Hi, I've had a terrible situation.

I purchased a puppy from a kennel that appear to be o.k. at first. The puppy started having trouble immediately. I noticed blood in his feces. I took him to the vet and they wormed him. Concern level was not high at this point. The next day he started to vomit all his food up and have watery stool. I took him to the emergency hospital in the middle of the night. THey gave him fluids and put him on antibiotics. The next day he seemed a bit better. I thought he was going to recover. The next day he declined. He became lethargic...only sat in his bed. I took him back to the vet. They held him a few hours, gave him fluids again, and changed him to a high calorie diet. By this time he is losing weight. The following day...back to the vet. They held him all day, gave him a shot of antibiotics, fluids, and sent him home. The next day, back to the vet. This time his breathing has become extremely labored. They refer him to a specialist immediately for tests. I drive him an hour to get to the specialist in internal medicine. The costs just to diagnose his illness exceed $650 American dollars. He needs immediate attention. The doctor feels that he could die in the next 10-20 minutes and that prognosis is not good. So to stop his distress, I have him euthanized. This is day seven of my ownership of the puppy.

The breeder and I have been fighting "like cats and dogs" over the expenses. On top of the cost of the dog last week, I have put an additional $500. into trying to turn him around. Everyday was and emergency in need of expert medical attention.

His diagnoses included: severe roundworm infestation (very severe..I saw them all...4 inches long tangled together), ascarids tracheobronchitis, tracheobronchitis, and aspiration pneumonia. I don't know what else was wrong. There seems to be some indication that he had other problems. His abdomen was extremely sensitive. I have his corpse and am considering a post mortem evaluation.

The breeder is admitting to no liability. She has been heartless in this situation. She won't even turn her fax machine on and look at the medical records.

Emotionally I am beside myself. I have been drug through the mud.

The sad thing is that I did my "homework." I researched breeds and breeders. I interviewed the lady. She answered everything to my satisfaction. The place was clean. She told me that the animals were "socialized" every day. They were supposively up to date on worming and shots. She said to call her anytime. There was a gurantee of health for 10 days (shorter than desired but within the guidelines of our state laws). She is a Pennsylvania State Liscensed Breeder. She has 16 years experience, 7 years with Cockapoos.

I don't know what recourse I have concerning the expenses involved. At least, I love to warn people against using her, report her to the SPCA, or the Attorney General.

Any suggestions?

Sincerely, Heartbroken

What a terrible thing to happen :( By the sounds of things you could take legal action to recover your costs as the puppy came with a health guarantee but you really need to talk to an animal specialist to be certain.

If I were you I'd have to autopsy done so that you can be absolutely certain of all your facts before you take any action.

love and hugs,

Fiona
x x x

Hi Guest, first of all ...you can always Register with us then you can reply to any posts :)

Secondly , if your pup was guaranteed for 10 days and you had to have it PTS on the 7th day ...and you have the Vets back up , you should have NO problem claiming from the breeder.You may , however , need legal backup rather than trying on your own

Melody

This is a very sad story. Sadly there is no such breed as a Cockerpoo - it is a cross between a Poodle and a Cocker Spaniel. They are what we call a "designer dog". Reputable breeders of either Cockers or poodles would not deliberately cross them. As for what recourse you have - as you are I gather in the USA then the law will be different to ours - but I would have thought you would have a sale of goods act that allowed you recourse through the small claims court if you have been sold something that differed to the description of what you had been sold. It seems the main evidence you have is that the puppy was full of worms and you had been told it had been wormed. Do you have it in writing though? You need to speak to someone with legal training from the USA - do you have a legal helpline or something similar that you could use?

As for the future - please don't look for any type of cross-breed. Look for a pure-breed that meets your needs and research the breeder carefully. For example - telling you the puppies are socialized is not enough - you need to see that they have been and you can tell that from the environment they are in.

I am so sorry for what yuo have been through - no puppy deserves that.

Good luck for the future.

Pam n the boys

God what a horrible story, guest I am so sorry for you. This breeder should be reported and have her licence removed, if she has one at all that is, her behaviour is disgusting.
As for the pup being a cross breed, this could easily happen with a pedigree dog too, just because the pup was a cross does not mean it should be expected to come with problems, in fact I have heard it said that cross breeds and mongrels are healthier than many pedigrees.
Guest you must be in despair and not knowing who to trust now, I hope you get this resolved - what about going to the newspapers about it -n that way you can also expose her for the awful person she is.

Poor puppy
:(
The more i read of cross breeds the more I realise the importance of health checks , good breeding , pedigree etc
Why on earth does anyone buy these strangely named dogs in the first place though?
I just hope that any guests reading realise the importance of GOOD breeding
Lel

<<<I don't know what recourse I have concerning the expenses involved.>>>

Look up 'Puppy Lemon Laws' for your state, I think you'll find that you do have recourse against this 'breeder'!
Worms so severe in a young pup can be a killer. In this day and age, with wormers being so inexpensive, there is just no excuse for that, whatever the breed!
So sorry for your loss :(