hernia

Question
i had a litter of bassett hounds and there 9 weeks old and one has a inguinal hernia and im not sure what is going on ,for the last week the hernia would go away when we held her a certain way,it was about the size of a pinky finger and now its a bit smaller but hard,where befor it was mushy and she is eating and playing and acting fine,should i be concerned,i asked a few other breeders i know about this and they say it will go away,i love these lil things and ,i am still paying for the c-section that there mom had to have becouse of the size of pups i cant afford to go to a vet if there going to charge me 500.00 and tell me she is going to be fine or tell me she needs surgery if its not necesary, any info would be great t.y so much

Answer
Hi Kristen,

There are 4 types of hernias in dogs.  Has the vet told you specifically that's its an inguinal hernia?  This type of hernia would be located in the groin region of the puppy.

You need to take her to the vet, I'm sorry to say.  Some of these hernias can be manually manipulated and reduced, some need surgery.  Not taking care of it now may very well cost more in the long run.  

I don't know what kind of vet you go to but an office call shouldn't be more than $50.  That's all you need right now.  Your vet should be experienced in hernias, they aren't all that uncommon, and tell you what is needed.  If it requires surgery and you don't have it done, you're risking the health of the puppy.  If it can be manually reduced, you've taken care of it and not had to pay for expensive surgery.  :)

Another option to ask is to do an early spay and repair the hernia at the same time.  It's always possible...2 surgeries for the price of one so-to-speak.