It hurts me to have to give shots to Oscar. It’s a good thing I don’t have small children now. I have mixed feelings about all the vaccines babies and children get these days and it seems like there more shots of Oscar than there were for Speck when he was a puppy almost 20 years ago. Some of the vaccines (lepto) are scary and the Bordetella vaccine caused him a good bit of pain for about 24 hours. We talked with the vet today and she decided not to give him another Bordetella booster. He got his rabies vaccine and something else today but the vet had asked me to give him 1/4 Benadryl 2 hours before his appointment so I did that so we’re hoping for no reactions today.
Between the vaccines and the Benadryl, he’s a sleepy boy. He didn’t even want to jump up in my chair with me – he’s happy to sleep on the floor by my feet and I’m happy too. I’m always afraid after a vaccine that I’m going to pick him up or move him and he’ll squeal because I touch a tender spot.
He weighed almost 5 pounds when we got him and he now weighs 9 pounds. I told the vet he’s a mini and she thinks he’ll get up to about 12 pounds. The vet had recommended keeping food out for him all the time til he was four months old. Now it’s time to feed him twice a day. I’ll have to check the bag but I think we can give him about 3/4 cup in the morning and 3/4 cup in the evening. It may be 1/2 cup each time. I’ll probably start with 1/2 cup and see if he still seems hungry. The vet said to give him at least 1/3 cup but to follow the instructions on the bag. I once told Speck’s vet that he’s always hungry and the vet said “Of course he is. He’s a hound!” So, I can’t let Oscar be the one who decides how much he’s going to eat or we’ll have an overweight dachshund.
I’ll be glad when his Benadryl and shots have worn off and he’s back to his energetic, destructive little self.
At least he doesn’t have to go back for a year except for neutering. Ouch! I don’t even want to think about that but . . it’s going to happen.
Nancy H says
I hated giving our cat shots. She always had bad reactions. We finally just stopped giving her the rabies shots as the reactions just kept getting worse and worse. She was an indoor kitty and never outside.
Patty McDonald says
He is a beautiful boy! Our girl is a standard and weights 24lb. We had her spayed at 14 months and she did just fine. She did act like a baby for the first couple days. We bought a soft collar off amazon instead of using the plastic cone. She didn’t seem to even notice she had the collar around her neck. It was around $15 and I think the vet was going to charge $10 for the cone…so not much difference,. I’d send it to you but we donated it to our vet. Not something we’ll use again. I enjoy seeing pictures of your new baby.