Tag Archives: choose

Choosing your puppy – top ten tips

Leave a reply

Choosing your puppy from a large litter of cute pups can be difficult-

miniature schnauzer puppies

My top ten tips are as follows

  1. Make sure that the puppy is lively and responds to your stimulation.
  2. The puppy should have clean bright eyes, clean nose and a clean coat, without excessive scabs or scaling. There may be occasional scabs around the head or neck which can be caused by rough play with littermates which is fine.
  3. The puppy should be eating solid foods well  and generally be more than 6 weeks old.
  4. Ask to see the mother and if possible the father of the pup. This will give you a good guide of the temperament of the parents which is likely to be passed to the pups. It will also give you a guide to the adult appearance and size of your puppy.
  5. If a pedigree puppy, ask if there are any screeening schemes that the parents have been through. These may include hip scoring for hip dysplasia (lower score is better, but there is an average score for each breed -generally less than 20), elbow scoring for elbow dysplasia (possible score is 0-3 where 0 is normal and 3 is severly affected), eye testing for genetic eye diseases (categorised as affected or unaffected) . If they have been screened ask to see a copy of the screening results. If you are unsure how to interpret these, make a note of them and speak to your local vet. Further information is available at http://www.bva.co.uk/canine_health_schemes/Canine_Health_Schemes.aspx
  6. Ask when the puppy was treated for worms. They should generally be treated from the weaning age at around 4 weeks of age, and then every 2 weeks. All pups will be born with some worms and so will require treatment, often with  a liquid wormer such as Panacur to start with . It is a good sign of a caring and responsible breeder if they have been regularly worming the pups.
  7. Try to see where the puppies and mother are actually kept. If they are kept in a dirty barn with many  other different breeds of puppies, there is an increased risk of transference of diseases between the pups. The commonly seen diseases include skin problems such as mange, gastrointestinal diseases such as parvovirus, and giardia, and respiratory diseases such as kennel cough. Look for excessive scratching of the puppy, diarrhoea, or coughing which can be a sign of disease.
  8. Look in the mouth to check the jaw is not overshot or undershot (ie that both upper and lower jaws are the same length and meet normally). This cannot be corrected surgically, but is usually only of cosmetic consequences.
  9. Feel the belly to check for sign of umbilical hernia , which is a soft fatty swelling under the skin in the middle of the belly, in  the region of the umbilical cord. This is caused if the  hole that the umbilical cord came through does not close completely after birth, leaving a small hole that fat from inside the belly can pass through. If present this may require surgical correction at a later stage.
  10. If the puppy is male you may want to check the scrotum for 2 testicles. The testicles normally descend shortly after birth, and are normally visible in the scrotal sac when a puppy is bought at 6-8 weeks of age. If there is only one testicle present, it is possible still that the other testicle will descend a little later, but not guaranteed. If the testicle(s) has not descended by 6 months of age, this is called cryptorchid and your vet will usually recommend that the dog is castrated, to reduce the chances of testicular cancer developing in later life.

Choosing your kitten – top ten tips

Leave a reply

Choosing your kitten can be difficult when presented with  multiple  cute little ones to pick from.  Below are my top ten tips:

  1. Look for one with bright clean eyes, a clean nose and one that is lively. Runny eyes or frequent sneezing can be a sign of infection with cat flu viruses, which can be a persistent problem.
  2. If colour is an issue remember that tortoiseshell coloured domestic short hairs (“moggies”) which are always female, can be very feisty in nature.
  3. Sexing kittens can be tricky if you are not practiced at it. You may want to double check the sex yourself rather than just relying on the owner’s information, or have it checked by your local vet.  When looking under the tail, there is always a bigger gap between the anal ring and penis, than there is between the anal ring and the vulva. It can help to look at a few kittens hopefully of different sex to see the difference.
  4. The kitten should be at least 6 weeks old and should be fully weaned and eating solid foods.
  5. Feel the belly to check for an umbilical hernia. This is a soft fatty swelling under the skin in the middle of the belly and occurs when the hole that the umbilical cord passes through does not close fully at birth. This can allow a small amount of fat to pass through from the abdomen, and if present may need surgical correction at a later date.
  6. Check the coat for fleas or flea droppings. Flea droppings may be easier to spot and look like specks of dirt in the coat,  which if put on damp white tissue paper leave a red stain as they contain traces of blood. Very young kittens heavily infested with fleas can become anaemic, although in most cases a few fleas can be easily treated with a spot on treatment from your local vet.
  7. Check when the kitten was last wormed. Kittens should be wormed when weaned at about 4 weeks of age and then every 2 weeks until 10 weeks of age, often with a liquid wormer such as Panacur. All kittens will be born with some worms, and so will require treatment to eliminate them.
  8. Pedigree kittens can be at higher risk of genetic diseases, although most are usually perfectly healthy.  Some cats may be screened before breeding, to reduce the risk of passing these diseases to the kittens.  Current screening schemes include heart disease (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is prevalent in maine coon and rag doll cats), or kidney disease (polycystic kidney disease is prevalent in persians and exotic shorthairs). Further information can be found here http://www.fabcats.org/breeders/registers.php
  9. You may want to see the mum and if possible the dad to give you an idea of temperament and size when adult, although there can be a great deal of variation even within a litter, especially of domestic short hairs  (common “moggies”). This may be more useful with pedigree cats which have less variation.
  10. Check the hair coat of the kitten.  Most cats are short haired, but some may be long haired (even in the same litter of “moggies”)  and they may need more grooming and be more prone to developing matted fur.