Cleft Palate Puppies
What to do if you have a cleft palate puppy?
Bi-lateral cleft lip
PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE A UK BASED RESCUE.
Please Read: The hand rearing and tube feeding of cleft palate puppies is something that cannot be learnt via a telephone conversation, and something that we will not do in the interests of welfare - Tube feeding is a practical skill that must be gained through practical in person sessions with qualified and experienced experts, and this is something we are unable to do due to the demands of being a busy specialised rescue with limited staff and resources.
Our hand rearers are trained in these methods by qualified and fully trained veterinary staff.
Once a puppy has been identified as having a cleft palate it is important to contact a specialist as soon as possible. A newborn puppy can deteriorate and fail to thrive very quickly after birth if they are unable to feed and/or once they have developed aspiration pneumonia.
Rescue Me Animal sanctuary is an animal rescue that specialises in disabled animals including cleft puppies. If you have a cleft puppy who requires specialist care please get in touch with us as soon as possible:
07952017696
Phoenix who has a bilateral cleft lip.
Caring for a newborn cleft puppy
A puppy with a cleft palate will need to be tube fed as they are unable to form a vacuum to suckle from their mum in order to feed. If they do manage to suckle there is an extremely high risk of aspiration of the milk which will lead to aspiration pneumonia.
If a puppy does develop aspiration pneumonia then antibiotics and hospitalisation is needed.
Most cases of cleft pups have an excellent prognosis long term if specialist care is given to them within the first hours of life.
Frequent asked questions (FAQ’s)
Dudley, one of our successful hand rear pups
What are the symptoms of a cleft palate?
The most obvious sign of a cleft palate is the appearance of a cleft on the palate and/ or of the lip. This will look like an opening from the mouth that runs along the roof of the mouth.
Undiagnosed puppies with cleft palate can show symptoms such as being unable to feed, failing to thrive, poor weight gain or stunted growth, breathing difficulties, coughing or gagging, nasal discharge, milk coming out of the nose, aspiration, infection and pneumonia.
My cleft puppy isn’t latching in to mum, should I syringe feed it?
Puppies with cleft palates cannot form a vaccum in their mouths in able to latch on to mum to get milk. If a puppy does manage to drink from mum then there is a high risk of aspiration. NEVER try to syringe feed a puppy with a cleft palate! Syringe feeding, even if done slowly will cause aspriation. It only take one drop of milk to enter the lungs through the cleft to cause aspiration which will lead to ammonia. The puppy will need to be tube fed, we would recommend getting in touch with a specialist who is a able to tube feed.
What is the prognosis of cleft palate puppies?
If the cleft palate is found early and taken to a specialist, the prognosis are excellent. We have a very successful rate of survival for our hand rear cleft puppies.
My vet has advised me to euthanise my newborn cleft puppy, what should I do?
It is very common practice for vets to euthanise cleft plate puppies at birth due to the time required to tube feed the puppies as well as their poor prognosis if hand reared incorrectly. We would never euthanise a cleft palate puppy based just on the deformity of the cleft. However, we would never recommend a member of the public with little to no experience tube feeding their cleft puppy as there is a lot that can go wrong.
We believe every cleft puppy should be given a chance and here at Rescue Me we have a brilliant team of experienced cleft hand rearers who are happy to dedicate their time into hand rearing these puppies. If you have a newborn cleft puppy then please get in touch with us: