A friend/breeder has had her first cleft palate puppy. Through perseverance and sheer determination on both their parts, he's survivied & is thriving now. A question came up that I have no clue about and hope someone else knows about.....can cleft palate pups/dogs swim??? On a separate note for personal interest....will a cleft close on its own or require surgery? TIA

I have a cleft pup who is now 8 years old. She has never been swimming as she is at a higher risk for aspirate pneumonia. Her's is quite severe and runs from just behind her front teeth all the way through the soft palate. When she was spayed the vet was shocked that we saved her as a puppy. She said we could try surgery to close it but they'd have to do bone grafts to help close it. She has had very few problems over the years. Her main is a local infection and drainage/saliva that has stain one side of the corner of her mouth and front leg. Other than eating stuff she's not supposed to, she's been a very healthy girl and continues to flourish in her environment. She loves life and makes us laugh on a daily basis.

The surgical closures are being done at young ages today. I've heard of several done at 7 to 9 weeks. Check with your vet to get an idea would be my suggestion.

We had our first last year, it looked pretty severe at birth but as he grew it turned out to not be so bad.He thrived and was the same size as his littermates. I had him seen by a specialist who recommended not doing surgery unless it became a problem as he was doing so well and his wasn't severe at all. I asked him about swimming and he said his wasn't so severe that it would be risky, so I would think that it should be checked and based on that individuals severity.His new family had it fixed anyways and had him neutered at the same time when he was 6 months old.

It can and should be closed by surgery. Aspiration pneumonia will eventually kill the puppy if it is not corrected. Good luck to the puppy and kudos to the care givers.

Thanks to everyone for your replies! I've passed it along.

Tiffany/Have one....another question if you don't mind....how do you remove any food particles from the cleft or is it necessary? TIA

The family that adopted Tiffany's puppy had it closed on the advice of their vet.

Of course food particles need to be removed constantly and the area cleaned carefully if the opening is not closed. Technically the opening should be closed to avoid infection and aspiration pneumonia. I suggest they go for a 2nd opinion with a vet experienced in cleft palates. Leaving it open can only cause problems. It's an easy surgery and done young. If it is large, for sure it needs to be closed.

After the puppy making it through all it has, what a shame it would be for aspiration pneumonia to make the puppy ill or worse.

Tks! JMHO - I agree on having it surgically closed and this may be done but it's not my pup. I'm just trying to gather info from people who have "been there, done that".

Actually no their original vet told them it wasn't severe enought to fix it either. The family that has our cleft palate puppy then took it to a teaching vet university hospital where they were told they could have it fixed and they paid alot of money to have the students learn how to fix one.

His did not need to be fixed as he could drink and eat normally and was not at what would be termed a considerable risk(no more than a normal littermate ) for nor had he had any episodes of aspiration or infection. He chewed bones and rawhides and even sticks and snow balls just like the rest of his litter from the time they had teeth.And lest we not forget they had him neutered the same day as well.
When he was a little puppy we used a wet Qtip to clean the cleft,once he was about 6 weeks old his flattened out considerably and was way narrower across than when he was born, and he no longer needed to have it cleaned out.We fed him soaked Orijen which he could easily swallow.His water bowl was raised a couple of inches,just like those nice bowl holders generally are.We checked it anyways but it never needed cleaning.

All clefts are different and should be evaluated by a specialist as one individual may need a repair while another the surgery is more of a risk than the severity of the cleft. Knowing that the vet that delivered him thought his was severe at birth and gave us the option of euthanasia,instead we chose to try to see if he would make it, only to have him survive and thrive and turn out to be very minor is a lesson to me as well.

Granted I think it gave the family some confidence he wouldn't get sick, however the specialist told me he had no more chance of getting sick than his littermates.
Personally knowing what it looked like We would not have had it repaired unless it ever became a problem which was highly unlikely,as there is always a risk with any major surgery(and it is MAJOR surgery) and anesthesia. The family led us to believe they felt the same way about the cleft and early neutering. In hindsight we would have picked a different family to adopt him.I'm sorry if I sound so pissed off about this but it's still pretty raw for us.

The one thing the specialist did tell me was that while they(other vets) are repairing them at younger ages,even 9 weeks , due to how much the tissue changes and remodels with growth he does not recommend doing them before at a minimum 4 months and preferably 5.He's seen many that needed to be redone because they were done too early.

I had one about 5 years back, and my vet did do surgery at 7 and 12 weeks.
it is a matter of cutting the roof skin along the gum line to allow expansion. it is pulled together in the middle and sewed up.

This worked wonderful on a pretty severe cleft and the dog is thriving well.

Tks for the detailed info Tiffany!