Saved a dog from the streets. Now what?

[Moochie]

Mother and I found a sweet little chihuahua wandering around a few weeks ago. Technically I found her since I spotted her. >_>
She was super thin, so we got her to the point where no more bones were showing within 2 weeks. Mom found out her background aswell. Her name is Uno, and was abandoned by her original owners. They left over a month ago too. Poor Uno

She's an old lady, maybe 8 or 9 years old. Uno is spayed.

What should we do concerning vaccinations/de-wormers? I've asked my parents and they said they'll take her into the vet in December, when my doxie has to go. Should we go sooner?

Also she isn't taking an intrest in the dog food we give our other dogs. She sniffs it and ignores it. I've been cooking and chopping up meat and cooked veggies for her for the time being, she eats that with gusto.
But I'd like her to eat the dog food, my other dogs are getting extremely jealous about Uno eating "fancy" food. Any ideas?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

While it might be a good idea to have a new dog in for a "check up", I wouldn't venture to tell you what you "should" do.

With regard to the food, I wonder if you slowly mixed the regular dog food in with the "fancy" stuff, if she would start to get used to it?

It's nice that you took her in and that she'll have a good home for her elder years.

 

[Moochie]

Yay Chicks! :

While it might be a good idea to have a new dog in for a "check up", I wouldn't venture to tell you what you "should" do.

With regard to the food, I wonder if you slowly mixed the regular dog food in with the "fancy" stuff, if she would start to get used to it?

It's nice that you took her in and that she'll have a good home for her elder years.

Oooh good idea! I'll try that tomorrow!​

 

[Wolfwoman]

LOL Of course she ignores it. She has you trained already!! She knows if she holds out long enough she'll get PEOPLE food. I'd bet if you let her go hungry for a day she'll eat the dog food.

And being a small dog, she's nowhere NEAR being old. Small dogs easily live to 16+ years.

I'd get her to a vet sooner, if the owners abandoned her, what else didn't they do?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
Ah, I have always had big dogs so I tend to forget that! Moochie could have her a good long time.

 

[RHRanch]

If possible, I would take her to the vet - in any dog, but especially older dogs, a lack of appetite and low weight can mean some serious problems. It could be a cancer or kidney disease. If gotten in time, some stuff can easily be cured, but time is your enemy when dealing with serious things like that. A couple of months could mean the difference between life and death. Also, she can transmit parasite to your other pets if she isn't wormed. If your parents can't afford it, try calling the shelter and finding out about low cost health clinics or low cost vets. There may be a program to help you get her vet checked and her shots.

BTW, even if she eats the homecooked, it still doesn't mean she could have an illness that is affecting her appetite. My dog died of kidney failure (one of the most common causes of death in dogs), and up until the very end of her illness, she would eat homecooked, but not kibble. She was nauseated from the buildup of toxins in her body.

 

[itsy]

I agree with the others. Vet asap.

In the meantime - adding a little warm water to her kibble might help spark her interest.....

 

[Moochie]

Her right front leg looks like it has been broken before, there's an abnormal curve in it unlike her other straight legs. Was it supposed to heal like that? I have no experience with broken bones, on the dogs or me so I have no knowledge of that stuff.
Well they got her spayed... Ofcourse they could have gotten her from a pound, which normally do that for the dog anyways.

She's not a yappy chihuahua either, thank goodness. She's timid, and not pure chihuahua... Her legs are too long. And she doesn't bug the chickens. I suppose she has never been introduced to them until now. "Huge birds!"

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I wonder if your local vet has records on her? Maybe the person who you got her name and information from might know?

 

[Moochie]

We can get her the proper shots and de-wormer.
Also, are all dogs supposed to be born with dewclaws on their hind legs? She only has one on her right hind leg, kinda weird. The folks who originally owned her failed to mention anything about vet records. I'll see what I can do though!
I'll get an appointment for her tomorrow, although I'm not sure if the vet on base has a tight schedule or not. When I got an appt for one of my chickens, I had to wait a whole week.