Cleft Pallets and Ellies Litter
Ellie delivered her puppies on Saturday and she had 3. She males and one female. 2 of the puppies were not able to nurse correctly and we lost the little female. I continued to bottle feed the male for 3 days every 2 hours and he still wasn't gaining weight or getting stronger, and he just could latch on properly. No one I talked to could help me figure out what was wrong. Eventually someone told me to look into the roof of the mouth and see if he had a gap on the struggling male. To my horror was a huge hole on the roof of his mouth. I had never seen one before, and I had no idea. I spoke to a breeder and my vet and it was obvious to put the struggling puppy down. I cried so hard and I couldn't hold it together. If I were to try to keep him alive not only would it be close to impossible with constant tube feeding, surgeries down the line, respiratory problems along with constant illness, I knew it wasn't fair to him. If it wasnt for that person on face book to tell me to look into the mouth I would have still been struggling to keep the little puppy alive, with him suffering. I know as hard as it was, it was indeed the right choice. The true cause of cleft pallets is all in theory by many people, nothing seems to be consistent. Lack of vitamins, too many vitamins, stress, genetics, pesticides, medication, the list goes on and on. No definite answer to why such a tragic event occurred for those two little babies. All I can do is learn from this and I will know from this point on what to look for if I have a struggling puppy again. One of Ellies puppies is nursing normally and does not have a cleft pallet, the answer to why the pups were struggling was answered since the female puppy had it too as we later confirmed, but why this happened will remain a mystery. From what I hear, the chances of it happening to me again are slim, and I do know I will take extra precautions as well.
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