raindog Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 If any of you are ever in the unfortunate position of having to hand-rear a litter of Siberian Husky puppies (or any northern breed/cross for that matter) the following information is really, really important. Milk replacements might not be sufficient! Three years or so ago, one of our litters was born by caesarian section. When the mum recovered consciousness after the anaesthetic, she rejected the puppies and refused to feed them. As a result, we had to hand-rear the whole litter. Three years on, two of the pups have been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes, despite both parents having tested clear for Hereditary Cataracts. One was very mild but one was much more serious. After some research, the diagnosis was refined and the problem identified as juvenile nutritional cataracts. Luckily, the poor dog with the more serious problem has responded well to surgery and is doing really well. When discussing this on another sibe forum some time ago, someone mentioned that there had been an article on this phenomenon 10 years or so ago in the SHCGB magazine. The important part of the article was as follows: "Another type of cataract is the congenital or nutritional cataract. This is caused by the lack of the amino acid arginine in the milk given to puppies when they have to be hand reared. The syndrome is well known in wolves, which are often hand reared in zoos or by people who wish to keep them as pets, although this is thought to be because the composition of wolf milk is different to dog milk. Nutritional cataracts have been known to occur in arctic breeds and a case in Samoyeds is described in the scientific records. A recent case has occured in Siberians and a possible case has been identified in a litter of Siberian/Samoyed crossbreeds, so it is possible that the arctic breeds have a milk composition more similar to wolves than dogs. This matter is still under investigation, but the problem is well known in wolf hybrids, so anyone having to hand rear a litter from a very early age should investigate the possibility of obtaining an arginine supplement from their vet." So, please follow the advice from the last line of the quote - "anyone having to hand rear a litter from a very early age should investigate the possibility of obtaining an arginine supplement from their vet" Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunc Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Great info Mick thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 great thread mick, added to rep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.