Question about my friends litter

[*Lucy*]

My friend had a litter of working cockers born about 8 weeks ago - first one was breach and died, the other 4 seemed to be fine.

After a day another died, then 2 days later another! (suspected liver failure)

The 2 left (1 girl, 1 boy) seemed to be doing really well and my friend had decided to keep the liver and white (girl) and was letting his friend keep the black boy.

Anyway, he took the pups to the vets for their first injections and health check today. The vet examined the boy and confirmed that he was a healthy pup, fit to be re homed later this week!

But when the vet examined Bracken (friends pup) he said he was so surprised the pup had lived 8 weeks, when my friend asked why the vet told him that Bracken didnt have an anus  and that she would have to be put down  Bracken was put asleep this afternoon 

The vet said that about 1 in 100 matings result in these kind of abnormalities and I was just wondering if there was any truth in this??

[spanielcrazy]

Poor baby 

When I worked in the emergency pet clinic years ago, we euthanized a couple of puppies (unrelated, different breeds) who were born with no anus, but they were much younger. I too am amazed that Bracken lived so long

I have no idea about 1 in 100, I suspect it may be a bit less, but yes, congenital defects do happen 

[Tasha]

poor little mite

[Helen]

that's enough to put me off breeding for life....sleep tight little ones 

[supaspaniel]

Sorry Lucy I dont mean to sound like I'm having a go at anyone(and certainly not at you  ), but presumably the pup couldn't poop then? Did no one actually notice that?

that's enough to put me off breeding for life....sleep tight little ones 

ditto

[Joules]

Sorry Lucy I dont mean to sound like I'm having a go at anyone(and certainly not at you  ), but presumably the pup couldn't poop then? Did no one actually notice that?

That was my first thought too    Run free little pups 

that's enough to put me off breeding for life....sleep tight little ones 

Me too 

[Silver Surfer (indiesnan)]

Oh poor little babies 

Run free little ones 

[*Lucy*]

Sorry Lucy I dont mean to sound like I'm having a go at anyone(and certainly not at you  ), but presumably the pup couldn't poop then? Did no one actually notice that?

Thats exactly what I thought and havent said anything to my friend because he is still very upset!

I guess because they are outside in kennels and there was another pup he just assumed it was pooing as normal as I guess any of us would do - I know it wouldnt of even occured to me!

that's enough to put me off breeding for life

Deffinitely - it must be heart breaking 

[Jane S]

I have heard of puppies born without anuses too but they're usually spotted very quickly by the breeder when they check over the pups after being born. I'm amazed this poor pup survived for 8 weeks - that must be some kind of a record I'm sure your friend is very upset (anyone would be) and would guess this must be their first litter & they weren't getting any guidance from an experienced breeder which is a shame Sadly congenital abnormalities do occur (as they do in human babies) but it can only be guesswork as to how often they happen since statistics on puppy defects like this aren't collated anywhere.

[fenn2006]

oh how terrible, poor little souls - that must have been painful for little Bracken?

definitely opens your eyes to breeding...and 1 in a 100 is not a lot at all

[*Lucy*]

would guess this must be their first litter & they weren't getting any guidance from an experienced breeder which is a shame

Its actually their second and last litter with Fern, the Mum! They kept Teal from the last litter (a gorgeous black girl)

I didnt know my friend when they had the other litter but know that all the puppies were fine.

[caro]

That's so so sad 

[Nicola]

Poor pup, I'm also amazed that they didn't notice it though and that she survived so long. It can also happen in human babies, there's an operation which can be done to fix it but it's not usually an option in a tiny puppy.

[Tasha]

its a pity really that no one is looking at this sort of thing as a study in genetics.  The healthgene people in america might be willing to look at something like this if it was suggested they are doing an awful lot of research into dogs and topics of study can sometimes be suggested.

Do the Cocker Clubs keep records if they are sent details??

If not maybe this is something that I can add to the database I'm making at some point.  I have the same for weims and its confidential used only for tracing by the club or people whose dogs have a similar problem so that they have someone else to talk to.

The more I think about this poor little mite really is a miracle that he managed to survive as long as he did.

[Helen]

My question is  why was the first vet's visit 8 weeks after the pups were born?  Just seems strange that that is the first time the vet has seen them -  the breeder I use has all his puppies checked over a couple of days after they're born just to make sure there is nothing wrong that he hasn't picked up...

I'm not going into a tail docking debate here, but I suppose these kind of things were naturally picked up at a very early stage when the pups were taken in to be docked?