First Annual Healthcheck - please assist

[SirTeddykins]

Hi all


Teddy is due for his first annual health check in early December when he will receive his first parvo booster.


I have had dogs before, but I have never had a dog in England and I've had a housecat for the last twelve years.


I appreciate that the vet visit for a cat differs for a dog so I could use some advice on what to expect as well as what to go over during this visit.


My agenda is as follows:

tear production - enquire about the frequency/color etc.
weight - is Teddy doing ok here?
ear smell - it's fusty! is this normal?
anxiety - what treatment is available, can I do anything more re: behavior etc.
parvo shot - please administer!
microchip - to be done

There is nothing I hate worse than having the opportunity to ask questions or address situations with the relevant person(s) only to find out that I had forgotten something or didn't know to ask ahead of time...


Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[gemy]

Let me first address what I think the vet should exam on an annual check up.


1. Examine, eyes, ears, teeth for: Clarity (eyes), discharge, etc. Teeth for bite, and tartar build up. Ears for smell, red areas, clear ear canal, etc. And fusty smell is not normal for ears.


2. Heart listen to all heart sounds - left side and right side.


3. All joints palpated and moved through range of motion. Front legs, ankles, elbows, shoulder. Back legs, stifle joint, knees, hips. Spine. Observe normal walking gait of the dog. And I would ask if my dog is clear of LP or if not, what grade does the vet assess the LP at.


4. Exam testicles, inner groins, abdomen. /this is to detect for one thing lumps or bumps, the skin, and any incipient hernias.


The vet should also ask you general questions about your dogs health. Diarrehea, constipation, nauses/vomiting altered gait even if only transient. Appetite, his daily exercise, etc.


Question about required shots in England, is pavro the only one?


Your tear production is an interesting question, why are you concerned about this? Are you getting staining at the inner eye corners, or lots of encrustration build up around the eyes?


For the anxiety; what creates it, how often does your dog respond in an anxious way, what are his responses that you denote and associate as anxiety. There are more than a few behaviour modification techniques that can be tried, prior to using meds to control anxiety.


For me at about one year old, I do a full baseline blood panel. If BATS have not been done I would request that to be done as well. You might need a second appointment to set up to do BATS. Discuss this with your vet ahead of time. ( I am assuming you know what Bile Acid Test is for).


That is all that I can think of for now.

[SirTeddykins]

Originally Posted by gemy

Let me first address what I think the vet should exam on an annual check up.


1. Examine, eyes, ears, teeth for: Clarity (eyes), discharge, etc. Teeth for bite, and tartar build up. Ears for smell, red areas, clear ear canal, etc. And fusty smell is not normal for ears. - re: ears - didn't think it was normal but unsure to what extent it could be due to hair in the ears, therefore, improper drying after bathing or improper washing or yeast infection, for example. His ears do not smell "cheesy" and I have read on here that is the primary symptom of yeast infections in the ear but I would not think that would be the only way a symptom presents itself so worried that it could still be yeast... do you have experience regarding this? my parents dog suffers chronically from yeast infection in the ear but they do say his ears are "cheesy" and he itches them constantly which is the same in Teddy's case hence the reason I have not taken him in for this issue in isolation


2. Heart listen to all heart sounds - left side and right side.


3. All joints palpated and moved through range of motion. Front legs, ankles, elbows, shoulder. Back legs, stifle joint, knees, hips. Spine. Observe normal walking gait of the dog. And I would ask if my dog is clear of LP or if not, what grade does the vet assess the LP at. - thank you, I would have not thought to ask about this!!


4. Exam testicles, inner groins, abdomen. /this is to detect for one thing lumps or bumps, the skin, and any incipient hernias.


The vet should also ask you general questions about your dogs health. Diarrehea, constipation, nauses/vomiting altered gait even if only transient. Appetite, his daily exercise, etc.


Question about required shots in England, is pavro the only one?
parvo is not the only shot but the only booster - however, I had a phone discussion with my vet last week who also recommends a yearly vaccination against Leptospirosis


Your tear production is an interesting question, why are you concerned about this? Are you getting staining at the inner eye corners, or lots of encrustration build up around the eyes? I do have to clean Teddy's eyes every day. I do not allow for the build up to become crusty but what is cleaned away is wet and very dark brown. Again, I have read here and elsewhere that a red color denotes a yeast infection whereas brown could be dietary. What do you think?


For the anxiety; what creates it, how often does your dog respond in an anxious way, what are his responses that you denote and associate as anxiety. There are more than a few behaviour modification techniques that can be tried, prior to using meds to control anxiety. Teddy has a long history with anxiety. He is anxious when I leave, he pants uncontrollably in car rides and "chirps" randomly during walks. During all these situations, he sweats profusely on either side of his muzzle. Apart from me leaving (where he pants, paces and pees on the front door) he does not display anxiety before a walk or before a car ride. He is eager for both activities. I do not excite him before either activity and allow him to go on his walks and in the car only when he demonstrates a calm demeanour in the home. I have had a behaviorist (I believe you commented on that thread for me - thanks again x) but have not found any of the techniques useful and have found some damaging. Being in the mental health profession, I support a biopscychosocial approach to addressing mental health (even in pets!) but do recognize that medicine (when used correctly and temporarily) can assist with the focus of behavioral training, thus, change. What do you think?


For me at about one year old, I do a full baseline blood panel. If BATS have not been done I would request that to be done as well. You might need a second appointment to set up to do BATS. Discuss this with your vet ahead of time. ( I am assuming you know what Bile Acid Test is for). Assume this is as a result of the incidence of Liver Shunt in the breed - again, thank you for this as I would not have thought to ask!


That is all that I can think of for now.

Gemy,


Thanks for your comprehensive and prompt reply.


I have responded above in red.


You are a star.

[SirTeddykins]

EDITED to say: my parents dogs symptomology is NOT the same as Teddy's re: ear smell and itch - thanks!

[KazzyK810]

I have blood work done at the yearly exam. It gives your vet a good current baseline to compare to should your pup encounter problems in the future.

[gemy]

[QUOTE=SirTeddykins;4506510]Gemy,


.

Lets see I am going to copy your reply and hopefully my answers won't be too confusing! I had to get to work this am, so wanted to wait until my lunch break to respond in full to you.


Originally Posted by gemy http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/ima...s/viewpost.gif
Let me first address what I think the vet should exam on an annual check up.


1. Examine, eyes, ears, teeth for: Clarity (eyes), discharge, etc. Teeth for bite, and tartar build up. Ears for smell, red areas, clear ear canal, etc. And fusty smell is not normal for ears. - re: ears - didn't think it was normal but unsure to what extent it could be due to hair in the ears, therefore, improper drying after bathing or improper washing or yeast infection, for example. His ears do not smell "cheesy" and I have read on here that is the primary symptom of yeast infections in the ear but I would not think that would be the only way a symptom presents itself so worried that it could still be yeast... do you have experience regarding this? my parents dog suffers chronically from yeast infection in the ear but they do say his ears are "cheesy" and he itches them constantly which is the same in Teddy's case hence the reason I have not taken him in for this issue in isolation


No not yeast but wax buildup in my drop eared dogs. Do you shave your dogs inner ear flap? I would I think. Also how are you washing the inside of the ear? Do you at least weekly do an ear cleaning with a product made for ear cleaning? After bath do you dry the ears? If Teddy is not itching at his ears constantly that is a good sign - but if so - make sure your vet knows.


2. Heart listen to all heart sounds - left side and right side.


3. All joints palpated and moved through range of motion. Front legs, ankles, elbows, shoulder. Back legs, stifle joint, knees, hips. Spine. Observe normal walking gait of the dog. And I would ask if my dog is clear of LP or if not, what grade does the vet assess the LP at. - thank you, I would have not thought to ask about this!!


4. Exam testicles, inner groins, abdomen. /this is to detect for one thing lumps or bumps, the skin, and any incipient hernias.


The vet should also ask you general questions about your dogs health. Diarrehea, constipation, nauses/vomiting altered gait even if only transient. Appetite, his daily exercise, etc.


Question about required shots in England, is pavro the only one?
parvo is not the only shot but the only booster - however, I had a phone discussion with my vet last week who also recommends a yearly vaccination against Leptospirosis.


Why the Lepto? It is one of the non core vaccines that has a relatively high negative re-action rate. I would want to know the incident rate of Lepto in the areas I frequent most - like in my county, and or my country home etc. Your should reasonably ask you to stick around for an hour or so after this shot is administered. I do it in Ontario for my beasties, as we hike and swim, etc, and the chances they get exposed to this nasty disease is pretty high. Your English Association for Vets might have on their site a map that shows Lepto incident rates across the country. Also with your search skills I recall a copy of threads here that talked about Lepto, you might do a search for this specific topic.


Your tear production is an interesting question, why are you concerned about this? Are you getting staining at the inner eye corners, or lots of encrustration build up around the eyes? I do have to clean Teddy's eyes every day. I do not allow for the build up to become crusty but what is cleaned away is wet and very dark brown. Again, I have read here and elsewhere that a red color denotes a yeast infection whereas brown could be dietary. What do you think?


Okay, the coloration might also be due to high iron content in the water. Do you use a filtration system for your water. I might try using spring water and or distilled water for 2 wks to see if there is an improvement.

The tearing *excess* can of course be due to a whole host of things, but I would suspect a) hair that is not kept out of the eyes b) ingrown eyelash in each eye c) very mild form of inverted eyelid. d) other


To give you a comparison, I only need to clean Razz's eyes once per wk, there is no wetness on a daily basis etc. He is on home feeding with a few ounces of TD kibble a day. And he is on filtered water same water we humans drink.


For the anxiety; what creates it, how often does your dog respond in an anxious way, what are his responses that you denote and associate as anxiety. There are more than a few behaviour modification techniques that can be tried, prior to using meds to control anxiety. Teddy has a long history with anxiety. He is anxious when I leave, he pants uncontrollably in car rides and "chirps" randomly during walks. During all these situations, he sweats profusely on either side of his muzzle. Apart from me leaving (where he pants, paces and pees on the front door) he does not display anxiety before a walk or before a car ride. He is eager for both activities. I do not excite him before either activity and allow him to go on his walks and in the car only when he demonstrates a calm demeanour in the home. I have had a behaviorist (I believe you commented on that thread for me - thanks again x) but have not found any of the techniques useful and have found some damaging. Being in the mental health profession, I support a biopscychosocial approach to addressing mental health (even in pets!) but do recognize that medicine (when used correctly and temporarily) can assist with the focus of behavioral training, thus, change. What do you think?


First I would in particular mention the sweating along with the other actions. I am going to link you to this site. www.hemopet.com Dr Jean Dodds has done extensive research on thyroiditis, and she has written some good articles about low thyroid and what are some signs n symptoms of same. If my memory serves me correctly that sweating sign is one of them, also nervousness, etc, there are a whole host of signs. The regular blood panel which only shows a value of T4 is not extensive enough to determine if the thyroid gland is affected. You can also go to www.offa.org look up expanded Thyroid panel to see what you need to measure.


I think a full check up which is wht you are doing is in order first. Medicine certainly has its valid uses in these cases, but I might after a clean bill of health - including BATS, and Expanded T4, try the Rescue Remedy - BAch flower remedies does a Rescue Remedy. There are other treats that are specialized for anxiety as well.
It does sound like separation anxiety plus +++ I have been lucky so far, as my dogs, never have separation anxiety, or car travel problems. I have one finely strung gal, that I need to modulate my voice for, and have worked with her fear of loud noises - essentially de-sensitization techniques - which I believe you would know more about than myself. But to give you a time-frame she is just under one year old and I have worked with her since she was 4months old. She is now not so scared of buses going by, sirens, sound of pots falling, thunderstorms. EVery day in the beginning, now only 3x per week, do I deliberately expose her to loud noises.



For me at about one year old, I do a full baseline blood panel. If BATS have not been done I would request that to be done as well. You might need a second appointment to set up to do BATS. Discuss this with your vet ahead of time. ( I am assuming you know what Bile Acid Test is for). Assume this is as a result of the incidence of Liver Shunt in the breed - again, thank you for this as I would not have thought to ask!


Well it is the starting point of determining if your boy has a healthy liver. Gives you more info then the regular liver panel on a full blood screen. It also can point out if MVD - microvalvular disease is suspected.



That is all that I can think of for now.

[MauiGirl]

Gemy did such a good list, there is not much to add.

Some vets like you to bring a stool sample so they can check for parasites and things.

I don't know if you trim Teddy's nails or have a groomer do it, but I always have the vet tech's do it when I take my girls in. It is so much easier for them to do with many helpers holding, and they only charge a little or nothing when done on a normal visit.

[SirTeddykins]

Gemy, thanks so much for your comprehensive replies and giving me your valuable time. I appreciate this more than you know. You've really given armed me with what I need to ask and what I should expect etc at this first visit. December 6! I will have to learn about trimming hair in the ears as I do not currently do this nor do I use drops or any sort of cleaning solution for maintenance. I assumed his ears were self cleaning, like ours, so thank you. Also, never considered thyroid function although I suffer from Hashimotos Thyroiditis and God knows what a freak I am if my levels are off!!!!


Kazzy - thanks for the suggestion re: blood work! I will certainly see what the vet says as I would not have thought to ask about this by default


MauiGirl - thanks for mentioning the nails! The groomer does normally clip his nails but he hasn't been in awhile so I did consider asking the vet but then thought it would be too forward of me...It's good to know that someone else has done this and come out alive..lol Thank you xxxxx


Thank you all - you're great xxxxxxxxx

[matese]

[QUOTE=MauiGirl;4506660]Gemy did such a good list, there is not much to add.

Some vets like you to bring a stool sample so they can check for parasites and things.

I don't know if you trim Teddy's nails or have a groomer do it, but I always have the vet tech's do it when I take my girls in. It is so much easier for them to do with many helpers holding, and they only , charge a little or nothing when done on a normal visit.[/QUOTE]
I just wanted to ad, my vet (techs) clip nails at NO CHARGE, on any visit not just yearly check up. Don't be shy, ask to have Teddys nails clip.