There was no group training on Saturday so we took advantage of the free morning to take Freighter and Nestle to the vet.
Our vet is walk in and has both Saturday and Sunday hours. It is a large clinic and they usually have two or three vets working on any given day. If you prefer to see a certain vet, you can ask for them. Lucky for them, we usually don’t show up with just one animal. We usually bring two or more at a time. 🙂
This was the case on Saturday. Nestle was due for immunizations, including her three-year Rabies shot.
Nestle is not too fond of venturing out of her house. She was a sport and muddled through. She weighs 9.6 pounds. I asked the vet if her weight was OK and the vet said she thought she looked great. Nestle is over 7 now so I want to make sure to keep her weight at a good level.
Freighter is going off to stay with the trainer at the beginning of March. He is due for his first boosters of all of his immunizations in April and his heart worm check. We decided to start now so that we can break up his immunizations over the month as necessary.
Freighter now weighs 74 pounds. He will probably put on a few more pounds as he fills out. Top of the standard is 8o pounds. It will be interesting to see where he ends up falling within the standard once he is full grown.
Freighter was happy to have Nestle along for the trip on Saturday. She was a big distraction to him since he is still very interested in her. I think he forgot where he was for the most part.
We chatted a bit with the vet and decided that Freighter would get his DHLPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parvo, Parainfluenza), and Rabies vaccines on Saturday and wait to get the Bordatella immunization in about a week. The DHPP and Rabies are given as three-year vaccines, so next year Freighter will only need a Lepto and Bordatella vaccine. This is the protocol we are following, but some people decide on different protocols depending on their dog’s needs.
We also had his blood drawn for heart worm check, purchased his heart worm preventative meds for this season and Frontline for flea and tick control. Beginning this year, our vet is recommending nine months of heart worm preventative beginning April 1. In Michigan it usually does not stay warm long enough to have mosquitoes that can transmit the disease during the winter months, or even in early Spring. However, there is a benefit to the dogs because the heart worm preventative we use also guards against some other parasites.
We also had the vet check his ears and he had a little bacteria and yeast going on in there, so we came home with some drops. I suspect that Freighter has a bit of sensitivity to chicken. He never did well on chicken based food and he had an ear issue last year when the was getting a lot of extra chicken based treats while doing obedience training. I think some chicken is OK for him, but too much causes issues. He has been working on a lot of obedience and dog show stuff which involves extra treats. He is on the drops for a week, but his ears are clear already, (just like last year). We also decided to feed him treats that don’t have chicken in them. Of course it could be something totally random. 🙂
Needless to say, we came home with our wallets a bit lighter and a very tired brown dawg.
Two pets down, two more to go for Spring check-ups.
Sounds like a great vet visit and they were nice and healthy which always is nice. Great write up and pictures.
I have to respect how smoothly that visit went…I have enough trouble just taking one 20# dog to the vet…Props to you!
Clearly it was exhausting!!! Lovely blog
Yikes we always leave much poorer too. Sad that chicken is a no-no. Mine was pork but I grew out of it and love ot now. Have a terrific Tuesday.
Best wishes Molly
Nestle really does blend in well with the carrier. Better to remain invisible at the vet!
We keep our crew on heartworm/parasite prevention year round as we do sometimes get winter mosquitoes, and because the feral cats leave lots of parasite ridden nasties in the yard.
A trip to the vet is always exhausting.
I had to go to the vet yesterday, too. I gotted my dew claw wraps changed and the dogtor said I HAD ro wear my cone LIBERALLY cuz I was licking my tutor-site too much. Oh and also, I ate a box of fudge. Oops! I’m fine – I jsut want to gain some weight!
Bye!
-Otto
Mom takes all 4 of us, 2 cats, 2 dogs at the same time for our check ups. It is stressful for her but we all feel better, she only has to remember one appt. each year and we get the multi-pet discount.
I have a 20 year old cat that is old (obviously), skinny and bony. I can’t put any weight on him but he is happy and healthy. I understand about worrying about your cat’s weight though – I think it can be way harder to control than a dog’s.
Isn’t it “fun” bringing them both (or all) together? We also have a cat and they adore each other so it makes the visit far more fun for both of them.
Not sure if you knew, but we have a cat blog as well with some superb cat art being featured there today with a give-away! Be sure to stop by and enter! I didn’t know you have a cat too!
http://opcatchat.blogspot.com/2013/02/cat-artistcartoonist-extraordinaire.htm
Hi Y’all,
Hmmm…why’d you remind me about vet visits…guess I’m in for that when the weather gets nicer in the mountains.
Got a special post for Freighter tomorrow! He’ll LOVE it! I bet even Thunder and Storm will like it!
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka Browndog
Looking forward to it!
One pooped pup! You are getting a big boy Freighter lad!
Slobbers
Glad to hear it was a good trip to the vets! Sorry to hear about Freighter’s ear infection! Glad it’s getting better!
We’ve had trouble with ears when too much chicken slips past the Lab’s lips…silly chickens trying to reek their havoc on retrievers!
There’s nothing like a good nap after a trip to the vet 🙂
It amazes me how such a small deviation in their schedules tires them out so quickly. It’s true, mental stimulation can be just as exhausting as physical. I hope he’s recovered.
You got me thinking… it is about time to start some of the preventative meds. It’s warming up here and the bugs are coming out.