Walrus Syndrome in three English Bulldog Puppies: Case Report

Juanita Aristizabal1, Edwin F. Buritica 1 2, Irma Ximena Barbosa 1 2, Diego F. Echeverry 1 2

1Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny, Tolima University, Ibagué, Colombia
2 Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Research Group, Tolima University, Ibagué, Colombia

Introduction
The walrus syndrome, also called water puppies syndrome, is a congenital and deadly disease that affects the foetus of
many dog breeds, mostly the English bulldog, French bulldog, and Pugs. This disease is characterized by the presence of
subcutaneous oedema and fluids accumulation in thoracic and abdominal cavities. The aim of this report is to describe the
first case of walrus syndrome in three English bulldog’s puppies reported in Colombia.
Case Presentation
A three-year-old English female bulldog was presented to our institution clinic due to difficult birthing .Through the use of
ultrasonography foetal bradicardia (169 bpm), liquid accumulation in subcutaneous tissue, thoracic and abdominal
cavities, and pulmonary atelectasis was detected. Due to these findings a cesarean was performed; as a result, five live and
three dead puppies were obtained. At the necropsy of the three dead puppies, subcutaneous oedema, fluids accumulation
in thoracic and abdominal cavities and pulmonary atelectasis were observed. Likewise, in one of these three puppies cleft
palate, cleft lip, renal haemorrhages, and patent ductus arteriosus were observed.

A B C

FF
TC
FF

LV
D
L

TC

Figure 1. Foetal ultrasound findings using a 15MHz lineal probe A. Foetal bradicardia (169 bpm) ; B. Doppler echocardiography and free fluid in
thoracic cavity; C. Free fluid in thoracic and abdominal cavities. FF= Free fluid, TC= Thoracic cavity, L= Lungs, LV= Liver, D= Diaphragm.

A B Cl C

Cp

Tc

Cr
Figure 2: Necropsy findings in the three dead English bulldog puppies A. Differents degrees of subcutaneous oedema; B. Liquid accumulation in
thoracic cavity; C. Cleft palate and cleft lip. Cr= cranial, Tc= Thoracic cavity, Cl= Cleft Lip, Cp= Cleft palate

DISCUSSION
For the authors knowledge this is the first description of walrus syndrome in Colombia. Only three scientific papers describe this
congenital disease in dogs from other countries such as Poland (Stańczyk et al., 2013), Pakistan (Cunto et al., 2014), and India
(Sridev et al., 2016).The walrus syndrome is a congenital condition resulting from an imbalance in the homeostasis of the foetal
fluids, however its precise aetiology is unknow (Cunto et al., 2014). The clinical, ultrasonographic and pathological findings found
in these puppies are similar to those described by other authors. (Stańczyk et al., 2013; Cunto et al., 2014; Sridev et al., 2016).
CONCLUSION
The presence of ultrasonographic and pathologic findings such as: subcutaneous oedema, fluids accumulation in thoracic and
abdominal cavities, cleft palate and cleft lip must suggest the presence of walrus syndrome in puppies.

References:
 Cunto M, D Zambelli, C Castagnetti, N Linta, and C Bini, 2014. Diagnosis and treatment of foetal anasarca in two English Bulldog
puppies. Pak Vet J, 35(2): 251-253. .
 Lumbers ER, Gunn AJ, Zhang DY, Wu JJ, Maxwell L, Bennet L, 2001. Nonimmune hydrops fetalis and activation of the renin-
angiotensin system after asphyxia in preterm fetal sheep. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 280(4):R1045-51.
 Stanczyk, E., Twardoń, J., & Niżański, W. (2013). Five cases of spontaneous resolution of hydrops foetalis in a dog - case report.
16 th EVSSAR Congress