Cleft Lip / Palate Puppies can live to be healthy and normal
BulliesofNC
Richlands, NC
I thought I'd share this video with you all as well as initiate a post for others to find through internet search. My intent is to provide other breeders with the knowledge and confidence to invest into the dedication that can prevent cleft palate puppies from dieing within days of their birth.
When Joker was born he was actually the first puppy we had ever seen that had a Cleft Lip / Palate. Yes, he had both cleft lip and palate. Prior to his birth I had only heard about them and seen a few photos. I was always told they would end up dieing shortly after they were born due to the fact that they do not have the ability to suckle from a nipple or bottle. Additionally, the risk of aspirating and developing pneumonia was very high due to the hole in their mouth. In every situation I heard of where a Cleft Palate puppy was born it always mentioned that the puppy died. When this puppy was born I was quick to conduct some thorough research to see if there were any means of saving this puppy's life. I googled everything imaginable that would educate me with this deformity. Most of the sites mentioned unknown causes and some mentioned placement in the whomb as being a cause. Some websites even speculated on mothers that were provided too much protein in their diet are at greater risk of giving birth to a puppy with a cleft palate or lip. After much research I concluded that this puppy was a fluke. All the other puppies were perfectly healthy. My research did show a few dogs (with minor clefts) which were hand raised and tube fed. This provided me with a lot of confidence because both my wife and I have experience with tube feeding puppies. To gain more confidence I took the puppy to our Vet the day he was born for a thorough evaluation. Unfortunately our Vet recommended euthanasia. He explained that the puppies chances of survival were very slim and that he would most likely die a slow death no matter how much efforts were exhausted into feeding tube feeding. His concerns were over feeding causing regurgitation and inevitably aspirating. To make a long story short I did not have the heart to put this guy down especially while he was moving around and acting strong and alert. I brought the puppy back home and tried my best to find a few photos of an adult Bull Terrier with a cleft palate or lip. I was happy to find one photo of a Bull Terrier with a small hair lip and a couple photos of APBT's with cleft lips. This provided me with more confidence although I knew Joker's condition was a lot worse than the photos I viewed online of other dogs. Needless to say I started formulating a daily feeding plan with exact volumes of food and a strict feeding schedule. My wife had already purchased all the ingredients for making our own formula in which we knew worked wonderfully with past puppies that required supplementing. We additionally hand expressed milk from the momma for the first 24 hours so we could provide Joker with the colostrum he needed.
Julie and I committed ourselves to this puppy by feeding him every three hours around the clock by means of tube feeding. The tube was properly measured from the tip of his mouth to his last rib cage so we knew it was the proper size for inserting and getting right down to his stomach. One thing we made sure of was NOT overfeeding. After a week went by we knew he had a fighting chance. The days went by slowly due to all the late nights up tube feeding him but he was growing and excelling rapidly. All I focused on was keeping him healthy knowing the day would soon come that he would develop teeth and could start eating mush meaning he would be past the suckling age and could stand a chance at eating on his own.
After two weeks he was noticeably smaller than his siblings but we made no mistakes by trying to over feed in attempt to play catch up. As long as he was growing and remaining strong we were content. It was joy to see his eyes open and we were floored to note he was the first puppy to actually get on his feet, balance, and walk. He was a fighter that had a will to live.
At 4 weeks of age the sibblings were ready to be weened from momma. This was the time I had been longing for. We prepared some ground up puppy food and mixed in some formula. Jokers siblings devoured it in no time. Joker didn't seem to catch on. I suspected he either couldn't smell the food or was so used to us feeding him because all he did was look up at us whining with an empty belly. However, once we started spoon feeding him he went crazy. We had to slow him down and supervise him. This was actually the first time Joker was afforded the opportunity to "taste" food vice having it injected right to his stomach. Joker was in heaven!
For the next few weeks we continued our supervision feeding him because he would get so excited that he'd try and put his whole body into the bowl and eat at 100mph. Talk about a messy eater, you'd never imagine. By the time Joker became 7 weeks old he was eating very well but still ate like a hog (as seen in the video). To us it really didn't matter how much of a mess he made because it was pure joy seeing him eat plentiful without any complications.
When the puppies turned 6 weeks of age and were going in to the Vets office for their health tests and vaccinations you would have thought my Vet seen a ghost when he put his eyes on Joker and seen him looking up at him wagging his tail. He could not believe Joker survived. He couldn't stop asking what we did while he was opening his mouth to verify the Cleft palate was still there. Julie and I explained that we tube fed every 3 hours and monitored everything about him.
Many know that our puppies are normally spoken for the day they are born. This litter was no different. At two weeks of age I allowed those on our waiting list to conduct puppy picks based on precedence order. Obviously I explained the misfortune of Boy 1 (Joker) being born with a cleft lip / palate. I also explained that he would not be for sale and if he survived we would adopt him out to an appropriate home. Would you believe that during the puppy picks one of the people that purchased a puppy from us a year or two prior replied back saying they would much rather claim adopting Boy 1 than purchasing one of the other puppies. They were high on our waiting list of 36 people and could have chosen any puppy but they chose Boy 1 and told us his name was "Joker."
Joker now resides with this family in Washington state and love him dearly. He lives with a wonderful family and has a another Bull Terrier as a playmate. Joker is healthy, strong, and happy. He is probably the most affectionate Bull Terrier puppy we have ever raised.
Again, I share this story as a means to provide others with the confidence to dedicate to raising a puppy born with a cleft lip or palate and as proof that they can live to provide a life of joy to a family who will adore them.
When Joker was born he was actually the first puppy we had ever seen that had a Cleft Lip / Palate. Yes, he had both cleft lip and palate. Prior to his birth I had only heard about them and seen a few photos. I was always told they would end up dieing shortly after they were born due to the fact that they do not have the ability to suckle from a nipple or bottle. Additionally, the risk of aspirating and developing pneumonia was very high due to the hole in their mouth. In every situation I heard of where a Cleft Palate puppy was born it always mentioned that the puppy died. When this puppy was born I was quick to conduct some thorough research to see if there were any means of saving this puppy's life. I googled everything imaginable that would educate me with this deformity. Most of the sites mentioned unknown causes and some mentioned placement in the whomb as being a cause. Some websites even speculated on mothers that were provided too much protein in their diet are at greater risk of giving birth to a puppy with a cleft palate or lip. After much research I concluded that this puppy was a fluke. All the other puppies were perfectly healthy. My research did show a few dogs (with minor clefts) which were hand raised and tube fed. This provided me with a lot of confidence because both my wife and I have experience with tube feeding puppies. To gain more confidence I took the puppy to our Vet the day he was born for a thorough evaluation. Unfortunately our Vet recommended euthanasia. He explained that the puppies chances of survival were very slim and that he would most likely die a slow death no matter how much efforts were exhausted into feeding tube feeding. His concerns were over feeding causing regurgitation and inevitably aspirating. To make a long story short I did not have the heart to put this guy down especially while he was moving around and acting strong and alert. I brought the puppy back home and tried my best to find a few photos of an adult Bull Terrier with a cleft palate or lip. I was happy to find one photo of a Bull Terrier with a small hair lip and a couple photos of APBT's with cleft lips. This provided me with more confidence although I knew Joker's condition was a lot worse than the photos I viewed online of other dogs. Needless to say I started formulating a daily feeding plan with exact volumes of food and a strict feeding schedule. My wife had already purchased all the ingredients for making our own formula in which we knew worked wonderfully with past puppies that required supplementing. We additionally hand expressed milk from the momma for the first 24 hours so we could provide Joker with the colostrum he needed.
Julie and I committed ourselves to this puppy by feeding him every three hours around the clock by means of tube feeding. The tube was properly measured from the tip of his mouth to his last rib cage so we knew it was the proper size for inserting and getting right down to his stomach. One thing we made sure of was NOT overfeeding. After a week went by we knew he had a fighting chance. The days went by slowly due to all the late nights up tube feeding him but he was growing and excelling rapidly. All I focused on was keeping him healthy knowing the day would soon come that he would develop teeth and could start eating mush meaning he would be past the suckling age and could stand a chance at eating on his own.
After two weeks he was noticeably smaller than his siblings but we made no mistakes by trying to over feed in attempt to play catch up. As long as he was growing and remaining strong we were content. It was joy to see his eyes open and we were floored to note he was the first puppy to actually get on his feet, balance, and walk. He was a fighter that had a will to live.
At 4 weeks of age the sibblings were ready to be weened from momma. This was the time I had been longing for. We prepared some ground up puppy food and mixed in some formula. Jokers siblings devoured it in no time. Joker didn't seem to catch on. I suspected he either couldn't smell the food or was so used to us feeding him because all he did was look up at us whining with an empty belly. However, once we started spoon feeding him he went crazy. We had to slow him down and supervise him. This was actually the first time Joker was afforded the opportunity to "taste" food vice having it injected right to his stomach. Joker was in heaven!
For the next few weeks we continued our supervision feeding him because he would get so excited that he'd try and put his whole body into the bowl and eat at 100mph. Talk about a messy eater, you'd never imagine. By the time Joker became 7 weeks old he was eating very well but still ate like a hog (as seen in the video). To us it really didn't matter how much of a mess he made because it was pure joy seeing him eat plentiful without any complications.
When the puppies turned 6 weeks of age and were going in to the Vets office for their health tests and vaccinations you would have thought my Vet seen a ghost when he put his eyes on Joker and seen him looking up at him wagging his tail. He could not believe Joker survived. He couldn't stop asking what we did while he was opening his mouth to verify the Cleft palate was still there. Julie and I explained that we tube fed every 3 hours and monitored everything about him.
Many know that our puppies are normally spoken for the day they are born. This litter was no different. At two weeks of age I allowed those on our waiting list to conduct puppy picks based on precedence order. Obviously I explained the misfortune of Boy 1 (Joker) being born with a cleft lip / palate. I also explained that he would not be for sale and if he survived we would adopt him out to an appropriate home. Would you believe that during the puppy picks one of the people that purchased a puppy from us a year or two prior replied back saying they would much rather claim adopting Boy 1 than purchasing one of the other puppies. They were high on our waiting list of 36 people and could have chosen any puppy but they chose Boy 1 and told us his name was "Joker."
Joker now resides with this family in Washington state and love him dearly. He lives with a wonderful family and has a another Bull Terrier as a playmate. Joker is healthy, strong, and happy. He is probably the most affectionate Bull Terrier puppy we have ever raised.
Again, I share this story as a means to provide others with the confidence to dedicate to raising a puppy born with a cleft lip or palate and as proof that they can live to provide a life of joy to a family who will adore them.
Comments
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Hope he is going to live a looong life! Looks like you have already taken care of making sure it's going to be a good one.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/classifieds/938209-kc-reg-english-bull-terrier-puppy-weymouth.html
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com