Okaaaaaaay...

The Sweeper

...right, so there's currently a skinny possibly bull breed Heinz 57 tan and white muttsky in my bathroom.

He's 14 weeks old, already neutered, but underweight due to a bad start, and with a bit of a skin condition that I'll have to be careful of for a few weeks.

All of my cats have seen him - the eldest have inflated their fur and there's been some uncertainty, but generally the moggies are doing very well indeed. The pup is a bit of a crying shrieker as soon as we're out of sight, but DH and I are totally ignoring the crying, and I stand in the kitchen with a tin of Natures Best dogfood and a spoon in my hand. As soon as the pup is quiet, I count to about 30 and then pop in and reward him with a spoon of food. (This pup has toastrack ribs, I'm not stressed about overfeeding initially.) The whimpering and high pitched squealing is rattling the cats, and one of them hides under the sofa when she hears it, but seriously we're only home about three hours, and the pup hasn't protested for more than about a minute straight before he retires to his bed and lies there. He was also a dream in the car on the way home - an hour's drive.

He's got a kong toy at the moment - the bathroom door is open and there's a babygate between him and the rest of the world, so he can see what's going on but he's not intimidating the cats. I think they recognise he's a puppy (even if it's certainly not been love at first sight).

For some reason though I'm a bit stressed. I suppose I'm anxious that his skin problem won't resolve, or that he won't settle, I'm not looking forward to tonight (worried he'll whimper all night) and I'm fretting that my cats won't adjust (which is ridiculous because they're doing better than I could have hoped so far and it's been three hours and I need to build a bridge and get over it, to be honest. )

Any tips for me on young puppies? Any tips for me on chilling out?

Toulouse

Neutered at 14 weeks?!?!?! Please tell me you meant vaccintated.

As for the skin condition, what are we talking about. If it's mange then it's very manageable. Has the vet given a diagnosis? If not then the pup will have to have some skin scrapes done. There's an excellent holistic food on the market now [url]/http://www.landofholisticpets.co.uk/[/url] (sold in Dog Training Ireland or contact George on the site for stockists) and people who have dogs with atopica and other skin conditions are raving about it.

Here's some good reading for anyone with a new pup, covers pretty much everything http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/digital-dog-training-textbook

As for chilling out, you sound a little overwhelmed at the moment. It's okay, it's a big change for you. Try not to worry so much, your animals will pick up on it. Congratulations on your new addition

The Sweeper

Hey Toulouse - no, I meant neutered. I'm in Australia - over here it's illegal for shelters and pounds to rehome cats and dogs who are intact. They have to at least be neutered and microchipped. It's a routine thing usually done around 9-10 weeks of age to facilitate rehoming animals as young kittens and pups, since that's what the demand is for.

I knew there was a reason I was anxious earlier though. Cats are my thing - I know cats, inside out and upside down, I know them. I can spot an infection or an abscess or an infestation. Dogs, however - it's been a long time. I just don't know them as well - I felt like a dog newb collecting him at the shelter. Well I should have trusted my instincts.

When I got home, I examined the medication - Dermotic - prescribed by the shelter vet, and I rang the vet. They were vague - they did "a couple of tests for ringworm" and "one of them showed something" so they're treating for ringworm as a precaution. I scanned back over my shelter paperwork and realised the pup hasn't had a flea treatment. Now seriously, I hadn't looked this pup over all that thoroughly, and he was pretty scruffy, but when I put him in the bath and wet him down, he was bloody crawling with fleas.

His tummy and legs are covered in flea bites. I sent the other half out for a spot-on (everything I have in the house is cat-specific and I can't use those on a dog) and did a flea shampoo and comb out with the pup and I must have taken 20 fleas off him. I'm not 100% sure I got them all, but I've used the spot-on and can rewash and keep an eye on him. New dog bed's on a boil wash already.

As you can imagine, I am not best delighted that my new rescue shelter pup, on top of being underweight, has possibly got ringworm and brought a flea infestation into my house. I do rescue work with cats, I know life isn't perfect, and I know that it's hard, but gimme a frickin break, I deserved a heads-up, especially since I TOLD these people I have other animals in my house.

Here he is, poor infested skinny thing that he is. This really is the last thing I needed to worry about on top of having to socialise him with six cats and toilet train him.

Somebody lie to me and tell me everything's going to be a-okay, will ya?

lorebringer

He's so damn cute! Sh!t to hear he had a bad start but he's in the right place now.

And he will be ok, given a bit of medication, time and love

LisaO

Aah, he's a little dote:)

Sounds like you are doing all the right things with him. The skin irritation could well be as a result of the flea infestation, so in that case should clear once the fleas are gone but as ringworm has been mentioned I would be looking for a definite yea or nay on that. Could you get your own vet to test for ringworm (normally easy to do with a UV light)? You need to know if he does have it to avoid it spreading to your cats.

Toulouse

Aaah I see but still 14 weeks, wowzah!

Well sounds like the shelter isn't up to much but hopefully the skin conditon is just down to a flea allergy and should clear right up. Just make sure your cats are treated, give the place a good hoover and dump the bag and you should be okay.

Can you see anything on him that may indicate ringworm? If you're worried at all I'd consult another vet just for peace of mind and meanwhile keep him isolated from the others and be careful when you handle him. I googled Dermotic and as far as I can see it's only a otic corticosteroid (good for itching ears) so wouldn't be used to treat Ringworm, what would be needed also is an anti-fungal. In fact if it were me I'd be getting a second opinion, the shelter vet is giving out incorrect information.

I don't have to lie to you, it will be okay! You have access to alot of information about dogs and most people on here are very knowledgable and give good advice so always feel free to ask!

P.S. He's beautiful! I'd have taken him home too

The Sweeper

Hey Lisa - to be honest I'm just going to assume he has it for now. The ointment I have does treat it, and he definitely has a bald patch under his chin (showed up under the dirt in the bath hmmm) so best way forward is just to presume he has it and treat accordingly.

Am interested to see what the shelter lady comes back to me with before I take him to my own vet.

ISDW

Best of luck with him, he's soooooo cute, with those eyes, obviously nobody can say no to him.

Great advice so far, please let us know what the shelter come back with.

The Sweeper

Thanks guys for the support

I think - if I may be so bold as to continue to rant - I think what's pissing me off the most now is that this completely ****s up my entire introduction plan with my cats. People who post here a lot will know I've got cats, and I swear to God I had the entire introduction period planned out like a military campaign. Even this evening, most of my cats are beside me here on the couch. They're not intimidated, they're a bit clingy but not petrified. They're eating, drinking, not afraid to go past the room the dog is in to go to their litter trays. This was very important to me, and the first night is going well.

But now the prospect ahead of me is four weeks of sodding ringworm treatment where I can't introduce the dog to the cats - in fact, I can't even let the dog into the rest of the house lest he distribute fungal spores. (Don't start me on the stress of possibly having to crate the cats in the garage while I flea-bomb the house.)

These are worst case scenarios, but it makes me think - if the shelter haven't got a good excuse for me, I'll go spend cash at my own vet and have the ringworm confirmed and get a local opinion on treatment and quarantine requirements.

As I said previously, the shelter is an hour away from my house - and the shelter's vet is further again, probably 75 mins in the car. If they offer me a repeat consult with their vet I might just refuse it and go to my own, save myself the roundabout trip.

Anyway, I'll stop wittering...

Toulouse

Witter away, I'd be fuming!

The flea thing, just treat the cats and hoover the house. I brought a stray in once, wasn't until the next day that I noticed she was crawling and I mean crawling with fleas so I treated her. My other dog had been treated already and the house was fine so I didn't have a problem. Just take a few simple precautions and you won't have to worry about fleas!

The vet thing, I'd only trust my own I have to say.

hadook

Diluted apple cider vinegar applied directly to the coat will change the pH of his skin and destroy the ringworm. I've also heard that coconut oil will do the same thing and smells better

(Works on people too - it it worked perfectly on me the last time I caught ringworm from a puppy in the vets. Fleas and fungus adore me :rolleyes: )

Edited to add: if your cats will drink it you can add a spoonful of apple cider vinegar to their water supply and give them temporary immunity to the fungus/fleas while you do the introductions.

mymo

Congratulations! He's gorgeous!
Intro sounds good so far, one of my cats wouldn't even look at the first pup we got, hated being in the same room for about 10 days. Poor cat was 7yrs old and suddenly gets lumbered with this mad ball of hair that wants to play. He was not impressed.
He got over it very quick and they get on well now, as do the other dog and cat added since then.
You have every right to be pissed off, I would be too. I'd have thought ringworm would have been treated before rehoming? As for the fleas, its just basic bath in flea wash at least before rehoming.(makes me wonder what else they didn't do? Has he been wormed?)
To be honest once he gets all clear, bring him out and tire him out, then bring home and just let him nose around the house for a minute or two(keep him on the lead), do the same after feeding and walking for a few days and think he'll be ok with cats and them with him. All the best planning can be undone by one hissing cat or bounce from the pup, so just relax and it'll be fine.:)

sionnaic

He's a beautiful little pup Congratulations!

But to be honest that shelter sounds a bit dodgy. His ribs are just awful...how long did they have him?

And I'm sorry but neutering at 14 weeks is barbaric...and at 9 weeks???!!! it's inconceivable. The law is an ass.
When we rescued our pup at 16 weeks (in Ireland) the shelter gave us a voucher for getting him neutered because 6 months is the earliest you should get it done.

I'd get him seen by your own vet if I were you, if you have a good one you trust. It's him/her that's going to be looking after your dog in the long term so might as well let him get the full picture. Plus a 2.5 hour round trip with a nervous, poorly puppy on a regular basis is not a good idea if you can help it.

The Sweeper

hadook wrote: »

Diluted apple cider vinegar applied directly to the coat will change the pH of his skin and destroy the ringworm. I've also heard that coconut oil will do the same thing and smells better

(Works on people too - it it worked perfectly on me the last time I caught ringworm from a puppy in the vets. Fleas and fungus adore me :rolleyes: )

Edited to add: if your cats will drink it you can add a spoonful of apple cider vinegar to their water supply and give them temporary immunity to the fungus/fleas while you do the introductions.

Thanks, Hadook - what ratio do I dilute the vinegar with, and what do I dilute it with? I'll give that a go, can't do any harm! Do I apply it to the patches, or douse him in it?

hadook

3 to 1 ratio with water and sponge him down 3-4 times a day with it for a couple of weeks. You can also add a spoonful to his food every day

mymo

I use a few drops of cider vinegar in the water to help with tear stains in the little dog, great stuff, dogs wait for me to put it in before having a big drink, must taste lovely to dogs:D

The Sweeper

Went to my own vet with Gus the puppy this morning. She looked him over, cleaned his ears, gave me a milbemax tablet, half to be given now and another half in a month, and sent me to the chemist for Canesten cream for the ringworm, to be applied to the lesions twice daily. Should see it start to resolve in a week, if not I need to go back to her for an oral tablet.

I got some seriously critical stares in the vet clinic, sitting in the waiting room with this pathetically skinny puppy. I actually started to speak up to people and say 'I took this pup on yesterday, he's had it hard, I'll feed him up and he'll look a lot better'.

Vet says he's a Bull Arab - an Australian hunting-mongrel bred from crossing English bull terriers, greyhounds and German shorthaired pointers. She reckons he has the sweetest nature and will grow to be a fantastic dog. I hope so - because all socialisation with other dogs is out the window now for another four to six weeks, making him 18-20 weeks old. He got a good bit of socialisation up to 14 weeks, having been with his brother most of that time and then having met other shelter dogs.

I rang the shelter owner this morning, by the way. She told me she'd call me back in 15 minutes. She never called.

May her hole wither.

The Sweeper

PS: this puppy is so sweet, and so pathetically skinny, the vet charged me $9.20 for the entire consult - the price of the milbemax tablet.