I purchased a 3 month old boxer from Shake a Paw in Hicksville NY on June 20 for just under $1000.00. The rule of the store is you have 7 days or 14 days? To bring the puppy to a vet to check it out. If anything is wrong you can get your money back or get a new puppy.
I had scheduled my appointment going out 5 days. To my surprise, the puppy got ill the very next day after I bought him. He was very lathargic and was not eating. He was also caughing like crazy. I rushed him over to my vet that afternoon.
I was told (the day after I got him) that he was underweight, missing shots, and that he had parasites and kennel cough. He was put on all kinds of medicine and speacial food to add weight.
The next day (day 3 with the dog) he got much worse. Stopped eating and vomiting. I called the pet store and they informed me to go to their vet. I rushed my new puppy to the emergency room where they immediatly took him and hospitalized him. They had him for 8 days.
The diagnosis was Coccidiosis, Pneumonia, and they found a medium level cardiac mumur. The bill was close to $2000.00 which shake a paw did pay.
Due to the heart murmur I now need to get echo cardiograms every so often which cost a bit over $300.00
So just when I think the puppy is going to be fine, One month after I got it he got real sick again. Very lathargic, not eating, jundice, and throwing up.
I called shake a paw and they told me once again to rush him to their vet. The once again took the dog from me and said they needed to run test. They had him for another 8 days. (keep in mind I have now only had the puppy for less than 2 montsh and he was hospitalized for 14 days)
Everyday the vet would call and say it is getting worse and it might be time to put the puppy to sleep. I was told by the vet that they would try one more medicine but if the dog didn't show signs of improvment with in 24 hours, the worst would happen.
It was amazing, but the medicine worked and the puppy was getting beeter. This was the diagnosis:
The liver and kidneys shut down. The puppy went into complete renal failure. He also had a urinary tract infection. The puppy had iv's in all 4 paws and we had to wear rubber gloves when we went to visit. The vet said all the symptoms were showing that it was Leptosporosis but the blood test did not come back positive (from what I understand, there ar 7 different types of common lepto but only 4 are tested in the labs).
The cost was $3600.00. Shake a paw refuses to cover this cost at all. Even though they told me to go to their vet.
They said I had the dog 1 month and this was not their fault. I read on-line and was told by my vet that this lepto disease can incubate in dogs for up to a month which means he could have and most likley got it in the pet store with the other sick dogs.
The next issue with Shake a paw is when I got the puppy I saw a bump on his head. I was told by the pet store that he just bumped his head on the cage and it would go away. A month later when it got bigger, the vet said it was from repeaded head trauma from being a a samll cage at the pet store and the only way to get rid of it is with surgery which I did and it cost another $125.00
So as for the 2nd sickness. The puppy was missing shots which is either because they neglected to do it or they new he was sick and you can't give shots to a sick do. This meant that important vaccinations where not given to the puppy until he was completely heathly which was over a month after I got him and mad him way behind.
I am out of pocket clost to $4000.00 in vet bills that shake a paw should cover. I have seen over a dozen similar complaints on line, and I was even contact by a pet orginization that featured in a 20/20 investigation about shake a paw. (they lie about where the puppys come from. Not breeders, but puppy mills with dead dogs out in the open.
Today I am lucky because he is still alive unlike many others, but there is still a risk of death at anytime due to the heart murmur.
I plan to take them to court, but I am still looking for a ny animal lawyer to help me with the case. If you used one please reply to this.
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