Hernia - Page 1

I have a puppy (8 weeks) with a small hernia on its belly. The vet said it may go away by itself. Is there anything out there (other than surgery) that can be done to solve this problem?

It sounds like an umbilical hernia. Most likely caused by the dam removing the umbilical chord a little roughly. My female had it, my vet said to just keep pushing in the tissue, the hole is still open. As the hole gradually closes in the next month or two, the tissue will stay inside if you keep pushing it in. I did, and now she has no signs of once having an ubmilical hernia. If you leave it, the hole will close and the dog will have a permanent bump there, which can be fixed during a spay (if you are going to). Take care, Melanie

Yes, you can push the tissue around the hole while it is still open and it may close up on its own; however, it still may need surgery to remedy if it does not close up on its own.

I concur with GSDfan. However, if this is a female pup and you have plans for breeding her, I would have the vet close it up NOW.

I sold one just like that at a significant discount from my litter imported in utero from Germany. The vet the new owners took their puppy to said it was inheritable, and they should never breed her. She was pushing spaying, with repair for the small hernia during that operation. Is the vet then mistaken? Some vets often don't know what the heck they are talking about when they make statements like that. I personally am not aware of how heritable it is, not having seen a much of it. Does anyone else know anything about this subject? Thanks in advance for your information! Veronica

Vets, like anyone else have their strenghts, weaknesses, and different levels of experience. The vet may be right in that specific case and he may not be right. I would not second guess him not having seen the dog, but I have seen this before and do conur with GSDfan, on what it sounds like. My vet, for instance is a great vet, with many years experience but he likes to operated too much for my taste. Hydroma, "We must operate, $800". Urine in blood, "We must neuter him, he has to be neuered NOW" I let him ADVISE me and I make the decisions. If I left everything to my vet, I would not have a fricking penny in my pocket. Not saying they are all like that, but you have to become active in the practice of medicine also, when it comes to the dogs, and not just hang on for the ride.

Everything I have read says it can be either, the result of trauma (Dam removing umbilical chord roughly) or Genetic. I haven't found any information that says you can tell the difference between the two. But like with any health condition the parents just need to be carriers. If I was a breeder, I would try my best to assure the dam is not the cause. I would try being right in there during the birth of the pups and holding the base of the chord while she removes it or cut it myself. At least to try and rule out the trauma cause. The below article (from a Leonberger website) has some good info on hernia's. http://www.leonberger.coolfreepage.com/health/hernia.htm Take care, Melanie

I don't know of a mother that is going to let you hold the base of the cord, while she cuts it off. She is either going to let you do it all yourself or she will step in and do her thing like she should, moving you aside. These dogs are not that intelligent that they would cooperate in such an operation. It is better to let the mother do it anyway, because they "chew" off the cord, stopping the bleeding as they go as opposed to "cutting" the cord, and now we hav to tie off the cord to stop the bleeding. I would not get involved in that at all. In 5 litters I have had one umbilica hernia. There in those statics lie the probability that it was most likely trauma(cord being cut off too close to the abdomen.

SGBH It sounded like a good theory in my head, lol, but I'm sure you know what you are talking about. Hey how's that book comming BTW? I'd like to think that umbilical hernia's more often than not are caused by the Dam, and definitely in your case (1 pup out of 5 litters) say odds are with trauma. Regards, Melanie

Steven, wow! Your vet is also a surgery freak? My poor Jake has an appointment to be operated on tommarrow morning because of a stupid decision that of one of my vets workers made.. stating that It was ok (I asked if it was ok) to do protection work with Jake after getting his bandages removed (He looked like a mummy with his bandages) after having a Salivary Gland Cyst (Sialocele) drained... Funny how I knew an ER Nurse who told me that the kind of operation that Jake had (she knew what Jake had) that it needed to take a WHOLE full MONTH to recover... I never heard of anything like this at my vets office.