How many vaccinate your own puppies? - Page 1

I had Bella at the vet yesterday for her final puppy shots. Cost was $108!!!  A breeder I know said I was nuts for paying that much. He gets the vaccinations at Fleet Farm? for about $5 each and administers them himself. Plus he told me his vet will give him antibiotics for his dogs without even seeing them. Shouldn't the cost of a pup include a vet visit? I know other breeders that vaccinate thier own pups as well. How can a breeder quarantee a puppy to be healthy without a trip to the vet?

You can administer your Subq and IM shots yourself for the cost of ordering them and the syringes to do it plus shipping. The only exception that I know of is Rabies which must be administered by a vet.

Breeders (good ones, anyway) vet pups before sale to make sure that they are healthy at the time of sale.  It's one of the reasons you have only 2-3 days to vet the puppy when you get it.  Whatever it's exposed to after that is on you.

$108 for puppy vac is outrageous.  Did you have anything else done?

I've been giving my own shots for years, but am also a registered nurse so feel if I'm qualified to give humans shots than surely I can give dogs shots.  I've never had any adverse reactions giving my own shots, and haven't had any disease breakouts either!!  (Knock on wood)

I did ask the vet to look at Bella because I thought she had been scratching more than normal. But I figured an office visit was included with the vaccinations. Guess not. She did have a rabies shot, also.

So, 2 shots and an exam and the office visit charges?  Any tests for the itching/scratching?

I used to but Florida Law states they are required to have a health cert from a vet ($20 per pup), and have 1st set of shots, worming.  A litter of 6 costs around $300, (not a bad price considering) but that should make a person feel like they have backing with health certs from a vet.  If you are shipping there is an additional cost for shipping papers also.

Rebecca

Plus they charged to put cheese whiz on a worming tablet. Maybe I need to find a new vet.

So, 2 shots, worming, exam, office visit and if I read it right because you only said "plus" on the worming, a test for the itching/scratching too?  Did they do a fecal to determine the need for the worming?

I give my own puppy vaccines, at least their first one - I also worm every two weeks from when they are 2 weeks old.  I do microchip at my cost, tattoo, and guarantee health - new owners need to bring their pup to their own vet for initial health check including fecal test, and then for puppy vaccine boosters.   I do not give rabies though in my state I could get a liscence to do so.  Most of the time the puppies are leaving at 8-10 weeks, too young to get rabies anyway.

molly

Just a visual exam for the scratching and no fecal exam. She was wormed a month ago and was told she should be wormed again when she came back for the rest of her shots. (I was told she was too young at the time for a rabies shot.)