My friend has just bred a litter (Im NOT advertising so i wont say what breed or how many etc) one of the puppies looked quite small and weak compared to the others and died yesterday. My friend says it had a cleft palate, i had heard of this before, but never experienced it when i bred my bitch. what causes this and is it common? My friend is now saying she doesnt want to breed from her bitch again as she thinks it may be inherited from her, but I said It may be from the sire as she bred her to a different dog last time and all the pups were fine, can anyone shed some light on where cleft palate comes from is it inherited or is it just something that can happen like fading puppy syndrome no-one really knows what causes it?

Yes it is quite common and is a fault in construction thought to be hereditary. Because of the fact that it comes down some lines it is more common in some breeds than others. When the pup is developing in the womb the two half's grow separately and come together later it is a fault along this line that does not close properly that causes cleft palate and hare lip. The remnants of this procedure can be seen in all of us as the bow of the upper lip and the grove between the nose and lip, a similar thing can be seen in dogs and is in fact sometimes still open a little, this is normal. Do sometimes wonder if as this joining is not very long before birth if the effected pups may have been conceived a little later than those who are well formed, may be a second mating or just that the egg and sperm came together latter than those of the earlier conceived pups.

The main problem is that as they try to suckle the milk comes either down the nose or into the lungs and causes the lungs to fail.

do you think this particular dog and bitch should be bred from again now that this has happened?( I dont mean bred together again), I mean should either of them be used for breeding or does it mean they have this fault in their genes?
The dog in question has sired several litters which have been fine, to other bitches, and the bitch had a litter to a different dog with no problems, so is this just a "bad match"?
my friend feels bad, but I told her its not her fault as she looks after her dogs really well and theres nothing she could have done to prevent it. should she have her bitch spayed now? she asked me what I thought, and I said find out a bit more about what causes it first and if its hereditary then yes get her spayed, what do you think is the right thing to do?

Without being able to look at the records of the ancestors of the dogs behind the dam and sire of this litter it is not possible to say. If you risk the mating again depends on the frequency of the problem in the breed. If it is common then the chances of both the dam and sire being carriers is quite high, but if you do your research and can find not problems in the progeny of neither dam or sire then the chances are remote but unless you are able to trust the breeders of previous litters to be honest then you are on your own and have to take the chance that you will lose some of the litter. So if your bitch has a litter with this problem I guess it is fair to say she is a carrier and should not be used for breeding but if it is very common in the breed then I would think that most dogs and bitches will be carriers and you have to accept that some of the pups will be effected and even those pups who are ok will be carrying the problem.

Folic acid, or rather lack of it has been implicated in this condition, as in humans with spina bifida, which is one of the reasons women are given folic acid supplements, and those trying for a baby are advised to take it.

Hi

I was unlucky and had a puppy with a cleft palate in the first litter I bred.  Being new and keen to do everything right I followed the advice of a more seasoned breeder and this included giving three Cod Liver Oil capsules per day from mating through to birth.  In addition to this my bitch chased our cat out the dog/cat flap on fell and landed heavily on day 35 following mating (I took her to the vets for a scan and they said all was well as the pups were alive).  Once the litter were born and I realised there was a puppy with a cleft palate I was keen to find out as much as possible about the problem.  Being a softy I decided to rear my puppy and keep her for myself.  We had a few ups and downs but apart from the cleft palate she was normal in every respect.  I had the defect closed by surgery and the bitch turned into the most wonderful dog, normal in every way, normal size and fit and healthy etc. 

During my investigations and in consultation with the specialist who performed the operation I learnt that although this problem can be hereditary it can also happen with an overdose of Vitamin A (Cod Liver Oil being rich in vitamin A) and that the mouth closes together on day 35!  He explained that cell division is what causes these changes (i.e. the two sides of an embryo growing and joining together) and that a bump or a hard knock can interfere with cell division and that it was quite likely that either the fall from the dog flap or the Cod Liver Oil (or both) were the reason behind the cleft palate.

I've had 18 litters since this first litter and never had a further cleft palate puppy.  I don't give Cod Liver Oil, the dog flap has been dispensed with and I do give Folic Acid 2.5mg per day before the start of the season and through the pregnancy until delivery.

The affected bitches close relations have all been bred (or used at stud) (including two further litters from her mother to different stud dogs) with a total of over 300 puppies resulting.  There have been no further cleft palates in any of these combinations.  Whilst I'm in no position to say with 100% certainty that cleft palate isn't hereditary I can say that so far it's been my experience that this is a multi-factored condition with some instances being hereditary and others environmental.  Since this happened to me I've been very careful to prevent environmental causes affecting a pregnant bitch and as I say I've never bred another puppy with this defect.

Good luck with whatever your friend decides to do in the future.

Chris

Thanks a lot for your interesting replies, I know about folic acid being important in humans, but never really thought about it in dogs. Ill print out the topic so my friend can have a read :-)
where do you get folic acid capsules/tablets for dogs? do you have to order them specially froma vet?

I buy my Folic Acid from the supermarket or the chemist.  The standard dose of these tablets is 400 ug (400 mcg) this is why you need six tablets per day. 400ug or mcg x 6 = 2.4 mg.

You will note that the dose for a pregnant woman is one tablet per day.  Dogs have more than one embryo and therefore require more than a woman.  Folic Acid is a water soluble vitamin and there is no danger of overdose as any excess vitamin not utilised by the bitch will be passed out in her urine etc.

Chris

would that dosage be the same for a jack russell?

I buy mine from Holland and Barrett........they are 800 ug, so I give 3 a day

So do I actually Sharon!  But not everyone has a H & B local so as everyone else sells them in 400 ug doses I thought it best to keep things simple ;-)

The Folic Acid recommendation is per bitch regardless of breed.  As stated before it's based on the fact that bitches have more than one embryo (the dose for one woman is not based on her size or weight!!)

Hope that helps.

Chris