My newborn puppy has one nostril, can't breathe or feed. Help?

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.

Oh no. Breathing issue in a newborn are considered critical. Take a pediatric bulb syringe and suction out the nose and throat area for any residual liquid. I suspect that your puppy may have gotten fluid in the lungs. There could be a congenital defect (i.e. cleft palate) that could have caused this or it could have been accidentally done by aggressive feeding from the mother where milk went down the trachea instead of the esophagus. It is critical to take puppy to your ER vet if he continues to having difficulty breathing after you suction everything out well. He may need oxygen support (if tongue is blue or not oxygenating well) and antibiotics if he is found to have aspiration pneumonia. Constipation is also a concern but doesn't take precedence over the breathing problems. Please get puppy help asap because he is considered to be in critical condition and in need of medical assistance.

I would be concerned that this puppy may have a cleft palate, hence why it is effected when suckling. You can look at the roof of the mouth for a defect, but I would suggest going to your vet regardless as this is not normal.

Hi and thank you for your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Unfortunately there is not a whole lot that can be done for this at home until it is seen by your veterinarian, but keep the puppy warm and make sure it has access to mom's milk. Also if fluids haven't been cleared out quite enough after birth, you may use a bulb syringe to help suck out fluid from the puppy's nose and mouth. I hope this helps and best of luck with Lulu!

It looks like this puppy has a cleft palate. This is a genetic abnormality, and can only be corrected by surgery when he is older. You need to take him into a vet immediately as he cannot feed with this, and will need to be fed in a special manner if he's to survive long enough to get the surgery. Please take him, his mother, and her other puppies into a vet immediately. Best of luck.

Yes, this can be dangerous as your puppy may aspirate some milk into the lungs and develop serious pneumonia as a result. Your puppy should be checked for cleft palate - sometimes a small cleft will not stop the puppy from feeding from the mum but at the same time some milk may get into the nose and lungs. I think you can check it yourself by looking at the roof of the puppy's mouth. If you are not sure how to do it, please take the puppy to your local vets.

Gucci may have been born with an abnormal nostril or he could have had an injury early in life. Regardless, I’m not sure that it will be problematic but just a cosmetic difference. I would encourage you to have him evaluated by a veterinarian soon, to make sure there are no other congenital changes. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.