pennys pups 8 weeks old trip to the vets hernia and heart murmur explained

Finally the day arrives, now all puppies are 8 weeks old across both litters, i think this is more a mile stone for me than for the puppies it has been a lot of hard work, especially this last week keeping so many of molly's puppies for extra weeks due to their new owners on holiday is a lot of extra work as they are older have more energy poo more and are more demanding. 

Yesterday all Penny's pups went to the vets for their first injection, health check and micro chipping, for most it was their first ride in a car as well. They all cried when they had their injections unlike molly's litter who were all very brave. 

From penny litter had 2 puppies that have umbilical a hernia, this is where a lump forms where the umbilical cord was cut, this is a weakening of the muscles in the stomach wall causing fluid to pool in a small movable soft lump. We spotted these a few weeks ago and informed their new owners they chatted with the vet and were happy to proceed. A hernia is common and while it needs keeping an eye on watching for it getting bigger, not being able to push it back up and getting red or lumpy and the puppy should go to the vet. Possible outcomes of hernia are that it can go away and correct itself as the puppy grows, it is most likely it will stay at it is and a surgeon will fix it when the puppy is neutered, in rarer cases it can become bigger the intestines can fall through the tiny hole and cause blockages and infections and in un dealt with eventually death, of course in this is very unlikely once you know about it and keep an eye on it which is why is it when buying a puppy you should feel for a lump on the tummy, and if the breeder has not bought your attention to it, ask your self what else haven't they told you? 

One of penny's pups was also diagnosed with a grade 2 heart murmur, this is not a common condition but can be detected in puppies.The grading of a heart murmur is out of 6 so 2 is quiet. the advice given by our vet is that the puppy is young and still developing so it is too early to tell if this will be a heart defect that will affect puppy for the rest of their life. Once detected in a young puppy you must then wait until the puppy is 6 months old to take to the vets to listen to the heart again, if the murmur is still present at that age it will likely remain forever. At this point puppy will have a scan and a cardiologist will diagnose what is causing the heart murmur, then depending on the condition, it will then be managed for the rest of the doggies life, this can mean no change at all and the dog will live a normal life, it can need medication and can also develop worsening heart disease, which will limit the dogs ability to exercise and can in unmanaged cases cause death. 

One of the reasons we feel that the vet inspection before sale is so important is so that new owners know exactly what they are getting. it was a very difficult phone call to inform the new owner of the defect, but i expect that it was far more difficult for them to hear. There is nothing we as breeders could of done differently, in every other way the puppy was health and happy. The new owners were happy to still have puppy once speaking to a vet and friends an family, and i think knowing we are here for support must be reassuring.