cleft puppy

[dianethomas]

I have been posting about this journey with Zaccheus on my other blog. Instead of re-posting all of it here, I'll just direct you there. You can go to there's a circus in my brain to read about how this adventure has unwound. Click on the label entitled Zaccheus to see all of my posts.

[Breny]

I'm sitting here in tears. What a great story and it brings back soooo many memories for me as my almost 2 year old Tia sits here on my lap. Oh god what a journey it was. There were alot of bad days when I didn't think she'd pull through , but she did and I'd do it all over again to say another.

I'd love it if you'd share his future. I'd love to hear his progress

[YorkieTime07]

Originally Posted by dianethomas

I have been looking for information about cleft puppies. I have an eight week old cleft baby named Zaccheus whom I have had since he was five days old. I have bottle and syringe fed him all this time. He is doing great, except that I can't get him to drink water from a bowl or bottle. He eats dry food that is soaked in a little water to soften it a bit, and drinks water which I administer through a tube slid into his mouth beside my finger, which he "nurses" on. We have had many ups and downs, but with a supportive veterinary team, he has made it through two bouts of pneumonia and a period of elimination problems. (he had to be helped with enemas.) But he is a fighter. A real ferocious best, he is.
I had no idea this forum was here, or I would have been here weeks ago, I'm sure. I have been flying through this adventure in the dark. Fortunately, I have used the common sense approach, and been with this baby nearly every hour. He has gone with me literally everywhere, the store, the movies, church, and even rides with me on my motorcycle. Check out my pics. I'll get more up when I find my camera. I think the kids stole it. hee, hee!

Congrats to you on taking care of your baby!!! I too have a cleft baby named Nathan and he will be 2 years old in October!!! I too had to bottle feed him and how i got him to drink water from the bowl was to start out by having him lap some water out of the palm of my hand...it took a little while but he got it!!! and now he laps up water like no tomorrow. You would never really know he has the cleft until you really get up close to him due to all his hair!!! I love him dearly and he is just as feisty as any other yorkie out there!!! Kuddos to you and your adorable baby and I wish the two of you many many years together!!!

[mypreciouspups]

Omg.. this brings tears to my eyes.. My first litter years ago.. I had two in a litter with cleft pallet.. a breeder thought I was not doing a good enough job and wanted to take them and tube feed them.. I had been doing it for 5 days at the time.. but I did not have the confidence and she was an experienced breeder.. so I let her take them.. well they both died with in a day.. I found out years later that she could not stay awake at night or get up in the night to feed them..

Then two years ago we had gracie.. she did not have cleft pallet but was to small and fragile and needed tube feeding.. I did it on my own this time and we still have her.. the vet told me she would not make it.. well she did.. and we kept her.. she is the light of our lives..

Bless you for keeping that baby alive and taking such good care.. taking him with you so he can be watched..what a story..please keep this thread updated..
anne

[dianethomas]

Oh, thank you, Breny! Yes, going back and reading how far we've come makes me choke up. And I'm still in the thick of it. It is much easier now that he doesn't have to eat so often, and right now he is pouncing across the livingroom floor chasing imaginary mice. You would never know except by his size that he isn't normal. He is amazing! There were times I thought I was being cruel and selfish not just putting him down, but he has been such a fighter. His will to live is stronger than any I've ever seen. I couldn't say no to him. How could I NOT fight, when he was fighting so hard himself? And the joy of being his Mom? Forget about it. There are no words.

[dianethomas]

Anne, I think I mayh ave read your story earlier today. It made me so sad to hear that someone would take this on and not give it their EVERYTHING. But I admit, I was shooting in the dark the whole time, and Zacchie could have died at any time. Still could for that matter. Makes me grateful that right now he's chomping on my toes, trying to pull off my sock, and growling his tiny, ferocious growl.

Originally Posted by mypreciouspups

Omg.. this brings tears to my eyes.. My first litter years ago.. I had two in a litter with cleft pallet.. a breeder thought I was not doing a good enough job and wanted to take them and tube feed them.. I had been doing it for 5 days at the time.. but I did not have the confidence and she was an experienced breeder.. so I let her take them.. well they both died with in a day.. I found out years later that she could not stay awake at night or get up in the night to feed them..

Then two years ago we had gracie.. she did not have cleft pallet but was to small and fragile and needed tube feeding.. I did it on my own this time and we still have her.. the vet told me she would not make it.. well she did.. and we kept her.. she is the light of our lives..

Bless you for keeping that baby alive and taking such good care.. taking him with you so he can be watched..what a story..please keep this thread updated..
anne

[dianethomas]

I've posted a few new pictures of Zaccheus. Hope you enjoy!

[red98vett]

Originally Posted by dianethomas

I've posted a few new pictures of Zaccheus. Hope you enjoy!

GOOD LUCK with him !!! You can do it and it sounds like you've beaten the odds already getting this far with your hard work - all the best to you !!

[dianethomas]

Just thought you would all like to know that Zaccheus is now drinking water from a bowl and the water bottle. We took him camping where he spent a couple days with one of his litter mates. He picked up the bowl dringking from her, and when I brought him home, he started drinking from the bottle by himself. He would alternate between the two. Take a few laps from the bowl, lift his head to swallow it down, and lick the water bottle while his head was tipped back. I stood in the doorway watching in amazement. It just about made me cry. And then, this morning, he decided that dry food was awesome, so now we are moving on to that. I won't be wetting his food anymore. It will be better for him if he has it dry, so we'll keep it that way from now on.
Water and dry food in one week? It's nothing short of a miracle!

[Breny]

Awesome news!!!! I'm so happy for you both!!! Keep up the good work!!!!!

[xxmxaxrxyxx]

wow great story....and what a fighter he is....keep us updated!

[mypreciouspups]

Originally Posted by dianethomas

Just thought you would all like to know that Zaccheus is now drinking water from a bowl and the water bottle. We took him camping where he spent a couple days with one of his litter mates. He picked up the bowl dringking from her, and when I brought him home, he started drinking from the bottle by himself. He would alternate between the two. Take a few laps from the bowl, lift his head to swallow it down, and lick the water bottle while his head was tipped back. I stood in the doorway watching in amazement. It just about made me cry. And then, this morning, he decided that dry food was awesome, so now we are moving on to that. I won't be wetting his food anymore. It will be better for him if he has it dry, so we'll keep it that way from now on.
Water and dry food in one week? It's nothing short of a miracle!

This is such wonderful news.. I am thrilled to hear updates like this.. keep up the good work...hugs
anne

[dianethomas]

I was sent a PM asking if we plan on surgically repairing Zacchie's mouth. I wanted to paste the answer here, in case anyone else was wondering.

Originally, our plan, (Zacchie's vet and mine) was to wait until he was three to six months to attempt surgery. At this time, we are taking a wait and see approach. I have done some research and learned that surgery on the soft pallate is quite successful, but when it involves the hard pallate, the success rate is lower. Zaccheus' cleft is from right behind his teeth to his throat, which means it is a full mid-line cleft. One of the things my research turned up is that once they are on hard food and clean water, the dogs are perfectly healthy and can live long, normal lives with no surgery at all.
At the very least, we will wait until he is a year old, and completely grown so his mouth is fully developed. His hard pallate will continue to change until then, and we don't want to do the surgery and have it not succeed because we didn't wait until he was done growing.
His doctor, who is a very good friend from church, saw him last night, and was astonished at how much his cleft had widened. He is completely in agreement that we should wait until Zac is fully developed before we proceede with any surgery at all.

If anyone who has been through this situation has any advice on this topic, I am open to hearing it.

[Breny]

After my research I came to the same decission. Tia will be 2 this month and she is very healthy No surgery!!!

I have however, been putting off spaying her because I am scared to do it. I worry about her being under. I don't know if having a cleft would create a problem?

[dianethomas]

Quick update. Zaccheus is just over two pounds. He currently is on an antibiotic to fight a sinus infection. He has had one almost all of his life. The vet says that the bones in his sinuses are fine and delicate like lace, and that when infection sets in, it's hard to get rid of it. They opted not to give him his rabies shot when I took him in yesterday. They want him to be on this new medicine for a few days first, because he's so sick. Not that he acts like it. He wrestles around the whole house with Cricket and Roxy, both of whom have finally accepted him. Cricket actually starts it half the time.
We have finally found the tool we need to keep his cleft clear of debris he gets in it. We use an artist's paintbrush. The bristles are long enough to go right in to the cleft, and soft enough to not hurt him. Yet they are firm enough to sweep foreign matter out. You would be stunned at all the stuff I've cleaned out of there.
All the material I have read that says cleft dogs can live long and healthy lives without surgery don't tell me what degree the cleft was on the dog, so I still don't know what we will do when he is older. We will wait and see how much it closes as he grows, and when he is fully developed we'll decide. Right now it is like the grand canyon and constantly has stuff in it. I'm always cleaning it out.