My kitten has a cleft palate or split jaw. What are its survival chances?

Hi and thanks for your request. Prognosis for these cases is unfortunately poor. If elected, treatment of cleft palate depends largely on the size and location of the defect, and the degree to which the affected puppy is currently affected. hat even after successful surgical correction, long-term complications as a result of the cleft palate defect are possible, even likely (like upper rspiratory tract infections). At the same time other concurrent malformations can occur and may affect the Daxy your are taking care of.

Although the pictures are not very clear it does indeed look like there are significant birth defects in the facial structure which may not be compatible with life. I recommend a full physical exam by a vet as soon as possible in order to assess long term prognosis. Birth defects can arise for many reasons including genetic issues, exposure to toxins during development of kittens or in some cases for no apparent reason at all. I would consider neutering the mother to prevent passing on any genetic predispositions in the future

She might be suffering from a condition called "cleft palate" which is a birth defect, enabling passage between the oral cavity and nasal cavity. You need to take her to the vet in order to get it checked ASAP, if this is the case she will need a surgery to repair this problem.

Hello, sorry to hear about Lele. That is technically not a cleft palate and more so a fracture of her hard palate. It may heal on its own, however, this should be a recommendation made by your veterinarian after they examine Lele. She may need a CT scan to fully evaluate the extent of the damages within her mouth and head. I would recommend having her evaluated immediately by your veterinarian or a surgery team to determine if Lele needs any surgical procedure to stabilize her injuries. Hope this helps and best of luck.

It really depends on how severe the defects are. The larger the cleft palate the more risk to the puppy for failure to thrive from lack of nutrition and aspiration pneumonia. These puppies can require a lot of care to try to give them time to mature to see if the defects will close a little. Ultimately surgery is typically required to address the defects. These surgeries are best performed by a boarded surgeon for maximal success. I have attached a link below with more information. I would recommend that your puppy be seen by your family vet to assess the extent of the defects. If tube feeding is indicated he/she can show you how to do this. This puppy should also be weighed daily, be monitored for dehydration, and be monitored for signs of pneumonia. These puppies and parents of high risk breeds ideally should not be bred as genetics are the main cause of this issue. I hope this helps and thank you for using PetCoach! https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/cleft-palate

Oh goodness. This is very concerning for a cleft palate. I would highly encourage you to reach out to the organization and have them schedule you an appointment with their veterinarian. This is a very dangerous and serious condition. Best of luck and I hope you have an answer soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Yes, it looks like this puppy has a pretty severe cleft palate. I would recommend having the puppy evaluated by the vet. Some of these can be fixed surgically. The vet may show you how to tube feed this puppy to make sure the milk is getting to the stomach and is not being inhaled through this hole (so that the milk gets into the lungs and causes pneumonia). You should start weighing the puppy daily on a small kitchen scale to make sure it is gaining weight every day.