 clefts
My experince...I have never had a cleft is a fat pup. It has always been a tiny, barely alive pup, weighing no more then an oz.. Head was about the size of a small green grape. I have tried to save them. I tube fed and still found milk bubbling out the nose.
Last pup was given to the vets wife at birth..she worked hard and got it to 2 weeks...and it faded and died.
I think all pups deserve a chance and if I had a decent size born with a cleft I would give to a good try.
I have repeated the breeding and not had it again..but I agree, I would charge studs if possible. You see, I freaked out at the first one...I told my vet I had to place my stud because of the cleft he produced with my female..he show me a book on genetics and it said 2% of mammals produce clefts in offspring. So I repeated the breeding several times with that male to that female and the females sisters..no clefts.
There was one year I had several breeder friends and myself all have cleft pups in our litters...and none were related..all within a few weeks...so very strange. |