How do you think my dog died?

Question

I had a puppy that died, and it didn't even turn 1 year old yet, that died from skin disease. I watched on the news 3 months after she died, and it said that people sell sick puppies, and have to be arrested for it, but my puppy died 10 months after we got her. When we went to get her, her first shots, the doctor broke two of the needles in the shots in her skin. Do you think it's the docter's fault? or the person that we bought her from, was it her fault? To me it's complicated, because she was sold for a very expensive price, and the news said they sell them at a very cheap price. And also that long to get skin disease? 10 months?And we never let her stay in the sun too long, and even if we did, she would always stay in the shades of our big trees and porch.

She also had 5 skin diseases.

I also saw how the mother was cooped up in the cage, and the breeder had a very dirty garage filled with a hundred chihuahua's (chiwawa)

Answer 1

First of all, if your vet broke needles while giving the dog a shot, he or she is a quack and must have hit bone. Puppy shots should be given under the skin and puppies have plenty of loose neck skin to put these shots under. There is no reason to ever break a needle in an animal no matter how small or large. If the needle tip was left under the skin, there is a chance of infection.

I have a hard time believeing that a vet actually broke a needle in an animal. Are you sure this was a liscensed vet?

Also, puppies need a series of shots, given every 4 weeks starting at 8 weeks old and continuing until 16 weeks. Without all of the shots, your puppy is open to all types of disease.

To know why the dog died would require more information. How do you figure it had "skin disease?"

A lot of dogs get what is called summer itch, where they will scratch and cause sores. It could also be allergies.

It is also possible to get a skin fungus, that if left untreated could turn ugly and the dog would scratch. Mange is common in dogs.

It is also possible that the dog has mites on the skin. Mites are little parasites that are difficult to see and immune to most flea and tick remedies. Mites will cause a dog to itch as well.

None of the above reasons is enough to kill a healthy dog. You probably saw the obvious and missed the real cause of death.

The list of reasons, the dog could have died is endless.

Did it loose weight before death?

Did it seem sleepy or lazy?

Did it stop eating?

Did the dog have worms? (Most wormers you can get at places like Petco and Wal-Mart do not treat all types of worms!)

Did it chew or ingest something it shouldn't have like a shoestring, toy or other item?

If you got the puppy at 3 months from a reputable breeder, it most likely died from other causes. Otherwise, you wouldn't have purchased a puppy that appeared ill.

Was the puppy confined to your house? Several household cleaners and plants (most house plants) are fatal to animals. Outside, there is antifreeze, rat posion, and other dangers.

Answer 2

You saw the condition that the breeding dogs were kept in and you STILL bought a puppy there? Sorry for your loss, but I'd say that the problem is yours. You should have gone to a good, reputable breeder who takes proper care of their animals. The skin disease DEFINITELY did not come from anything the vet did. And dogs don't get skin disease from being in the sun. It was either a genetic condition from someone breeding poor quality dogs or a contagious condition like mange that the pup got from the lousy care of the person who sold it to you. Check your state laws - some have a lemon law that requires people breeding large numbers of dogs to give you a one year health guarantee. Even if you don't, you could always sue the person who sold it to you - but get a REFUND not another puppy from THEM! Unless you had the puppy autopsied, you might have a hard time proving what it died from.

For your next dog, find a good breeder by going to www.akc.org or talking to people at dog shows. You can also find info about the breed clubs on the akc site - they probably have a rescue group where you can get an older dog for less money. The best breeders will be members of their breed club, promoting healthy dogs with great temperaments. They should ask you a bunch of questions to make sure their puppy will be getting a good home. If all a "breeder" seems to care about is whether your check will clear, you can be sure he won't care a week later when the pup is dying from distemper or parvo and you want your money back.

Whatever you do, DON'T go to a pet shop, a flea market or buy one sight-unseen off the Internet!!!! You'll pay top dollar for what is usually a poor quality puppy mill dog. And you'll be supporting one of the cruelest industries in the country. The breeding animals are often kept in deplorable conditions - spending their entire lives in small wire-bottomed cages. They probably haven't been vaccinated against contagious diseases or tested for any health or temperament problems or genetic diseases - that costs money and cuts into their profits. A female is often bred every time she comes into heat. When her poor little body can't take it any more, she is often clubbed in the head and tossed into a dumpster or an open ditch. Most puppy mills ship their pups to pet stores at wholesale prices and many pups die before they even get there.

These so-called "breeders" have now figured out that they can use the internet to ship a dog directly to the customer and thus make more money by cutting out the middleman. If you buy a dog from out of state, good luck getting your money back if there's something wrong with the pup. These people count on you becoming instantly attached to the poor little guy and being willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars at the vet to treat whatever is wrong with him.

Answer 3

You know what, all animals die some time or the other, it could have died from any illness, does not mean just because the needle broke off in the skin that it was the vets fault because the pup died. It could have been that it was riddled with this disease even before you got the pup. I would say the blame lays by you for not having the dog checked over when you bought it. The next time you buy a puppy insist that you get papers and make sure it has had its shots, then you won't lose another.

Answer 4

I am sorry to hear about your puppy, as for the skin disease, well, she may have been born with it and there were no signs, as for people selling puppies cheap and sick, this does happen everywhere, they are called puppy mills and the best place to buy one is from a reputable breeder. As for the needles and the doctor, I would hope that he was smart enough to get the needles out of your puppy when they broke and not leave them in there. I do want to say something that many people don't know about, and that is stuff that you use to clean your floors (swiffer for one) has a chemical in it that is very dangerous to animals, if you wash your floors with one of these kinds of items and then the dog licks the floor, to pick up food off the floor or spilled water etc they can get this chemical in their system and it could kill them. Please be very careful with what you use to clean your floor. Did a reputable doctor tell you the puppy died of skin disease? if so, than they should be able to tell you how this may have happened. I hope this helps and my sympathys with you .

Answer 5

There are many people who overbreed puppies for the money they can make. The parents are kept in crowded cages and never allowed out and are bred over and over again. Naturally their puppies although cute are not of healthy stock. These "puppy mill"people do make a lot of money and cause a lot of grief like you are feeling. I am sorry about your puppy and I would say that it probably wasn't any one thing that killed your dog but probably this practice of overbreeding for a profit. The next time you want a dog answer an ad in the paper where you can go to someone's home and actually see where the puppies were born and you can see the mother and brothers and sisters. Please don't give up on having a pet. They add so much to your life. Hopefully someday all the puppy mills will be closed down.

Answer 6

If you knew the conditions the parents were in, why would you promote it by buying a puppy from there? The needles breaking off at the vet has nothing to do with the DR. it has to do with the condition of the skin (I'm guessing one of the diseases was mange) I haven't heard of a skin disease that causes death so my guess would be an internal problem, maybe a heart defect or even heart-worm, maybe kidney or liver problems. It is impossible to tell without having a necropsy though. Sorry to hear about it

Answer 7

Sorry about your loss. I don't like to get dogs from puppy mills. They have too many problems and diseases, and it is hard to says. Some times those things just happen. She could have had allergy's. There are too many dogs and cats in the local shelters. They also get pure breeds in. There is also rescue organizations that rescue one breed. You can go on-line at whatever breed rescue and a list will come up. It is a lot cheaper than buying a dog from a breeder and you will feel good about giving a dog that needs a good home a home

Answer 8

First of all as a Breeder I would never sell a sick little pup to any one. Second if the vet broke the 2 needles of in his or her skin u needed to stop him right then and take him or her to another vet! It sounds if the vet didnt know what the hell he or she was doing. I dont see a skin condtion killing your K-9, unless you let it get way out of hand. Than that would be your falt.. But no its not the breeders falt. After purchase of the K-9 did you take it to the vet for a check up on its condtion. And if it was good than its ither your falt or the vets. One of the 2 killed that pup.

Answer 9

I'm sorry that you have gone through this. I would have found another vet after the first needle broke.
The labels on the vaccines state that only healthy dogs should be vaccinated. Vets tend to ignore that and vaccinate anyway. Don't know if this was the case with your or not.
Vaccines can cause skin and allergy problems in some dogs. Some can just die after the vaccines
Read the Wisconsin University weblinks
http://svmweb.vetmed.wisc.edu/articles/68/5/39
http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/8413.html

Answer 10

Pure bread dogs often have health issues! If the dog lived 10 months it was not the Dr's or the breeders fault, it was a disease that plagues pure bread dogs! I had a westy (west highland white terrier) as a child that had a skin disease and she only lived just short of two years!