Got sick puppy from breeder, HELP!

We just received a 7 week old female boxer from what we thought was a great breeder. She was vet checked (received 1st shots, and last de-worming) the morning we got her. When we picked her up she was skin and bones. Unfortunately we were so excited to finally get her that we didn't say anything. The rest of that day she wouldn't eat or drink, same for the next day, finally we took her to our vet and he diagnosed her with a horrible parasite that eats away the intestinal lining. Well at first the breeder said they would pay for the vet bills, then they retracted. She has now been at the vet for the last 3.5 days hooked up to an I.V. What can we do?

 

I'm so sorry about your puppy. Did your breeder sign a health guarantee? All good breeders will with variations on the type of health problems. A bad breeder will not guarantee health. I'm curious that the boxer was vet checked and still sold to you in that condition. Did you see the paper work or talk to that vet? Bottom line - without a health guarantee or something written about a money back return I doubt you can do much except maybe in small claims court.

 

Did the vet say it was Parvo? Because that is what Parvo is and if so, you have a serious road ahead of you. Alot of people on this site have dogs(including myself) that are Parvo survivors. I could not afford to check my dog into the vets for that long (sometimes it can be up to 2 weeks) so I had to nurse him through myself at home (including the IV's). This is a terrible, deadly virus.

Did you have a written contract or bill of sale from the breeder?

 

Any Good and reputable breeder would have given you the vet papers, and vaccination records, along with a contract. The contract should include a health gaurentee (genetic, and heredity) and the conditions as to owning the puppy.

Your first mistake was not inquiring as to why the puppy was so skinny when you went to get her. That should have been a BIG flag for you. Apparently they are BYB and in it for the sole purpose of the money. If you did not sign a health guarentee, then you can probably file an animal neglect case against them. If you can prove it effected the litter.

As far as getting them to pay for the vet bills, sounds to me like your outta luck their. You can attemp to get them to pay it by bombarding them with phone calls, and trying to use a guilt trip on them....but I don't know.

 

first I'd find out how old your state says a puppy is to be before it can be sold (most states it's 8 weeks old) and go from there. You might be able to get them into trouble just by them violating that law if your state has one.

If you have any kind of health guarantee I'd be calling a lawyer. Isn't it hookworms that live in the intestinatl lining?

 

Thanks all! Her actual diagnosis is Coccidiosis. They gave us the booklet of Pedigree, registration papers, and the vaccination records for that one day, nothing else from the vet. She was 7 lbs when we got her, I'm not sure if that is a normal weight for a 7 week old puppy????? We do have the bill of sale, and I have every email correspondence from them where they admit to introducing a new puppy to their home when the pups were about 2 weeks old, and they admitted she was the carrier of this parasite. Can I take any action against them via the AKC since they advertise selling AKC registered boxers????

 

The wormings should have taken care of that. You say she supposedly got her "last" worming before you picked her up from the breeder? Do the papers say when she was wormed and what they used?

 

Ok. You should have gotten a vaccination packet. With ALL the health papers in it. Including all the vaccinations and wormings.
Large breed puppies should have their first set of shots at 4 weeks, wormed at 5, then again at 6 weeks and then again at 10 weeks....From then on they should be wormed monthly....The pup should have had two rounds of shots, including Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Canine hepatitis, Bordertella, Distemper. The worming should have come from the vet. It should have been a chalky yellow liquid....or interceptor.

Sounds to me like you got a BYB....I hate to hear that. But filing a civil lawsuit might help you get some of your money...

 

Ok, the booklet that she came with has 2 little stickers, looks like something from a vile of medicine, that read Sterile Diluent, and Galaxy DA2PPvL. The shots that are check marked on her chart say disptemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, and these are the only shots marked at 7 weeks, there is nothing previous. The breeder said this was her 1st set of shots and her last de-worming. Would their vet give my vet all records on her if I called them? My vet just called and we can pick her up today to the tune of $411. Although we still have to feed her via syringe. This hurts on top of what we actually paid for her! I guess we did get a BYB. I thought we researched her as well as we could. Lesson learned. I guess we'll go to small claims now. Thanks again. I'm so glad I found this site!

 

Seven pounds is pretty tiny for a 7 week old Boxer. I ran into the same situation, although I should have known much better after seeing this all the time when I worked as a vet tech. I bought a Boxer pup from BYBs. She wasn't registered, but I didn't care, as I only wanted a pet. She was also skin and bones. I vaccinated and dewormed her myself, but I have the knowledge to do this. Most people don't unless they have worked with a vet. I was very lucky that she pulled through it just fine. Boxer pups tend to be rather fragile.

A pup should receive a first DHPP at the age of 6-8 weeks, and a booster every three weeks after that UNTIL THE PUP IS 4 MONTHS OLD. This is very important. Sometimes this means giving a total of 4-5 vaccines. Two is NOT ENOUGH unless the pup is older. If you stop the boosters too soon, the pup might run out of immunity and get sick. A lot of people don't give vaccines up to 16 weeks (4 months) because they are unaware of this. Coccidea is a one cell protozoa, and can make pups very sick, as you found out. They require a broad spectrum deworming agent. Most pups can be turned around, and I think your vet must be doing a good job, since they did hospitalize her. Don't despair - with any luck she'll get through this. Whatever else you do (I don't know what advice to give you since it sounds like you didn't get a guarantee from the breeder), make sure you at least get a letter from the vet about the pup's condition and send a copy to the breeder. I doubt they will change their ways, but at least you tried to help any future pups that they may breed.

 

This thread has some good info on how to find a good breeder: http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3846