There is a repro vet (Mary Wakeman) that has written an article about them. This is what she says causes swimmers:
"1. Excessive milk consumption - due to a mother with great deal of milk willing to stay in the whelping box for long stretches. This is what accounts for repeated litters of swimmers from one bitch. 2. Flat whelping box - no way for a puppy to alter pressure on the rib cage by crawling up onto a toy or something similar. 3. Temperature in room too warm - puppies are content to lie in one position and not move around looking for a warm spot. Delayed walking and aspiration pneumonia are possible consequences of this flattened shape." I don't necessarily agree with her explanation of the causes, but the only thing I've had to do to fix the problem is to frequently turn the puppies on their sides. I have never done any hobbling or anything of that sort. Hobbling is probably only necessary on chunky puppies, or those puppies in which the condition is severe. I suspect that some people have puppies with flattened ribcages and never even notice, and sometimes the condition may right itself without intervention if the pup isn't too fat to get up on its feet. Leanne ----- Original Message ----- > Myra - What are swimmers. I gather that they are puppies that don't use > their legs properly -- but what causes it and how do you cure it ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
