Update

Hi all,I hope everyone's well.I have been meaning to update but time is just flying by at the moment.
Whether you understood my previous posts about a puppy or not,you will probably gather that on 8th July I am to welcome our new arrival,Oscar,the minature Dacshund....WRONG !!
We had some bad news two weeks ago now,at the time we thought things were going to be so upsetting,and dont get me wrong,we have been so very upset,but I will digress and see what you think.
Little Oscar has a cleft pallette,for those not in the know,in his case anyway,this means he has a slit or opening in the roof of his mouth from the area of the front teeth to near the middle of there.It is serious and was especially so when he was trying to suckle.Milk was going straight up his nose,and any first solids too,yes it is uncomfortable for him but it is dangerous too.Firstly and most obvious was that he wasnt getting the nutrients to his stomach and thus was small and underweight.However,also when eating solids,should they collect in the hole and cause an infection,he could develop pnumonia and may have to be put to sleep.
Alot of breeders dont report cleft pallettes because the puppy usually  passes away from starvation in the first few days,without them being aware alot of the time.( I dont want to be controversial here so I am being careful with my words),however it is also the case that people dont want a puppy that has this problem as it means problem eating,supervision and a possible operation.
Oscar is now nearly 8 weeks old,I am happy to say he is gaining weight through the hard work of the lady breeder who has him now.She has offered us Oscar for free as we felt we would have him anyway.However I have another bit of news,we are buying his sister Molly,there were only two pups in the litter,Molly was due to go to another buyer but he backed out,and we felt Oscar stood a better chance with his sister beside him.
He is thus far almost the same size as Molly now,he has battled hard and we are hopeful that he continues to do so.I dont want to jinx anything here so I cant be too optimistic.
So we will have double trouble but double the love in the house soon.Oscar will probably need an operation to close the cleft at about 6-8 months old,if it doesnt close on its own,but thats rare.He has to thrive and continue to grow until then,the later it is left the better the prognosis of the cleft not re-opening.I have no idea on the cost but as things go,a specialist vet will probably be needed,as alot of puppies do not survive this or are put to sleep,so theres not alot of vets who can do this operation,Im sure we will be looking at around £600.00.I think he is worth it.
Around the same time we will have Molly Spayed,thats not cheap either but can I just say that sometimes in life you have to have faith.Whether you have religion in your life or not,I believe that all things happen for a reason and that without the effort made to help Oscar survive he would have perished,if he makes it and has the operation,if it is successful,it was meant to be,hes a fighter and a little darling.Molly is a blessing,we hadnt paid any attention to her when we visited Oscar,as we thought she was going to someone else,so we have made a massive fuss of her recently,what an absolute angel she is,so loving and funny,a little pudding tummy and she snuggles so sweetly to you if you cuddle her.Our house needs this love in it,to ease alot of pain.
I cant wait until next friday,wish us luck and prayers for Oscar please,we need them.
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