Is this normal? She was 20 weeks old yesterday.


She's reaching an age when growth is starting to become kind
of spurty. Disorganized, too - you'll find that over a
couple of days her hind legs will grow faster than her front
legs, that her back will grow faster than other parts, etc.
It's normal.

I love the gawky stage. I was looking at some pix of my male BC between
the ages of 5 and 12 months and had to laugh out loud. There's one shot
where he looks like he's standing facing downhill because his hind legs
are so much longer than the front. And a whole series taken when his
snout hit a growth spurt and the rest of his skull had to play catch-up.
That was a seriously silly-looking stage, and while I'd have loved him
no matter what, I am relieved that he finished out with all his parts
looking like they belong to the same dog.

And for the original poster, you should be aware that your dog's mental
development during adolescence can be every bit as discombobulated as
her physical growth. With patience and consistency, this too shall pass.

Kathleen

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 10:03:04 -0500, "MauiJNP" ,
clicked their heels and said:


Also, everytime I take Cali to the vet, she screams/cries when they take her
temp in her ear. She doesn't care if her ears are touched with fingers but
she scream something fierce when they use the thermometer.

go the the pharmacy and get yourself an ear thermometer - they're
relatively cheap. Take her temp (or pretend to!) every day, with food
reward. She'll start to see that thing as something really good!


--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album

"Janet B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 10:03:04 -0500, "MauiJNP" ,
clicked their heels and said:


Also, everytime I take Cali to the vet, she screams/cries when they take
her
temp in her ear. She doesn't care if her ears are touched with fingers
but
she scream something fierce when they use the thermometer.

go the the pharmacy and get yourself an ear thermometer - they're
relatively cheap. Take her temp (or pretend to!) every day, with food
reward. She'll start to see that thing as something really good!




good idea, I will have to check it out next time I go to the store.

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 10:03:04 -0500, "MauiJNP" wrote:

Between Cali's last two vet visits (Dec 20 and Jan 02), she had absolutely
no weight gain. Is this normal? She was 20 weeks old yesterday. She is
still finishing all her food and getting some training treats. The last 3
days she threw up in the morning once (only water, not food). Yesterday she
tested positive for ringworm so they gave her meds. Could the ringworm and
throwing up be the reason she didn't gain weight or do I need to increase
her food intake? The vet seemed to think it was no big deal that she didn't
gain weight. She didn't say about to increase food or alter anything but I
didn't ask either.

This is a problem because you really need to rely more on your vet,
who has expertise and has actually examined the dog, instead of
usenet. If there is something about your vet that makes it hard to
ask questions, look around at different vets. If you are shy about
asking questions, get your nerve together or get someone to go with
you and ask or prompt you to ask. If you forget, take notes with you
with the questions you want to ask or, for times like this when you
don't know you'll have a question until you get there, take a note
that reminds you to ask anything you need to clarify or feel more
confident in the diagnosis or advice. There are various things that
can be the cause for the lack of weight gain, with various "fixes" to
go with them. The best person to tell you what causes and what fixes
was your vet, but you left there without taking advantage. As I
recall, this isn't the first time this has happened. Nip the problem
in the bud by figuring out why exactly and making sure it doesn't keep
happening. In the meantime, my vet doesn't have a problem if I call
his office and ask something I thought of after I left (like "oh, I
forgot to ask if I should increase my dog's food since he isn't
gaining weight"). The staff asks him when he is between patients and
calls me back. I don't abuse that, but they have been willing to do
it the one time I did forget to ask a quick question.

--
Paula
Persons with names like Sierra, Sequoia, Auburn, and Rainbow
can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 23:30:01 -0500, "MauiJNP" wrote:


I think it's the loop they always throw me when I am there. I make the
appointment for one thing and they want to do others. For example,
yesterday, the vet said, 'oh, I want to do the kennel cough vaccine too
since she didn't have one. I like to give them to all the puppies'. I told
her no because I didn't want her to have two shots in one day and she told
me it wasn't a shot, it was something that went in her nose. Anyway its
stuff like that that throws me off track because then I have to decide if I
should just do what we had planned ahead of time or add things at the last
minute.

Make a note to yourself to make sure you ask all questions before you
leave and then tell the vet that you don't make snap decisions about
important subjects and need some more information. You can then ask
her things like whether there are any risks, what the vaccination is
for, etc. If you feel guilty about taking up the vet's time, tell her
that you don't mind if she goes to another examining room to help
other patients and then comes back after you have had a chance to
think it over, and think over your questions while she is gone. You
need to have something written down that you look at and remind you
when you are in panic mode over the unexpected to calm down, think it
through and ask whatever questions you would ask if you got home
without asking them at the vet's. If the vet balks at giving you time
to think and info to make a decision, tell her that you understand
that it's a pain, but you just don't make snap decisions quickly about
important things like your dog and you agree that it would be much
better to know in advance what will be coming up at the visit, if that
were possible, but since you didn't know the extra vaccination would
come up, you didn't have a chance to think it through before you got
there. You have the right to make informed decisions, but you have to
assert that right.

FWIW, kennel cough is not a required vaccination, at least in my
state, unless you are boarding dogs. Since I board my dogs fairly
regularly when I go on vacation, I just have them done with the others
so I don't have to make an extra trip to the vet when I am getting
ready to go on a trip.

--
Paula
Persons with names like Sierra, Sequoia, Auburn, and Rainbow
can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.