Even though Sam is no longer with us, I wanted to share his story with you. Sam was a designer breed, a Maltese Bichon mix. Sam was also born with many many birth defects because his owners did not research either parent and just wanted to make cute puppies. Sam had a deformed skull which caused seizures, a deformed jaw, hind legs that did not have knees, scoliosis as well as some internal deformities. When Sam was surrendered to us, we were told that he was not expected to live much longer. He had no muscle tone because he was carried everywhere. When our vet examined him, he didnt think Sam was in any pain, but told us that because of all the issues he probably had a few months to live. We controlled his seizures with medication and decided to give Sam the best months of his short life. With a little encouragement, Sam learned to walk then run. He got stronger and thrived. Sam made it past his first, second and then third birthdays to the amazement of everyone. But his deformities continued to get worse as he grew. Because of the skull deformity the seizures could no longer be controlled. Sam lived to be 3 years, 4 months old. Designer breeds have what some may call benefits, but they also have the dark side that no one ever talks about. Many of the designer dogs we have taken in had deformities, like Betsy the Maltichon with the deformed hind legs, and lets not forget Calvin, with his lethal heart defect. There is no genetic testing done to find out about possible problems with backyard breeders or commercial breeders aka puppy mills. These puppies are normally destroyed or are kept for breeding regardless of any defects. Just something to think about.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 01:01:20 +0000
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