I have a very strange request and would be most appreciative of any help. I'm doing research on how people react to animal faces and want to look particularly at animals with cleft lip. I would like to use pictures of puppies, kittens, dogs and cats, preferbaly front on. I was wondering if anyone had any such images that they might be willing to allow me to use? I would be extremely grateful for any assistance.

I cant help, but I didn't realise that it affected dogs. But thinking about it, of course it does. Can surgery be performed on them the same as humans ? Do you know ?
Chris

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A DOG MAY OUTGROW YOUR LAP,
BUT NEVER YOUR HEART.

it can indeed and a lot of the work on surgery on humans has been pioneered with other species with the condition. people have particularly strong reactions to images of infants with cleft lip and we would like to see if something similar happens with animal pictures.

Unlike humans if you have a cleft in a puppy or kitten it is very rare that they will survive unless tube fed. If tube fed there are small chances of survival.. maybe about 3-4 weeks. Hairline clefts are the only ones that may possibly have a chance of survival but only if the breeder decides to prolong that puppies suffering for an extended time until it can have an operation at a later date?
How many breeders would keep a cleft puppy or kitten suffering? Hence why you will possibly not find alot of picture evidence of clefts in adult cats and dogs.. they do exist but not many...

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Suzanne

http://www.tigerkatz.co.uk
Owner/breeder/Exhibitor of Bengals/Akitas/ my children exhibit our pugs

That is very true. Numerous centres operate on infants born with cleft lip within the first few days of life (closing the lip) and I have heard that the same is possible with young animals.

Sorry I can't help with any images,but would like to pick up on the point you made about babies having surgery to correct it.
Babies have surgery around 4 months to close a cleft lip and surgery around 12 -18 months to close a cleft palate.
Surgery is ongoing until these babies / children are well into their teens.

My son was born with a Cleft Palate,thankfully his lip was fine,he has undergone 3 major ops to correct the palate.

Infants CAN have corrective surgery within days of birth to close the lip. I was referring to the lip aspect only.

See: The effect of cleft lip and palate, and the timing of lip repair on mother-infant interactions and infant development
Source: Journal of child psychology and psychiatry and allied disciplines [0021-9630] Murray yr:2008 vol:49 iss:2 pg:115 -123

I have no experience of it in dogs but have had kittens with cleft palate.
As Tigerkatz has already said, born like this they have little chance of surviving, mine I had PTS, so I doubt if you will find very many photos.
Also hare lip is a continuation of a really bad cleft palate, I have personally never had one that bad in a kitten.
Mary
x

I was referring to both and I have dealt with experts within this field.
CLAPA : Cleft Lip & Palate : FAQs: What treatment is available?

A cleft lip is usually surgically repaired by the time a baby is 2-3 months old. It requires a general anaesthetic and takes roughly one and a half hours. The surgeon re-arranges the skin and muscles of the lip so no skin grafting from other parts of the body is needed.

Most babies recover very quickly and will not experience much pain after this operation. Medication is given for any discomfort. The hospital stay for this operation is between 3 - 5 days. A parent is usually welcome to stay in hospital with the child.

We were under a Surgeon at Wordsley hospital in the Midlands,well known for plastics work,this hospital has now closed and my son is currently under Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Again Birmingham are saying 3 months,for the cleft lip to be closed.

West Midlands Regional Centre For Cleft Lip & Palate | Surgery

An operation is performed only when the baby is healthy and not suffering from a cold. It is also important that your baby does not have any vaccinations in the 2 weeks before and after the operation. By 3 months of age, most babies with a cleft lip will be big and strong enough to have it repaired.

Feeding after the lip operation is not usually a problem. The nurse or the speech and language therapist on the cleft team will be able to answer any questions about feeding.

And again this site has a timetable of when things happen,which is not immediatly as you can clearly see,
Cleft lip and palate Treatment - Health encyclopaedia - NHS Direct
In England, all children born with a cleft will be referred to a specialist cleft clinic.

Specialist cleft clinics are dedicated medical centres that are designed to provide life-long support to children and parents.

Working at the cleft clinic will be a cleft treatment team. The team is made up of the healthcare professionals listed below.

A specialist cleft nurse - who can provide initial advice about feeding, and will act as your first point of contact between yourself and the rest of the team.
A surgeon,
A speech and language therapist.
An orthodontist - a dentist who specialises in the reconstruction of the teeth.
An audiologist - a health professional who specialises in assessing and treating hearing conditions.
A psychologist.
A paediatrician - a health professional who specialises in treating children.
Care plan timetableMost children with clefts will receive the same type of care plan, but it will be tailored to meet their individual needs. A typical care plan timetable is described below.

Birth to six weeks - hearing test and feeding assessment.
Three months - surgery to repair the lip.Six months - surgery to repair the palate.
Nine months - post-operation hearing test.
Eighteen months - speech and language assessment,
Three years - a further assessment of speech and language

So I would hazard a guess and say unless you are in a position to pay private,corrective surgery is not done immediatly but around 3 months old.
Do you have a link you can post rather than me having to go looking for it ?

So I would hazard a guess and say unless you are in a position to pay private,corrective surgery is not done immediatly but around 3 months old.
Do you have a link you can post rather than me having to go looking for it?

It is not an issue about whether you can go privately or not. As I have said, some centres adopt the early lip closure practice.

link:

Wiley InterScience :: Session Cookies.

This is not an isolated article, just a very recent one. There are many other recent articles on this issue:
e.g.,
more recent:
Neonatal repair of cleft lip: a decision-making protocol
Philippe Galiniera et al. (2008).

older:
Neonatal cleft lip repair in Ayrshire; a contribution to
the debate
E. FREEDLANDER, (1990)