Dog Community

Dog refuses injections

Posted : 8/5/2012 10:22:24 AM

Hello everybody - I'm faced with a difficult problem and hope someone can give me some advice.

First some background: I've lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for the past 14 years and must now return to the US. Over the years I have rescued many, many dogs and cats from the streets. I have found homes for many of them with various pet adoption societies, but I now have eight dogs and four cats and for personal reasons can return to the US with a maximum of 5 dogs (my family members told me 2 max, but I'm going to cheat).

The pet adoption lady I'm working with at the moment (Marleth) has offered to take 3 dogs even though she hasn't yet found people willing to adopt them. So it will be a huge burden on her. But one dog (Alfo) has a serious issue.

Alfo is a medium sized poodle mix, about 3 years old and was neutered. He was on the streets for months, was starving and had a severe case of mange. He's been with me for about a year. He's a feisty fellow but very good around people and other dogs. A week ago I took him to the vet for a rabies shot and grooming. The vet managed to give him his rabies shot but when we tried to take him to the back for grooming, he refused to go along (he had been neutered there a few months earlier). The vet ended up having people hold him down while she gave him a sedative injection and was then able to cut his hair.

I need to tell Marleth about this issue. If Alfo has to be sedated every time he needs a shot or haircut and several people need to wrestle him down each time, it doesn't seem likely she'll find a home for him. Now I'm wondering if there's a solution other than euthanization. Could he be given a sedative in the form of a pill just before he needs treatment?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Kim (I'm a guy)

griffinej5

Posted : 8/5/2012 11:11:14 AM

I unfortunately don't have the time to type out a response to help describe how you could teach him to accept treatment, but it can be done. There are many people here on the forum who could probably help you out with that. I'll try to do that later tonight.

I can't imagine how tough it must be to decide who stays and who goes. However, for the moment, since you are only able to bring a limited number of dogs, is it possible that between you and the person who is helping to find homes for those who can't come with, that you could sit down and determine those which would be easiest to find homes for? If someone else would be more easily adoptable, perhaps you should leave that dog behind rather than this one. It is possible to teach the dog to be okay about going to the vet, but it may not be possible to do it in the amount of time you have available.

JackieG

Posted : 8/5/2012 11:43:01 AM

I agree that he can be reconditioned to not be so fearful at the vet but that will take a lot of time and effort that your rescue friend probably doesn't have available. I'd condition him to wear a muzzle and make sure anyone who adopts him knows to put it on him before he has to be taken to the vet. The article linked below will help and the conditioning shouldn't take too long.

A proper fitting basket muzzle it was you want, not one of those velcro type the vets use. You usually have to order them online. You can get them from Leerburg and they have a guideline on how to measure the dog for a proper fit.

http://drsophiayin.com/resources/newsletters/newsletter-vol-2-spring-2011

Kim Metzger

Posted : 8/5/2012 2:02:23 PM

Thank you, Jen and Jackie. I expect to be returning to the US in a month or so. There won't be enough time for conditioning. The muzzle idea sounds great. I think Alfo should also be given a sedative in his food before going to the vet. That worked fine with a nervous cat I had.

The three dogs I selected for adoption are the most recent dogs rescued, the ones I love but am not attached to as much as the others that I've had for many years. One of the three dogs is 10 years old and blind in one eye. He has a cataract in the other eye. He may have to be humanly euthanized.

griffinej5

Posted : 8/6/2012 4:29:35 PM

kmetzger
Thank you, Jen and Jackie. I expect to be returning to the US in a month or so. There won't be enough time for conditioning. The muzzle idea sounds great. I think Alfo should also be given a sedative in his food before going to the vet. That worked fine with a nervous cat I had.

The three dogs I selected for adoption are the most recent dogs rescued, the ones I love but am not attached to as much as the others that I've had for many years. One of the three dogs is 10 years old and blind in one eye. He has a cataract in the other eye. He may have to be humanly euthanized.

Kim, I agree, you probably don't have time to condition him to be okay with the vet, but you should be able to get him to wear a muzzle. I don't know what types of sedatives they can use for that. I did have a dog who had to be muzzled and sedated to receive injections for some time. I honestly don't know exactly what they gave him, because the time I had to do it, I dropped him off in the morning and they gave him the sedative.