RubyTuesday said:
Thank you for the info. I also got following responses from the people I inquired.
"...From what I read it seems its pretty common. I just wanted to add another thing I saw that you might want to pass on to your breeder:
As a note, umbilical hernias in puppies are a genetic or congenital defect in over 90% of the cases. The disorder is passed from generation to generation just like the color of the coat or the animal’s overall size. Very, very rarely are they caused by trauma or excessive pressures during whelping...."
Apparently there's some controversy or disagreement about this. I found the following Cavalier Health page published on the site of a community college by an English teacher who is Cavalier breeder(
http://www.delta.edu/pahutchi/cavaliers.html)--on her health info webpage, she says that umbilical hernias are "usually" caused by birth trauma (cord too short). I would be interested to have the source of the info from which the writer you quote got their statistical generalizations--what was the source of their information?--in order to best evaluate it.
The breeder linked above also says that inguinal hernias rarely go away without treatment. Here's the link to the health info page:
http://www.delta.edu/pahutchi/health.html
Animals that have a hernia or had a surgical repair of a hernia should never be used for breeding. Additionally, those adults that produce puppies with this condition should not be bred again.
I'd like to hear more about the reasoning behind saying this. Is this person including the very common and harmless umbilicial hernias in this recommendation? If umbilical hernia is extremely common and it's harmless, it goes away on its own or causes no negative effectis, it doesn't usually require any treatment, it has no impact on being able to show and win championships, then what would be the value in not breeding those dogs?
This is what i'd like to ask this person. I would want to point out that this would result in increasing the already dangerous and harmful inbreeding that shapes and creates the breed of cavalier king charles spaniels and would be certain to cause more genetic problems than it would fix--i would fear that umbilical hernia would be traded for more serious health problems caused by further restrictive pressure on the already small gene pool that has caused these sweethearts so much disease and suffering in the first place.
I would want to ask whether this person would share my fear and caution about this--have they considered it? Or would they say I am misunderstanding the consequences of inbreeding and a narrowly restricted gene pool and that this would not be a concern? I'm just beginning to try to learn more about this. So far, I'm finding info suggesting that cavalier health problems are attributed to narrow breeding practices generally. I would not take what this person says on face value but would want to address these kinds of questions, maybe they know more about this subject that i would be interested in learning.
I doubt there are reputable breeders who would follow the advice to never breed dogs with umbilical hernias however. so far, the discussion of this that i've heard by breeders (like Karlin, i just read a mail list discussion by breeders in the past couple of days, maybe it was the same discussion she refers to) has emphasized that umbiliical hernias are not a concern in this breed. One person said that "this is the one you don't have to worry about." That suggested to me that others, including inguinal, should be cause for greater concern. And Kendall's comments (Rory's mom) articulated what i had found on the web about this kind of hernia (Rory's mom is a vet in training at one of the best schools in the world
! ) which is that they should be investigated as to whether the intestines are protruding, and if so there's serious risks, requiring close monitoring and possibly urgent treatment.
The breeder's taking the pup to vet this Thurs and I'll have more info.. Thanks for your kind words about my precious pup! She is so lovely and gorgeous
That's great that she's getting it checked out. Ruby is beginning her life with the best of attention and love and appropriate concern. I know she's going to have a wonderful life. :flwr: