Open cleft palate

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Permalink Reply by Maryann Marsh on February 3, 2010 at 10:27am

I have never had one but from what I have read in the past it is called a cleft or soft palate. You can run your finger along the roof of the mouth to check for holes. If the baby nurses and milk comes out of its nose, this can be a red flag for a cleft palate (not a full development of the roof of the mouth.)

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Short on February 3, 2010 at 10:36am

Thank you for responding. I have a fiber girl (she will be 2 years old in April) that I am purchasing and I was told she has an open palate. She did ok during the nursing faze of her life. She does sneeze. The seller has told me she has been vet checked and has been doing fine. I have mixed feelings on this as I am just looking for some answers. I don't mind that she will be a fiber pet only, just concerned for the future problems if any.

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Permalink Reply by Pat Skelton on February 10, 2010 at 1:10pm

I was going to take a girl with a cleft palate to give her a home, like you, for a fiber animal. even though she would have been free, I started wondering about vet bills if she had complications due to her condition. I talked to my vet, and fellow alpaca breeder, she said you just have to make up your mind how far you are willing to go for this animal. If she asperates ( I'm sure I spelled that wrong), or gets pneumonia, which they are prone to do, you have to be willing make a tough decision. I don't know how bad the palate is on yours, the one I had was pretty bad.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Short on February 11, 2010 at 7:58pm

Thanks Pat. The little girl I am getting is 2 and I was told that the palate is not bad. She has not had any problems to my knowledge. The vet that had seen her before had mentioned possibilities of pneumonia as well. She said there is no guarantees with her as there is none with a healthy one. I definitely have my concerns.
How old was the girl you were considering? Did she have any previous medical problems that you are aware of? Is she here in AZ as well?

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Permalink Reply by Pat Skelton on March 10, 2010 at 3:27pm

I ended up not having to make a decision about the girl. THey found another breeder that had experience with this.
I'm glad this doesn't happen too often. Did you get the girl you were talking about?
I didn't realize you were out here in AZ, too. Maybe we'll run into each other at the show in PHoenix. this week end

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Permalink Reply by Maryann Marsh on March 11, 2010 at 2:07am

Yes! Interested to know if you got the girl or not as well!

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