Hernia

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Does anyone's Goldendoodle or doodle have a hernia? When we were getting Aden I noticed that he had one. The breeder said if it doesn't go away then she will give me $100.00 back, does that seems ok etc. What can you doodle parents tell me about it???

[Ginny Nightingale]

With a small umbilical hernia, a tiny part of the intestine is protruding thru a small opening in the muscle wall of the abdomen--as the pup matures, this can close (I have my vet daughter's expert opinion on this, as we just went thru this with a pup). If it is a big hernia, you have to be more careful because, as the muscle wall closes, it can strangulate the intestine--in other words, some of the intestine gets "caught" on the outside and the blood supply can be cut off. SO, a big hernia often means that spay or neuter should be done right away--and it usually adds about $100 to the cost of that surgery.

I had a pup with a very small umbilical hernia that I did not notice until the pup was almost 7 weeks old and I was with my pups and handling them all the time (which full-time  breeders often do not have the time to do). It only popped out a bit when he was struggling to get out of my arms--as he strained, the intestine would protrude just a tiny bit. So, I can see how a breeder may not notice if it is small--and my vet would not have checked for it if I had not told her it was there--they usually expect the breeder to find it and point it out if it is very small--they have a lot of other things to focus on at the well puppy visit.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Bella had a small hernia and since we waited about 6 months to spay her, our vet did say it might close on its own and to keep an eye on it. My breeder did notice it and tell me about it and did offer to pay for the repair. We never discussed a price but I think she would have paid any reasonable amount. It only ended up costing to price of a stitching $6.00. I was not going to ask the breeder for $6.00.
I did go to a spay and neuter clinic and it was much cheaper than the $125.00 my Vet quoted me to repair, which she would do while she was under for the spaying. The Vets estimate for spay and repair was $750.00. That ofcourse was having her stay overnight and probably an IV. At the clinic, the spay, hernia repair and pain medications cost $90.00 and I picked her up from the clinic within hours of waking from anesthesia and recovered her at home myself. No problems whatsoever. I was very comfortable doing this and had about a week off work anyway to be with her regardless of who did the spaying. Keeping her calm was the hardest part. And she never even licked either surgery sight and we never used a cone.