A Visit to the Vet

Today was our first car ride and it was off to the Veterinary we went.  The pups were so good going into their crate as they were hoping for some play time outside. Darn!! Into the truck and away we went.

The first few miles the pups were unsettled and whiny, however after the first couple kilometers they all settled down for a nap. We went to see Dr Higgins at the Cedarwood Veterinary Clinic in Red Deer, just one of the very excellent vets we have in our area. I find Dr Higgins to be very thorough in his puppy examinations and like him to see the pups at least once before they go to their new homes.

The vet weighed each pup and recorded the following:

	Birth Wt	8 wks          + 1 day	% of Gain
Milo	272	2460	804%
Nalu	193	1540	698%
Chika	253	2000	691%
Amiga	224	1840	721%
Ahi	271	2200	712%

So today the puppies received their first vaccination for distemper/parvo and they were all micro-chipped.

Nalu was the first examined by Dr Higgins

 Nalu squirmed and fussed during much of the exam except when her temperature was taken. When Dr Higgins took her to implant the microchip, I heard her cry. Poor little darling....  I have no worries that this lovely little girl won't be a stunning, happy and well-rounded adult...once she's no longer mauled by her siblings...hehe

Amiga was very well behaved.

Amiga didn't fuss at all during any part of the exam and when Dr Higgins came back from implanting the microchip commented on how good she was with very little flinching. Good girl Aminga.

Chika was next up for her exam.

Chika was also a very good girl with no fussing during her examination and very little response to the implant.
Continuing bringing the puppies to Dr Higgins from smallest to largest meant the next puppy up was Ahi who was BY FAR the best behaved puppy of all. When Dr Higgins came back from implanting Ahi he said the pup didn't even flinch! Good boy Ahi!!

Ahi doesn't mind the thorough checking

 Milo was the last pup to be examined. Like Nalu he squirmed while having Dr Higgins using the bright light to check each eye. He was pretty good for the rest of the exam but during the implant yelped the loudest of all! Looks like poor Milo has inherited the 'woosie' gene....hehe

Listening to Milo's heart

It was a quiet trip home but it wasn't long before they all wanted outside to play in the grass and on the equipment.

Overall, Dr Higgins was very happy with each puppy. He checked the internal organs, found no hernia's or other problems. Each of the boys have all their male parts. Eyes, ears and nose are good. Dr Higgins also checked the Patella's and was very pleased that all the pups have excellent joints unlike other small breeds who struggle with half the litters having patella problems.

Dr Higgins also examined each pups teeth alignment and bites. Ahi has an excellent mouth while the other pups are all in various stages of jaw development and different degrees of base narrow. This is common with pups and not a concern as the top jaw develops independent from the bottom jaw as well as each quadrant develops individually. We believe that if the only item we are to watch is the normal growth of the jaws, then we are very proud of our breeding program.

I'm certain our families are looking forward to bringing home their special pup from Seda Havanese.