Breeding question are unbiblical hernias genetic?

[phillipsgsp]

Got into a good conversation about unbiblical hernias today with a friend and both of us had some questions that we did not know the answers to. What is the common opinion, genetic or not? Also, if a dog did not have one, but one of its litter mates did, does it have the ability to pass the gene on to its offspring. Is it possible for the gene to skip 1 or 2 generations and then show up? We are talking about litters that some people have and only 1 or 2 pups out of the litter have the hernia not the whole litter or 75% of the litter. Also we are talking only about hernias at the navel . Any info and answers to educate us will be greatly appreciated. We know someone that has a few hernias pop up from time to time and don't know what to think of it.


Chad

[Brittguy]

It is possible for a characteristic to skip generations.Some things only show up when both parents carry the gene , so it will depend on the breeding. Some people feel this can happen when the mother chews through the cord too harsh,even so maybe there is an inherited weakness in the stomach muscle.I talked with my vet once about this and he said it was an inherited problem.

[bobman]

Yes they are genetic.

[ezzy333]

Some are and some aren't. Some are caused if the cord is chewed off too short. And some could be caused by the puppy being injured when young by being stepped on amongst other things.

Ezzy

[Dave Quindt]

Unbiblical hernias, huh?

I went back to the source, and found a few things that apply:

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

I'm guessing that diving intervention is your only chance of getting the true answer. If only Noah had understood recessive genes we could have culled this out years ago.

Sorry, but I've been chuckling about this all evening.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming,
Dave

[Sharon]

It's a hernia that needs to be blessed by the Pope.

[NE Vizsla]

Chadt this is Rob on Marshalls computer. I think that several things can cause them and possible one being genetic. I really don't see that big of problem with them. You will see them more in bigger littles I've been told because of the length of time it takes to have the pups ups the chances of them. Also I think most are caused by the bitch chewing the cord off. As for it skipping who really knows just have to take your chances I guess. Last litter of twelve I ended up with two pups with umbilical hernias but I let Josie chew off her own cords. Who knows really I guess.

[snips]

I do not believe the bitch causes this. I have had some of the ruffest, chewing bitches around, and never caused a hernia. I believe the tendancy is inherited.

[DGFavor]

Haha! Good stuff from the peanut gallery!! Had to share with the co-workers, just what we needed here at work after a super busy evening here in the ED!!

Umbilical hernia!

[highcotton]

IMO it is a genetic.

[rockllews]

From my personal, albeit limited, experience, I strongly believe that in most cases, they are usually genetic. The mode of inheritance isn't known, though, and I haven't read any studies that even tried to figure it out. With two litters (same parents), we had about 1/3 afflicted, but we neutered the sire before he had a third- I know it was from his line, but we had too few subjects to come up with any good inheritance reasoning. Our vet wasn't sure if it was genetic or environmental, but with that high incidence, I've got to say genetic. All the herniated pups were spayed (by their owners) and I've yet to breed one of the non-affected bitches. I'll be curious as to the outcome next year....

There may be the odd case here and there caused by physical handling at birth, but that support is from cows- a dairy vet I used to work for pointed out to me that they had had a large number of cases of umb.hernias on calves when there was this one worker who pulled calves and handled them very roughly- when he was no longer working there, it seemed to solve the problem. In our case, we (carefully) did the cords ourselves, so it wasn't because they were too short/torn.

You'll get the argument, too, about what is a real hernia vs "delayed closure." Well,for the latter argument, a hernia is caused by a delayed closure of the umbilical ring, so I'm not seeing the difference. And in both, it is fatty tissue inside; only in severe cases of umb.hernias do part of the intestines actually get caught down there (strangulation) and that's when it is a health issue. Repairs are simple, though, as far as surgeries go....

In general they're not an issue with adult dogs- the danger, from what I understand, is when the pups are still young and the ring is still closing. You just want to make sure that no intestine strangulates.

[phillipsgsp]

Sorry about the bad spelling, I knew what I ment to type. So this dog has had 3 litters and in her first litter there were 0 hernias, in her 2nd litter (of 12) there were 3 hernias, and in her last litter there is 1 that has a very slight hernia. What would the best thing be to do? not breed her again? We are again talking about 3 maybe 4 pups out of about 30 living pups that he has had with the problem.

Chad

[snips]

:roll: Looks like we got some Smart A$#@'S around here!

[lvrgsp]

Let me ask you more knowledgeable folks this. Would it be more apt to happen if the Bitch had a bad bite, say OS or US where she could not get to the cord properly?

Chip

[bobman]

I had a bitch bred ( only one litter) that had a hernia and two of her pups had them also, the birth was c section and the bitches bite was not a factor.

I knew it was a possibility but I kept the entire litter and had the pups neutered and the two pups with the hernias were fixed surgically.

[BigShooter]

Sorry, no dog is perfect. On my list of potential problems to avoid or eliminate, delayed closures are not near the top.

JMO,

Mark