Umbilical Hernia and Showing

[Kebasmom]

My B has a small umbilical hernia. Should I have it fixed before showing him or is it ok to show him with it? Will judges be prejudicial if he has a small hernia or do they even notice that?

[JazzysMom]

Jazzy had a small umbilical hernia and was shown to her championship. It was never an issue.
We didn't get it fixed until she was spayed this summer.

[Quercus]

Umbilicial hernias usually aren't a big deal for showing, or anything else in Basenjis. I have seen some with fairly sizeable hernias being successfully shown. They are VERY common in the breed. Two of our six had one. Blondie's was fixed during a tooth cleaning. Luna still has a pea sized one.

[tanza]

Umbilicial Hernias are common for Basenjis. Almost I think all of mine had them and some quite large. My Maggii did (it was fixed when she was spayed) and she was a multi group placing bitch, never bothered her… I would never just have it fixed unless something was going on... The fact that you "can" even have it fixed according to AKC is reason enough that is not considered anything to worry about. And I have never seen or heard of a judge commenting on them either

[Basenji_Boy]

http://www.basenji.org/african/phil6003.htm

Seems the African natives view it as a good thing…...interesting.

Many Basenji puppies develop umbilical her-nias, generally acorn-sized. If your Basenji has one, you may be fairly sure that it is an inherit-ance from Belgian Congolese ancestors and a mark of authenticity. Dr. James P. Chapin of the American Museum of Natural History has told me that nearly all Basenjis in the eastern Congo have umbilical hernias. The larger the hernia, ac-cording to the standard of the Pygmies' Basenji-Fanciers Association of the Ituri Forest, the handsomer the dog! This characteristic is also desireable in humankind. In the Ituri, an umbilical hernia is a beauty mark and a social asset, and its possessor is always admired and excites favor-able comment, everywhere he goes. Expectant mothers persuade the great African preying mantis to crawl over their distended tummies for this is the only certain way to induce lovely um-bilical hernias in their babies.
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When the puppies are six months old, the small hernias have generally disappeared or, at least, are not obvious. Breeders light-heartedly tell clients that these are only layers of tissue or of fat and can easily be corrected by pressing them through the abdominal wall several times a day. I have yet to hear from a new owner that this meth-od is actually effective. My veterinarian maintains that the large ones are always potentially danger-ous and should be corrected by simple surgery. At any rate, even with large umbilical hernias, Basenjis live long, healthy lives; and one old bitch, the pillar of a kennel that does nation-wide busi-ness, has one the size of a teacup but, for the seven years that I have counted, has whelped litter after litter without suffering damage. The En-glish and American Standards, strangely, ignore the subject; and judges pay no attention whatever to them although they are usually spotted by overly sensitive ringsiders.—Walter Philo, NY, New York

[Quercus]

@Basenji_Boy:

http://www.basenji.org/african/phil6003.htm

Seems the African natives view it as a good thing…...interesting.

Many Basenji puppies develop umbilical her-nias, generally acorn-sized. If your Basenji has one, you may be fairly sure that it is an inherit-ance from Belgian Congolese ancestors and a mark of authenticity. Dr. James P. Chapin of the American Museum of Natural History has told me that nearly all Basenjis in the eastern Congo have umbilical hernias. The larger the hernia, ac-cording to the standard of the Pygmies' Basenji-Fanciers Association of the Ituri Forest, the handsomer the dog! This characteristic is also desireable in humankind. In the Ituri, an umbilical hernia is a beauty mark and a social asset, and its possessor is always admired and excites favor-able comment, everywhere he goes. Expectant mothers persuade the great African preying mantis to crawl over their distended tummies for this is the only certain way to induce lovely um-bilical hernias in their babies.
top of page
When the puppies are six months old, the small hernias have generally disappeared or, at least, are not obvious. Breeders light-heartedly tell clients that these are only layers of tissue or of fat and can easily be corrected by pressing them through the abdominal wall several times a day. I have yet to hear from a new owner that this meth-od is actually effective. My veterinarian maintains that the large ones are always potentially danger-ous and should be corrected by simple surgery. At any rate, even with large umbilical hernias, Basenjis live long, healthy lives; and one old bitch, the pillar of a kennel that does nation-wide busi-ness, has one the size of a teacup but, for the seven years that I have counted, has whelped litter after litter without suffering damage. The En-glish and American Standards, strangely, ignore the subject; and judges pay no attention whatever to them although they are usually spotted by overly sensitive ringsiders.—Walter Philo, NY, New York

Hmmm…interesting...I think I would draw the line at a tea-cup sized hernia though:eek:

[tanza]

Yikes, tea-cup size… :-).... and another thing that really gets me, I have placed pups only to have the owners take them to a Vet and the Vet launch into "this is a defective dog... it will die from the Hernia..."... yikes, like get a clue.. and this was on a small size one....

[dash]

I think there is the umbilical hernia which is safe and non-lifethreatening and then there is the other hernia that can be life threatening. In the latter, the intestine is right under the skin instead of being protected from the abdominal muscles. Right???

[BasenjiDiva]

@dash:

I think there is the umbilical hernia which is safe and non-lifethreatening and then there is the other hernia that can be life threatening. In the latter, the intestine is right under the skin instead of being protected from the abdominal muscles. Right???

That is pretty much what our vet said…if you can feel the intestine come up into the defect, you should have it corrected. When we have Cory spayed, we will probably go ahead and have her hernia repaired.

Pat

[tanza]

There are lifethreatening types of herinas and those you can not fix and then show your dog according to AKC rules.

[Quercus]

@dash:

I think there is the umbilical hernia which is safe and non-lifethreatening and then there is the other hernia that can be life threatening. In the latter, the intestine is right under the skin instead of being protected from the abdominal muscles. Right???

A umbilical hernia is a spot that didn't completely close at birth in the abdominal wall. It is really a question of how big the gap in the interior is. If is big enough that intestines could slip through and twist, then yes, it absolutely needs to be fixed. If it is a tiny hole (as most in Bs are) and just a little fat slips through, then it is not dangerous.

And they are super easy to fix during a spay, because the vet has to cut through the abdominal wall to get to the uterus….so there is no reason not to fix it when a spay is done.

[lvoss]

When Rally had her emergency c-section last year it had the side effect of "fixing" her umbilical hernia. I know they did not do anything special to fix it. It was just a side effect of where the incision was made and how she was stitched back up.

[nala121498]

Tea cup sized?? Yikes! I was nervous about my little puppy's tiny one! Nala's was repaired when she was spayed.

[JazzysMom]

@Quercus:

A umbilical hernia is a spot that didn't completely close at birth in the abdominal wall. It is really a question of how big the gap in the interior is. If is big enough that intestines could slip through and twist, then yes, it absolutely needs to be fixed. If it is a tiny hole (as most in Bs are) and just a little fat slips through, then it is not dangerous.

And they are super easy to fix during a spay, because the vet has to cut through the abdominal wall to get to the uterus….so there is no reason not to fix it when a spay is done.

My vet had me gently rub/push on Jazzy's umbilical hernia – just a bit as she lay across my lap {in her usual upside down fashion} -- each day to push that bit of fat back in a bit. It was kind of weird feeling, but it did get smaller over a short period of time.
It was also repaired when she was spayed -- not sure if they made an effort, or if it just happened as a result of the surgery.

[khanis]

When your pup has an umbilical hernia that NEEDS to be repaired, you will not hesitate to notice it.
For the first time ever, we had one repaired that was seriously bad overnight. It was a pinkish tinge then the next morning it was purple and getting darker. This was from a small portion of the intestine being strangulated.
Surgery was done the following day and then you'd have never known he had such a nasty hernia.

I've shown many a basenjis with good-sized umbilical hernias. I think it is a crap-shoot whether they will get them or not. I've had some good sized ones when I tied off the cords well. Also had them when I didn't… it is something that just happens or doesn't.... and I think it happens more often than not!

One of my bitches had puppies last year and she has a good sized hernia. My only concern with her having puppies was that the pups would try and nurse on it. Luckiloy she has such a small litter, that there were plenty of faucets elsewhere and not a single puppy attempted to nurse on it. This year, I won't have any worries over it, as she successfully nursed all her puppies with no issues. I'll have it fixed when she is spayed this winter, then we just don't have to look at it anymore!! :eek:

[tanza]

Hey Kathy, that is why I had to have Mickii's fixed… she let Maggii's pup nurse on it and yes, it will and did turn a nasty purple color... We had it fixed that day and like you would never know there was a herina there.....

[saba]

I had Saba at the Vets the other day, and the Vet had a look at his small hernia. I asked if it could be repaired while he was under anaesthetic having his hips/elbows done. She said we could do it, no problems. Then her great words of wisdom were, "You dont tend to use him in any breeding program do you ??? Its a genetic problem, and he should NEVER be bred from…" I just stood there aghast, I couldnt answer her, I just stood there catching flies, my jaw had dropped so much :mad: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[lvoss]

I can't tell you how many vets have told me "that dog shouldn't be bred" for things that in grand scheme of things is not something I would eliminate a dog from a breeding program for.

The first time I had Nicky's eyes examined for CERF he had a tiny mark on his eye that could have been a place where a PPM was attached but could also have been caused by several other things including injury. The opthamologist said that he should be neutered and never bred because of it even though it may not have even been genetic. He will be 11 in December and CERF'd in August and I have never had a vet opthamologist comment on his eyes since then except to say that they are in great condition for his age.

When I took Rally in for her hip x-ray for OFA at UC Davis, the vet saw her umbilical hernia and said, "It is great that you are doing this health testing but you know this dog should never be bred." She just stood there speechless when I told her that if breeders eliminated every good dog because of an umbilical hernia that we do severe damage to our genepool by drastically reducing the number of breeding animals.

[tanza]

And the fact that AKC even lets you repair an unbilical hernia and still show, only says volumes about how/what they feel about them. I think that 80% or more Basenjis have umbilical hernias… Fatia had a huge one, as did her Mom, Mickii (story of hers being fixed in an earlier post)...

And yes, Vets totally go off on them... I have placed pups only to have the new owners calling me in tears that the Vet told them their pup was defective and that they should return it immediately. My response... I give them my Vets name and phone number (who has many, many Basenjis in the practice) and tell them, please have your Vet call my Vet.... usually solves the problem..... And I agree with Kathy's statement, its a crap shoot if a pup gets one or not. In the litter that Fatia was in (her and 3 boys), she had a big one, Tego had none, Scooter had a very small one, and Butch had a small to medium one....

[Patty]

Dear All - the umbilical hernia as you say is very common in the Basenji and quite a number of the original imports into the UK from Congo had them. In many years involved with Basenjis I can recall only a handful where it was essential to have the hernia 'fixed'.
Sometimes the wall closes or gets closer trapping the intestine and then an op is definitely necessary. You can spot this is happening when the hernia gets hard so its really only a matter of keeping a watch.

Quite frankly it is my belief that many judges don't even notice them! (I'm speaking of the UK as I have no experience anywhere else!) Incidentally I always leave the dew claws on my dogs and in many years of showing I have had only one judge actually mentioning this!! I can only assume that they jsut haven't noticed.