Bombo had his cleft palate surgery
 

Bombo had his surgery on the 18th of Sept at UC Davis. It was the one year anniversary of the day my first true love Yorkie died.

I am posting a little more in depth than what most need to know. But I thought that those with cleft palate puppies might be interested in knowing what is entailed in repairing a major full midline cleft--from the top of the hard palate to the back of the soft palate.

Bombo is a 10-month-old Yorkie, weighing a tad over 3 pounds. He was tube-fed every two hours the first month of life by his breeder, then kept on hard kibble and water from a lixit bottle to reduce the chances of his inhaling food into his lungs. I received him at 4 months. The breeder adored him and gave him to me, knowing I was experienced with tiny yorkies and would do all I could to keep him alive. He was a little over a pound then, quite weak, with a huge head on a tiny body. His face looked almost flat and he had a miniscule nose that was prone to congestion.

I kept up the same feeding instructions and also had him on daily azithromycin to not let infections take hold. He did have one bout of pneumonia and ongoing sinus infections, evident by greenish nasal discharge. I suctioned his nose daily with a baby bulb syringe, and by 8 months, he had no discharge from his nose and no longer needed suctioning. He had grown to be quite a strong little boy, despite his size and condition.

You might wonder why we would still opt to close his palate, even though he had done so well without a repair. The problem is, he still got into major trouble. There were numerous times when he accidentally ate or chewed something he found on the floor--a napkin, a felt chair leg pad, a piece of plastic liner he tore from his wee-wee pad, a tiny safety pin. Those things went into the cleft and nasal area and got stuck, causing choking and panic, with liquid foaming from his nose. If we had not been there to dislodge things, he could have died. Pneumonia was also a possibility, as were sinus infections.

So he survived with us gnawing our knuckles. The surgeons at UC Davis --which has an oral surgery department--were surprised that he was that vigorous, considering the size of his cleft and that he had not been on a feeding tube the whole time. So we also knew we were lucky. I think they are always happy to have a case like his: an older puppy, a major cleft, and no prior attempt to correct it, which often leads to a botched job and complications that are more difficult to repair than if nothing had been done.
Since they are a teaching hospital and have vet students rotating through their department, it affords the students a chance to see this sort of medical problem not often seen in a regular vet practice. Cleft palates are something the surgeons at UC Davis handle routinely. On one visit, I saw a cocker spaniel puppy in the examining room with a cleft that went from his nose and through his hard palate.

There was an initial surgery to remove baby teeth, as well as permanent molars on his left side. That cleared area would later allow them to take more tissue from that side once he was ready for surgery. After the extractions, he was eating, playing, and running around as soon as the anesthesia wore off.

The second surgery a month later was more elaborate. The oral surgeons were able to do the repair in a single surgery and not in stages, which is sometimes necessary with a full midline cleft. But it was more difficult than they anticipated because they discovered when surgery began that there was little bone under the tissue at the upper end of the hard palate.

The procedure involved slicing away the tissue on the the left hand side of the palate--where the molars had been removed--but leaving it attached at the center so that it created flap that could be laid over the cleft and placed against his molars on the right side. The flap was stitched in place along the molars and also through the midline, from the hard palate and through the soft. I saw the post-surgery photos and the left side was exposed bone. That was how much tissue was removed.

The surgery took about 3 hours. He did well under anesthesia, with no blood sugar drops, no swelling and not a lot of bleeding. They used pressure with fingers to stop bleeding and did not cauterize, which can cause swelling--not good in a little airway. There was some blood-tinged discharge from his nose for two days, but it is just a drip here and there every couple of hours and was easy to daub clean with a cotton ball.

The oral surgeons were able to save a tiny artery on the side they sliced away to create the flap. That took extra precision--pretty impressive. I saw the photos. That enabled a better heal. He was put on tramadol for pain, clavamox for possible infection. I was supposed to do an oral rinse with something quite thick and sticky, but he bucked so hard I was afraid to puncture his newly repaired palate with the plastic nozzle. I wound up dripping water from a bottle spout. The water was mixed with Oxyfresh, which is tasteless and has antibacterial properties and like the other rinse, is fine for open wounds in the oral area. I rubbed oxyfresh gel around his gums. That had aloe vera in it and was soothing, I think, because he allowed me to do that. He was reluctant to eat for a couple of days. He did gingerly eat his softened kibble, swallowing it in one gulp when I held it above his nose with his head tilted back.

I had to remove all toys and board out his sister at a friend's house, because she was picking fights with him around food, and he would try to fight back with barking and lunging. I did not want him to do any kind of barking that would stress his palate.

The surgeons told me that the first five days were critical. If the repair held, the chances of it holding permanently were good. Today is the 5th day. When he screamed at me this morning as I started to give him his tramadol, I could see the palate was nice and pink. The bone no longer shows. There are no loose threads or frayed tissue, which is what I was supposed to look for as problems. He does still sound congested, and he snores heavily when asleep. The oral surgeon called to get an update. And my description of his condition sounded normal to him. We'll have a check-up at UC Davis in a couple of weeks, and they may need to anesthesize him to see more thoroughly.

Even though his palate is closed by the flap , we will always have to be careful about toys and hard food like greenies or bones. Because there is no bone at the midline and never will be, the tissue closing off the oral and nasal cavities can be punctured. Also, the repair does not guarantee "functionality." Meaning, although the soft palate is closed off, food and liquid can still travel up into his airway and into his lungs. I do think, however, that he will learn to swallow in a way that will not allow that to happen. It is what he learned to do when his cleft was open.

The cost was MUCH lower than I had anticipated. $1500 for examinations, tests, prep, anesthesia, a 3+ hour surgery by two oral surgeons, anesthesiologist, nurse assistants, two nights of 24 hour care by a senior vet student, in addition to all meds. The dental extractions were about $1200. So altogether it was $2700. Amazing. I had expected to pay at least $5000 for the flap surgery alone, and more if there were complications. Then again, we are not yet out of the woods.

With great hopes, we're on our way to a better life for him. Wish us luck!

Amy

That is such great news, What a wonderful Mommy you are to do this for him. Keep us posted and post a picture of him. Wishing Bombo a speedy recovery.

Best of luck!!!you and your baby are very brave.

Thanks you for the update. I pray your little boy make a speedy and complete recovery.

Amy
Your story gave me chills, tears and a big smile.
What a wonderful mommy you are to your boy.
He is so lucky to have become your special boy!
Please share a photo of you and your boy!
What a truly special pair! :)

Deana
Prestigeous Yorkies

Today is day 6!! Yay for getting past this critical stage. What a wonderful momma and what a terrific group of surgeons and doctors you found at UC Davis. I hope he continues to improve with each passing day.

WOW

:clapsmile:clapsmile:clapsmile

What wonderful news!...I am happy to hear your boy is doing so well...What a fighter!...He is a lucky boy to have found such a loving, caring mom!...Get well Soon Bombo!

Wow...thanks for sharing your story. That is amazing. I too have a cleft palate baby. She is now 2 years old. I never had her repaired, as I have been just too darned scared! Her;s is located in her soft palet and she eats hard kibble and drinks from a water bottle.

She has her moments of spiting and sputtering but (fingers crossed) we have not had anything serious arise.

Tia's story: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...your-help.html

I actually found yorkie talk as I was searching for help because I had no help here in my area. I found Yorkie talk when she was 3 weeks old. But after lots of internet searching I learned alot and 2 years later, here we are!

Your story is amazing and I will be watching for updates! I'd love to see your babies picture! Its amazing too how tiny they are, but they do catch up! Tia finally made it to her normal size but took forever to get to 1 lb!

praying for your baby and can't wait to hear all the good news updates!

My thoughts are with you! i hope your baby is well on the road to recovery and leading a happy/long/normal life! It's obvious he is well-loved!

Hugs...

deb

Kuddos to you and your lil Tia.
What a darling girl she is!
This to me is what a good breeder does, hang tuff and help that baby not just put it down and forget it.
We had a Cavalier pup that I had tube fed since he was 2 weeks old he had heart problems and we found that out at 5 weeks. The breeder I got the sire and dam from was to get a pup back, I had five ~ 2 heart sick, 2 healthy and one died at ER ~water pup. The breeder told me to put down the two sick ones and she wouldn't be mad. That pissed me off!!!
She took her healthy pup and never looked back, never asked about the boys just wiped her hands clean of us and pretended it never happened.
Baby Face is doing great today he is 2 years and 4 months old and we sadly lost Punkin at 8 months old.
Here is Punkin my daughter had her senior pics made and wanted him in it. Then there is the pic of baby face~

Keep fighting lil brave Bombo and don't give up
Lots of prayers coming for you and your mommy!

Deana
Prestigeous Yorkies

Thank you so much for sharing this story. My daughter's dog Chance had a soft palate defect (cleft) which we have not had repaired. According to the surgeon we consulted it would require at least 3 surgeries and has only a 50% chance of success. He will be 2 in November. He has had aspiration pneumonia once and one sinus infection but is doing very well so far. Please keep us updated in the next few months and let everyone know if the surgery has held

I am glad to hear that Bombo is doing well after his surgery. Thank you for sharing his story--it is very informative! :thumbs up
I know you are relieved to find out the extensive procdure(s) was much less than you expected. (What a break!) After seeing in another thread reports of how costly the surgery is, I'm shocked at how much less than I expected it was too. :shocked7q
Keep up the good work with Bombo and keep us posted on his progress. I wish him a speedy recovery :getwellso and easier times ahead...for both of you! :hug:

Amazing
 

Thank you for sharing such an amazing story. It helps to know the details for anyone who might have such a puppy.
These tinies must sense how many are thinking of them and hoping for the best outcome.
Wishing a long and happy life for Bombo and his family.

Amy - I just read this today and wanted to say thanks for sharing this story, what an amazing journey! I linked your story to a thread over in the Off Topic forum as we have another member who is fostering a cleft Chi named Emma who will have surgery down the road - so maybe you'll take a look at her story too. I hope your baby continues to well and please update when you can. :)

Your amazing!! Glad to hear your pup is doing well! I love these kinds of stories with happy endings! you should talk to Mom2babyNatalie and Emma you two would have LOTS in common with your cleft babies and Breny too! :D

Amy,
I'm glad you shared all of Bombo's story here.
I still can't believe how much our boys look alike!
Glad B is doing well. Let us know how his check up goes.
Best of wishes to you both.

Amy you are a wonderful Mommy!!

thank you so much it was a blesing to read your artical
 

[quote=King Bombo;2250063]Bombo had his surgery on the 18th of Sept at UC Davis. It was the one year anniversary of the day my first true love Yorkie died.

I am posting a little more in depth than what most need to know. But I thought that those with cleft palate puppies might be interested in knowing what is entailed in repairing a major full midline cleft--from the top of the hard palate to the back of the soft palate.

Bombo is a 10-month-old Yorkie, weighing a tad over 3 pounds. He was tube-fed every two hours the first month of life by his breeder, then kept on hard kibble and water from a lixit bottle to reduce the chances of his inhaling food into his lungs. I received him at 4 months. The breeder adored him and gave him to me, knowing I was experienced with tiny yorkies and would do all I could to keep him alive. He was a little over a pound then, quite weak, with a huge head on a tiny body. His face looked almost flat and he had a miniscule nose that was prone to congestion.

I kept up the same feeding instructions and also had him on daily azithromycin to not let infections take hold. He did have one bout of pneumonia and ongoing sinus infections, evident by greenish nasal discharge. I suctioned his nose daily with a baby bulb syringe, and by 8 months, he had no discharge from his nose and no longer needed suctioning. He had grown to be quite a strong little boy, despite his size and condition.

You might wonder why we would still opt to close his palate, even though he had done so well without a repair. The problem is, he still got into major trouble. There were numerous times when he accidentally ate or chewed something he found on the floor--a napkin, a felt chair leg pad, a piece of plastic liner he tore from his wee-wee pad, a tiny safety pin. Those things went into the cleft and nasal area and got stuck, causing choking and panic, with liquid foaming from his nose. If we had not been there to dislodge things, he could have died. Pneumonia was also a possibility, as were sinus infections.

So he survived with us gnawing our knuckles. The surgeons at UC Davis --which has an oral surgery department--were surprised that he was that vigorous, considering the size of his cleft and that he had not been on a feeding tube the whole time. So we also knew we were lucky. I think they are always happy to have a case like his: an older puppy, a major cleft, and no prior attempt to correct it, which often leads to a botched job and complications that are more difficult to repair than if nothing had been done.
Since they are a teaching hospital and have vet students rotating through their department, it affords the students a chance to see this sort of medical problem not often seen in a regular vet practice. Cleft palates are something the surgeons at UC Davis handle routinely. On one visit, I saw a cocker spaniel puppy in the examining room with a cleft that went from his nose and through his hard palate.

There was an initial surgery to remove baby teeth, as well as permanent molars on his left side. That cleared area would later allow them to take more tissue from that side once he was ready for surgery. After the extractions, he was eating, playing, and running around as soon as the anesthesia wore off.

The second surgery a month later was more elaborate. The oral surgeons were able to do the repair in a single surgery and not in stages, which is sometimes necessary with a full midline cleft. But it was more difficult than they anticipated because they discovered when surgery began that there was little bone under the tissue at the upper end of the hard palate.

The procedure involved slicing away the tissue on the the left hand side of the palate--where the molars had been removed--but leaving it attached at the center so that it created flap that could be laid over the cleft and placed against his molars on the right side. The flap was stitched in place along the molars and also through the midline, from the hard palate and through the soft. I saw the post-surgery photos and the left side was exposed bone. That was how much tissue was removed.

The surgery took about 3 hours. He did well under anesthesia, with no blood sugar drops, no swelling and not a lot of bleeding. They used pressure with fingers to stop bleeding and did not cauterize, which can cause swelling--not good in a little airway. There was some blood-tinged discharge from his nose for two days, but it is just a drip here and there every couple of hours and was easy to daub clean with a cotton ball.

The oral surgeons were able to save a tiny artery on the side they sliced away to create the flap. That took extra precision--pretty impressive. I saw the photos. That enabled a better heal. He was put on tramadol for pain, clavamox for possible infection. I was supposed to do an oral rinse with something quite thick and sticky, but he bucked so hard I was afraid to puncture his newly repaired palate with the plastic nozzle. I wound up dripping water from a bottle spout. The water was mixed with Oxyfresh, which is tasteless and has antibacterial properties and like the other rinse, is fine for open wounds in the oral area. I rubbed oxyfresh gel around his gums. That had aloe vera in it and was soothing, I think, because he allowed me to do that. He was reluctant to eat for a couple of days. He did gingerly eat his softened kibble, swallowing it in one gulp when I held it above his nose with his head tilted back.

I had to remove all toys and board out his sister at a friend's house, because she was picking fights with him around food, and he would try to fight back with barking and lunging. I did not want him to do any kind of barking that would stress his palate.

The surgeons told me that the first five days were critical. If the repair held, the chances of it holding permanently were good. Today is the 5th day. When he screamed at me this morning as I started to give him his tramadol, I could see the palate was nice and pink. The bone no longer shows. There are no loose threads or frayed tissue, which is what I was supposed to look for as problems. He does still sound congested, and he snores heavily when asleep. The oral surgeon called to get an update. And my description of his condition sounded normal to him. We'll have a check-up at UC Davis in a couple of weeks, and they may need to anesthesize him to see more thoroughly.

Even though his palate is closed by the flap , we will always have to be careful about toys and hard food like greenies or bones. Because there is no bone at the midline and never will be, the tissue closing off the oral and nasal cavities can be punctured. Also, the repair does not guarantee "functionality." Meaning, although the soft palate is closed off, food and liquid can still travel up into his airway and into his lungs. I do think, however, that he will learn to swallow in a way that will not allow that to happen. It is what he learned to do when his cleft was open.

The cost was MUCH lower than I had anticipated. $1500 for examinations, tests, prep, anesthesia, a 3+ hour surgery by two oral surgeons, anesthesiologist, nurse assistants, two nights of 24 hour care by a senior vet student, in addition to all meds. The dental extractions were about $1200. So altogether it was $2700. Amazing. I had expected to pay at least $5000 for the flap surgery alone, and more if there were complications. Then again, we are not yet out of the woods.

With great hopes, we're on our way to a better life for him. Wish us luck!

cleft pallet
 

thank you so much for your story it really was a Blessing i have a lil guy we named him Samson from the Bible he is 5 days old today we are doing the 2 hour feeding we have a long way to go its good to hear sucess storys thanks for sharing God bless gina

Bombo's update
 

An update:

Bombo had pain for a few days post-surgery. Trying to give him pain meds and antibiotics via an injector was a disaster. I got more of the stuff on me than in him. I was also afraid that I would accidentally puncture his repaired palate with the injector! We switched to giving him his meds in a tab I could easily slide down his throat.

After the surgery, he still had water coming out of his nose whenever he drank. Where was the leak? Interesting to note, he was able to eat soft food for the first time without it going into his nasal passages. His appetite was off and he wound up losing about 6 ounces. That may not sound like much, but in this household, we measure everything by the ounce. Bombo's total weight is 3 lbs 5 ounces. We are back up within an ounce of his pre-surgery weight.

Following surgery he was never without congestion. It was worse at night. He snored loudly--more loudly than my husband! At times he woke up wheezing, breathing with his mouth open. For a week, I was up most of the night worrying, listening to his chest with a stethoscope. I had to return to suctioning him at night, in the middle of the night, in the morning, later in the morning, etc. I continued giving him his two antibiotics: the azithromycin and clavamox. His congestion decreased a bit but never went away. Naturally, I was concerned his repair had failed.

At the checkup yesterday, two and a half weeks after surgery, I learned that his palate is 95% repaired --beautifully repaired. But there is a small hole, about 3 mm in length. It is right where the hard palate and soft palate connect. That accounts for why liquids entered the nasal cavity but food did not. Despite the hole, the surgeons were very happy, given how big his cleft had been.

On November 5, Bombo will undergo another surgery to close the small hole. This surgery should be fairly easy. I will be able to take him home right after he comes out of the anesthesia fog. The surgeons are fairly optimistic that it will be successful. Bombo's birthday is Nov 27 and I hope the gift to both of us is a 100% repaired palate.

I have posted photos. They are quite graphic, so be prepared. The photos include his palate before surgery. The little bit of blue and white debris is part of a wee-wee pad he had chewed and gotten stuck in his cleft. The second photo shows the palate after molars from one side of his mouth were removed to allow more tissue to be used for the later surgery. The molar extractions took place one month before the surgery to close the cleft. The third photo is the repaired palate. The whitish portion of the palate is exposed bone from where tissue was taken to form the flap that was stitched over the cleft.

One day, he will have one more surgery ---to be neutered! He is in full adolescent mode and very much in love with a particular stuffed animal.

Where are the photos?

Photos
 

I think if you click on King Bombo in the column to the left, you will get my profile. It should show the album there. Click on that.

images of cleft lip?
 

I have a very strange request and would be most appreciative of any help. I'm doing research on how people react to animal faces and want to look particularly at animals with cleft lip. I would like to use pictures of puppies, and dogs, preferbaly front on. I was wondering if anyone had any such images that they might be willing to allow me to use? I would be extremely grateful for any assistance.

Luigi's cleft palate
 

Hello... I was very happy to see this forum... especially to see bombo story.
My dog Luigi also has a cleft palate... he's 11 weeks right now. He has a little infection right now and I'm really worried about him. He's an english bulldog and I'm hoping that he can do his surgery as soon as possible. I didn't know too much about cleft palate in dogs. I started to search about it when I got Luigi 2 weeks ago. Hopefully I can find a good vet that can do his surgery... I live in fayetteville, nc and I don't know too many things here. Hope I can get in touch with you guys and share experiences.

Thanks, Jana.

Thanks for sharing Bombo's success story. He is so lucky to have a breeder and a owner who both worked so hard so he can be a happy, healthy little boy !

Thank you for King bombo article
 

Hi Amy, I'm glad King Bombo is doing well. I have two yorkies and one toy poodle Panda Bear. Panda has a incomplete soft palate, she is two. We have a surgery consult Wednesday. She just got over her first strep throat and sinus infection. I found your article very interesting. I am going to get a water bottle. thanks Ginny

Welcome Jana26, please create a separate thread, so that your questions won't get overlooked.

I would love to be of more help, but I have no experience with this condition.

How-ever others have and will gladly respond with some info for you.