congenital birth defects?

[madvargas]

9 week old male beagle boy. He was the largest of the little when born and actually resembled a bassett, but quickly slimmed down and became the runt by far. he has quite a few defects. First he would nurse but didnt seem to be getting enough so I started supplementing him 3-4 times a day with a people baby bottle. He drank bottle adequately but never seemed to suck quite right. He is now on watered down can pedigree puppy twice a day with access to dry puppy food and water at all times. I don't seem to see him drink plain water and that is why i water his can food down. At birth he was born with a short tail (now less than half the width or length of littler mates) and quite crooked, so much so, it appears to be off center, all four paws have middle two toes grown together, and left front and back paw have an extra nail on these grown together toes. he has a very short head, ears are not set right and eyes are not set right either. He is about 3 lbs, but all litter mates are at least 6 lbs or better. My Nubby is extremely active and otherwise a normal "chewy" pup. He is full blood beagle with out question. And not inbred to a relative beagle. other litter mates are normal looking beagle pups with one only having a flaw of a crook at tip of tail which hasn't been uncommon in our experiences. just curious if anyone has encountered anything like this. We will be keeping him as I have grown very attached to this baby boy.

[Kapoohski]

Birth defects aren't limited to humans. As long as he is healthy and can get along in the world that is all that is important. Being different makes life interesting!

[madvargas]

Thank you Kapoohski, he is a mess. Glad I didn't give up on him a couple times. I am just dumbfounded at all the differences. He is a quite interesting piece of work. I am in love with the sound of his feet on the wood floors as he runs around assessing his surroundings. I have done alot of reading on CBS and dwarfism in beagles. and really not sure what the heck went screwy during his developement. But hopefully soon i will get him vetted and maybe she will be able to tell me. Not that it matters but curiosity kills the cat with me. needless to say, he will never go outside with out me. He is a major professional digger and dug a hole in the kennel and got stuck on his back for "?" hours one night. when i got home i found him and cried all day cause he never came around but siezed about every 20-30 minutes. I ended up, on the advice of a professional breeded friend of mine, giving him 10cc bolus of D5W subcutaniously. AND, my baby came back to me and with in two days was completely back to himself. Cant wait til my days off to spend time with his little crazy puppy self.................

[alinafrancis]

You should wait a bit, if there is any improvement in his conditions. Of course he might be messy some times but you can give him at least one chance to show any improvements.

[madvargas]

Well nubby is 15 weeks old now. Still only 5 lbs soaking wet. He has given me a run for my mental stability. He stopped eating for me for about 5 days. I would get up thinking I would be burying my baby. Made a trip to Dallas and took him so he wouldn't be alone when he died. The stinker went crazy for chili cheese tots. AND that was the beginning of his recovery and appetite. My sister said he was a junk food junkie. Well we learned a very hard way. No more junk for nubby. He is on an occasional animal cracker. He loves grapes and apples and carrots. Me and my little stinker are blessed with each for more time together!

[Kapoohski]

DON'T GIVE HIM GRAPES!!! Grapes are toxic to dogs. They cause kidney failure. Raisins too. Also never give him chocolate. We had a pomeranian that got into and ate half of a box of Russel Stover valentine chocolates. She had to get her stomach pumped and nearly died.

[Cassie]

Since your dog already has challenges familiarize yourself with the list of foods not to feed a dog. Discuss with the vet what the dog has been eating.

http://www.caninejournal.com/foods-not-to-feed-dog

[cobismom]

Let's just say that you aren't going to be going in the show ring with him. That said, we have a 5 year old beagle boy whose sternum is huge, he looks like Arnold Sch,,,,,, anyway, his breeder couldn't show him, so she lovingly gave him to us to love and adore and spoil,and we have done a great job of all three. She asked us to get him fixed, which we would have done anyway. As he grew his rather grew into his chest, and now if you don't know that his chest is bigger, you don't notice it.... So you are right, feed him, water him, walk him and love him. He sounds like a wonderful pup and will be loved by someone like you rather than destroyed cause he's not perfect.,