Cleft Palate In Puppies - Stafford World

Cleft palate is a congenital condition, in other words it is a condition that sufferers are born with. If they are not born with cleft palate it will not develop later in life other than perhaps as the result of trauma where there is a laceration of the palate.

Cleft palate is a split or defect in the palate (roof of the mouth) which results in an abnormal connection between the mouth and the nasal passages. The degree of cleft can be very variable, ranging from a split of only a few millimeters in either the hard or soft palate, to a complete lack of a roof of the mouth, with the oral and nasal cavities having no division between them. Cleft palate is often but not always associated with HARE LIP, a condition where the upper lip is split, often into the nostril, and can be uni or bilateral.

Mild cases may go undetected, but usually the owner of a newborn pup will notice very shortly after birth that when the pup attempts to suckle, milk comes out of its nostrils. The pup may also battle to suckle, resulting in the pup not thriving – it may quickly lag behind littermates in terms of growth. The split in the palate may interfere with the closure of the inlet to the trachea or wind pipe, resulting in inhalation of milk into the lungs while suckling. This can cause what is known as “foreign body” pneumonia. Not being caused by an infection, foreign body pneumonias do not respond to antibiotics, but they can be very serious and even fatal.

Pups that do survive are inclined to be prone to chronic recurrent nasal or other respiratory infections, including pneumonias. One study of 10 pups in South Africa showed that a high percentage of them developed behavioural disorders, mainly aggression. This was so severe in some cases that the dogs had to be euthanased.

Here there is a certain amount of difference of opinion. It is largely held that genetics (in other words heritability) does play a role. The fact that the condition is much more prevalent in certain breeds (for example Boston Terriers, Bulldogs, Boxers & Staffords) gives strong support to this theory. A study of 10,600 Boxer puppies born in the German Democratic Republic between 1977 and 1984 showed an increasing frequency of the condition and concluded that cleft palate was inherited via a single, autosomal recessive gene.

There is a theory that supplementation of folic acid may prevent the condition (indicating that a lack of folic acid may predispose to it?), but from personal experience I have known an entire litter to be born with cleft palates after the mother had received folic acid supplementation during pregnancy. A study by Elwood & Calquhoon of the University of Otago Medical School (New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 1997, vol 45, no 6) showed a drop of 76% in the number of Boston Terrier puppies born with cleft palate after 5mg Folic acid per day was supplemented to the bitches from the day of mating until the puppies were 3 weeks old.

From a treatment point of view, certain cases may lend themselves to surgical repair. However, any pup that has been so repaired should most definitely be sterilized to prevent passing the gene on.

Far more important but equally difficult is prevention. From this point of view the most important factor would appear to be looking very carefully at the pedigrees of pups born with cleft palate. Obviously the parents should not be bred with each other again, nor with any other mate that has a history of cleft palate in its background. Also, as far as possible, avoid breeding dogs that have common ancestors in the last few generations. Breeding close relatives will greatly increase the risk of any heritable condition occurring in the offspring.