Veterinary Care for Your Shiba Inu

Your breeder or rescue will encourage you to take your dog to the vet within a few days after the purchase. The initial and routine vet visits should be all that is needed for a healthy Shiba, unless you are planning on breeding. However, if you’re drinking up all of my worldly wisdom, chances are that you are nowhere near ready for that.

Immunizations have been hotly debated of late and I think you should make up your own mind about it. I believe that dogs don’t need their shots as frequently as convention dictates. However, research, research, research.  Do NOT expose your puppy to other dogs or most social situations until you know that s/he is sufficiently protected against the common canine diseases.

Check with your vet, breeder and local kennel club if you plan on taking your Shiba to training classes, dog shows or other dog-oriented events; usually they will be able to tell you what immunizations are required for classes and what illnesses may currently be a problem. Also, keep up-to-date on laws pertaining to transporting animals across borders, if you’re planning on that. Always have your dog’s paperwork with you when travelling.

The vet will be your special friend if you can keep track of the following:

  • eating/drinking habits – how much, what eaten/drunk, frequency
  • feces/urine deposits – color, frequency, etc.
  • general disposition
  • general appearance
  • eyes, nose, coat
  • stride when trotting/running
  • reaction to various stimuli
  • any incidents that might have affected your dog’s health

The above seem really simple, but it’s surprising how many people suddenly notice their dog is poorly when, if they had paid attention to a few minor details, they could have caught the problem much earlier. It makes your vet’s life easier when you can eliminate a lot of guess work simply by knowing what your dog’s last stool looked like or an unusual incident that might pinpoint the reason why Shiba-poo suddenly started screaming in your ear at 3 AM.

4 Comments

  1. Hi, I got a Shiba Inu puppy right before Christmas and he’s about 11 weeks old now. I was wondering if anyone has had any problems with their Shiba’s regurgitating any time. My Blitz sometimes does it right after eating or drinking too fast and sometimes hours later. He use to do it much more often than he does now and he has already been to his regular vet as well as the emergency vet in my area to be looked at. Every blood test and X-Ray has been done to see if there is any disorders, Parvovirus, etc and the vets keep coming up with nothing. Even though it is starting to subside I’m curious as to what it may have been because it was quite the hassle, sometimes he’d only regurgitate a few times and other times it would be all day. Now he sometimes does it twice a day but he does make a noise as if he is going to more often and the. Nothing comes up.He continued the food he was eating that he had when he was at the breeder so it’s not like I abruptly changed his diet, now I’m slowly working him onto grain free food. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

  2. My shiba inu is eight years old and has constant paw issues. We’ve taken him to the vet about it multiple times and conpleted his antibiotics and it still comes back. He is on a grain free diet so I don’t understand why this is happening. He bites them so much and they are red and irritated constantly.

  3. I’m about to adopt a Shiba Inu, and I’m really excited to have such a beautiful dog. I’ll be sure to take her to the vet as soon as possible. I’ll also remember to keep a thorough track on how much she eats. Thank you for these tips!

Leave a Reply to Allie Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *