When would health problems show up?

[lreiley]

I just read a few posts on the breeder forum, and I probably should not have. My yorkiepoo seems pretty healthy. Her temperament is perfect; she is on her way to being potty trained and we all love her. When we first got her, she had intestinal worms then developed a yeast infection in her ear. The vet said that was not unusual in puppies. As I said, she seems great now.
Her breeder was a lady who lives in the country. She doesn't breed champions or anything like that--just breeds dogs to sell. We met Scarlett's mom, and she offered to show us her dad, but he was in the muddy back yard, so we declined. She said she had been keeping her puppies in a playpen in her house.
I guess my question is if Scarlett is going to have problems, when would they show up? I sure hope this breeder is ok because we feel like this dog is the perfect dog for us, and obviously we didn't know a lot about breeders.

[Maximo]

Congenital health problems can show up years down the road. One member here has a boy whose liver shunt, not an acquired one, was finally detected in late adulthood. Sometimes heart problems are found well into adulthood.

In my opinion, some of the milestones are 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. After 2 years, I breathed a sigh of relief . . . but you never know.

[Jacksmom052709]

If your breeder is just breeding dogs to sell and keeps the dad out in a muddy back yard and is breeding mixes, I would question her ethics and personally would not support this BYB (backyard breeder). That said, as Maximo said, most problems can be detected at the 6 month, 1 year and 2 year milestones.

I got Jack from a broker (didn't know it at the time as I was uneducated about such things until I found YT) and I know he has slight luxating patella which I have the vet check each time he goes in for a visit and he is also has collapsing trachea - these two things are pretty common in poorly bred small dogs. Jack turned four years old this past May.

I got Izzy from a very reputable breeder and I can see and feel the difference in her body structure. She has no luxating patella and she does not have collapsing trachea.

Just keep an eye on your little one and if anything seems out of the ordinary, ask your vet.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by lreiley

I just read a few posts on the breeder forum, and I probably should not have. My yorkiepoo seems pretty healthy. Her temperament is perfect; she is on her way to being potty trained and we all love her. When we first got her, she had intestinal worms then developed a yeast infection in her ear. The vet said that was not unusual in puppies. As I said, she seems great now.
Her breeder was a lady who lives in the country. She doesn't breed champions or anything like that--just breeds dogs to sell. We met Scarlett's mom, and she offered to show us her dad, but he was in the muddy back yard, so we declined. She said she had been keeping her puppies in a playpen in her house.
I guess my question is if Scarlett is going to have problems, when would they show up? I sure hope this breeder is ok because we feel like this dog is the perfect dog for us, and obviously we didn't know a lot about breeders.

Okay I can not answer this fully, as I have not investigated the poodle breed for their common health problems.

So I would do that, and you can see on here all the common health ailments for Yorkies.

LP can first be felt as early as 8wks old and for sure by now your vet should have told you if your pup has LP or loose knees.

The trachea health can be felt as well quite young. This refers to Collapsing Trachea.

Hip problems especially Leggs Perthes usually show up around 7-8 months old, and Hip Dysplasia in toy breeds might not show clinical symptoms especially if mild until after one year old. The same goes for Elbow Dysplasia.

Cataracts and PRA can show up as late as 5-7 yrs old.

Liver Shunt either external or internal, might not show up until older, although there are special blood tests called BATS you can do at 16 wks old and again at 6mths old to give you an indication of their liver health. Those tests are not a "failsafe" by any means, but can give you some indicators.

Thyroid problems can show up almost at any time. A full blood panel taken yearly can give some key overall health indicators for your dogs internal organ function.

Bladder problems are much more variable, there are some genetic bladder problems that usually don't start to show until after 5 yrs old, unless of course they are occasioned from liver problems.

Heart is variable as well. PDA should show up fairly early on in a puppies life - as early as 4wks old, and for certain by your first vet visit.
Other heart problems, such as murmurs etc, might not be ddx'd early on.

Finally if you don't have pet health insurance, and do not have the financial kitty or savings to cover genetic defects and or other health conditions, may I suggest you get it now, before you are faced with some serious health concerns. Your gal is young and presumably healthy so getting pet insurance should not be too much of an issue.

[Yorkiesatwork]

My poor baby Max has 75% collapsing trachea. I don't think he was ill-bred. I took him to vet as soon as I got him -- 15 months old. The vet wanted to put him out to examine his teeth and do a dental. He weighed just 4.5 pounds. I didn't know any better. He went into cardiac arrest on the table. The same vet put him under 5 months later for ear cleansing. I just didn't know better. I do think those two intro tubations were responsible for the majority of his collapsed trachea. I won't challenge; I won't sue; I believe it was ignorance of how to treat a tiny Yorkie. After a referral to the University of Georgia, and prescription steroids and opiate cough medicines, he does pretty well. He's ony 3 1/5 years old. The UGA vets said they'd never seen a dog that young with such a severe case of collapsing trachea. Steroids have devastating side effects. He's taking a course of them now. I asked my vet about Flovent with AeroDawg inhaler. They just look at me like I'm speaking a foreign language. Will get app't with UGA folks and hope I can get this little guy on track. He's such a sweet baby... but I feel like I need to be the vet... nobody seems to know about advanced treatments.

[yavenay]

As with anything in life, there are no guarantees. I think the important thing is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Do you have a medical fund or pet insurance? At least if something does come up you will be able to provide the best care possible. My Brandi was diagnosed with liver shunts late in life. It took several hundreds of dollars to get the diagnosis. But because I established a pattern of saving for medical care, I was able to afford treatment that she needed.

[yorkietalkjilly]

My Tibbe's probable MVD(microvascular dysplasia - a liver condition) didn't become symptomatic until he was 4 years old. Until then, he had a cast iron stomach and could eat anything. The vets tell me he inherited the condition.

[ChibiLuv]

sadly you can never know. My Chibi is a yorkiepoo and I figured him being mixed would make him healthier- wrong. His issues started when he was about 3, never had any problems besides a slight vaccine reaction and a minor luxating patella(which actually got better with age) then BAM he had IBD and pancreatitis and food allergies and was sensitive to every thing almost over night. Just make sure you have a good vet.

[gemy]

Yes that is the roulette wheel you toy with when you breed mixes.

Sometimes you get lucky on that genetic wheel, and the mixes are healthy.

Sometimes it is Murphy's law all the way. Even if you do all the health screenings for each breed, when you mix them, you are not too sure how that soup is going to come out.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by gemy

Yes that is the roulette wheel you toy with when you breed mixes.

Sometimes you get lucky on that genetic wheel, and the mixes are healthy.

Sometimes it is Murphy's law all the way. Even if you do all the health screenings for each breed, when you mix them, you are not too sure how that soup is going to come out.

[Verbena]

Originally Posted by gemy

Yes that is the roulette wheel you toy with when you breed mixes.

Sometimes you get lucky on that genetic wheel, and the mixes are healthy.

Sometimes it is Murphy's law all the way. Even if you do all the health screenings for each breed, when you mix them, you are not too sure how that soup is going to come out.

Well said

[Teegy]

Originally Posted by gemy

Yes that is the roulette wheel you toy with when you breed mixes.

Sometimes you get lucky on that genetic wheel, and the mixes are healthy.

Sometimes it is Murphy's law all the way. Even if you do all the health screenings for each breed, when you mix them, you are not too sure how that soup is going to come out.

My breeder gave a 5 year health guarantee. She explained that many things can show up after the first couple of years. It's a sad affair but we can only do our best by them