My previous pup died during his neutering operation at 7 months old. The vet concluded that although he appeared very healthy, he may have had congenital heart disease, an anuerysm or a stroke.

I need to know if there are any ways to detect any of these problems in a pup?
My new pup will have been seen by a vet on 4 occassions by the time he comes to live with me. I will also be taking him to my own vet to be microchipped as soon as we bring him home. But is there anything I should be looking out for?

In hindsight, I know my previous puppy drank so much water. Even uf I filled his bowl up 4 times in a row, he would drink every last drop of water!
Another thing I maybe should have been worried about was how long he would pant for after a run. I never did mention either of these to the vet though as I wasn't sure what was normal.

So, any advice would be hugely welcomed

It really is unlikely to happen to you again, if does sound as if your previous pup may have had some sort of kidney problem. Only thing I would say apart from enjoy your new puppy is leave the neutering until he is fully grown.

i agree with nova, vets are far too quick to want to neuter!! My little one had her first vacs on tuesday and that is all he went on about was bringing her in for neutering i thinks its awful, just another way of getting money!! also got charged £32.00 for a fortnights course of piriton for my 22 month old boy couldnt beleive it!  Does anyone know if i can give hem piriton from tesco costs £4.00 for double the lenth of treatment "scandalous" and of course good luck with your new pup! x

In reply to Todd - yes you can give a dog Piriton from the chemist (it must be Piriton and not similar sounding products). BUT you must check with your vet what the suitable dose is for the dog you have.

With a dog I had previously my vet actually told me it was cheaper to get Piriton from the chemists and I was given the appropriate dose for my breed of dog. I use to buy Priton when it was 3 for the price of 2 at Boots.

Ailsa

Yes, any antihistamine tables will be fine go for the original not the non-drowsy type, boots do their own that are a good price and they will tell you if the produce is the same ingredient as the piriton.

I will not be getting this dog neutered at all. I will not hesitate to tell the vet what happened to my previous pup that he neutered. I'd prefer him not to mention neutering but know he will. I don't even want to go back there, as I will feel very emotional knowing that's where my puppy died.

It's close to our house though and I have been past they several times since it happened. I don't feel it's something they did wrong to cause his death, but even so, it's going to be difficult. 

Our vet doesn't hound anybody into having males neutered, unless it needs doing for medical or agression problems.  Bitches are different, and he will happily spay a bitch after her 1st season so I wouldn't worry about having him neutered either.  Save your pennies and it will be alot less worry for you :)

I'm sure too that your new pup will be fine. 

Todd just to let you know that the ingredients for Piriton differ from other branded anti-histamine tablets. I found out on here that Sainsbury's own, from behind the counter have the same ingredients for a fraction of the price.

If this is an only dog, why would you want to have him neutered?  I cannot understand the reasoning behind having every male (even in a home on its own) castrated.  I do think the reasons for the Vets recommendation to have this carried out is based on the financial gain for them (the Vet).  I have had entire males and females living together for years.  Yes, you need to be on your toes but the routine castrating of males is one thing I hate.  Just my opinion :-)

Sadly, I went on the advice given. I was told it would calm him down, stop him mounting my children, reduce the risk on him roaming and elimate all risk of testicular cancer and any prostate problems.

Time to worry about that when he is adult when in most cases he will have stopped such behaviour anyway. Testicular cancer, well yes, of course, you can't have cancer in testis that went in the bin long ago but prostate is a different matter as one of the worse forms of cancer in this organ is more common in the castrated than the intact although it is very rare anyway and not really a good reason to castrate. Think the myth has grown up about the prostate because an enlarged one is often treated and helped by removing the testis but they are not the cause of the problem just a way of helping it to reduce in size.

Everyone said how rare it was for our pup to die the way he did. But that didn't help me or my heart broken children accept our loss.
I reckon once he is here with us, we will (hopefully) stop worrying and just enjoy having him. I don't want to be neurotic but chances are, he will be visiting the vet quite a lot!

Thank you for your replies, helps me acknowledge that things should be fine. I will no doubt be posting a lot of questions when we get him even though I have had dogs my whole life!

Mobes, I believe that you pup would have died anyway in the end at a young age, it may well have meant months of suffering for you and the pup whilst the vets tried many things to save him. His water drinking habits suggest that there was something very wrong anyway and is untimely death may well have saved you all lots of pain and distress.

I do believe he was going to die young due to whatever it was that caused him to die. As much as it hurt us, I am relieved he died at the vets as I know for certain that could he have been saved, he would have been saved. The vet massaged his heart and gave him some adrenaline as soon as his heart stopped but neither of these restarted his heart. Had it happened while he was with us, we wouldn't have known what to do and he would have died and left us with the huge feeling of guilt at not being able to save him.

I am still very sad that his breeder did not even acknowledge the fact that he died. I can safely say I would never purchase another dog from them. Lets hope the pup that they kept does not have the same problem as my puppy had or least I hope that they get him checked out asap.

I wonder how much water a puppy should drink?
My old pup would even jump in the bath after we emptied it to lick the remains of the water in the bath. We put it down to habit rather than a sign of something being wrong. His water bowl was forever empty as he drank everything we put down for him!

It is hard to know if it is your first dog what is normal and what is not and it does differ with breeds. When I had Cocker and GSD they would lap water for a short while but quite frequently whereas my Elkhounds drink a good deal at one go but do not return to the bucket very often. Licking round a bath or at your wet legs is normal but forever empting the water bowl is not.

Relax and enjoy your puppy.

Hi mobes, if you feel there are trust issues between you and your vet, isn't it worth trying to find someone else to see your new puppy?

Difficult as it is given your past experience, you must try to relax as much as you can and enjoy your puppy just as he is, otherwise he will soon pick up on your tenseness and react to it. Take him to socialisation class, teach him to be a happy outgoing little chap--you'll meet other owners you can swap notes with.

I've not been here for a while, but I am here now!
My puppy is now 4 months old, he has been with us for 7 weeks and is just so lovely. A bit of a handful (well he is a springer puppy) but he is lovely. I did change vets, when it came down to it, I just couldn't go back to where my other puppy died.

I am pretty relaxed with my new pup, I don't constantly worry he will die but I did have a couple of scares with him recently. The first one was when he got stung by a wasp on his face. I did a google search as the vets was shut and the first link I clicked on advised vet asap as dogs can die from wasp stings. Well, we all freaked out and luckily a friend has a vet friend. So while she got on to him, I used my human first aid training to treat my puppy. All turned out fine, he didn't need to be seen by a vet and he made a quick and full recovery. Even if he did cry for an hour and had a huge lip for a while.

My second scare was when he caught kennel cough. Again, I knew that was relatively common but I read that it can develop into pneumonia so got scared for the 2nd time. I was really scared about taking him to the vet so I got my husband to come with me. 7 days of antibiotics soon cleared his cough up and he is fine now.

I don't want any more scares, thats enough for me thank you very much :)

Hi Mobes... I'm not sure what you are saying, but did you get a pup that died soon after?
If so then I can't really comprehend how awful that must have been...

If you have had good advice since and got your second from a different breeder, preferably one you have researched a bit and can trust, then there is no reason why it will happen again. Sounds a nightmare scenario but not all dog breeders are bad or uncaring, many best wishes and good luck with your new one - if she or he has come from someome who does all tests and takes great care then I am sure you will be ok :)

Hi MsTemeraire,
I got my previous puppy from what I believed to be a breeder.
He was 7 1/2weeks old and adorable.
He had vaccinations and was microchipped and wormed and everything seemed fine.
I made the decision to get him neutered at 7 months old which proved to be the biggest mistake of my life as he died during the operation. The vet suspected a heart condition even though nothing was detected beforehand. I did write to the breeder to inform them just incase it was hereditary, but I never did hear anything back from them. I know one of the litter died at 2-3 weeks old. They said the mum had squashed it.

I felt I needed another puppy and having done much searching and after dismissing several litters, we located a wonderful breeder on champdogs. Health testing had been carried out and both parents are kc registered. We did a round trip of 100 miles to meet our pup, then we returned several weeks later to collect him.

My previous puppy would have been 1 today (14th Oct)
R.I.P my darling Moby xxx

RIP Moby

Hopefully your new pup brings you much joy.
Best of luck with him, and try not to worry, not too much at any rate, just a little concern means you care. :)