Ziggy has had a lump on his tummy ever since his owners have had him. It’s called an umbilical hernia. The umbilicus is an animal’s belly button and it is where the umbilical cord was attached to them when they were a foetus in the womb. Normally, when the puppy is born, the cord breaks and the connection closes up.
In Ziggy’s case, the connection didn’t close up completely, leaving a small hole in his tummy muscles. This allowed fat from his tummy to squeeze through the hole and cause a lump under his skin. There is no known cause for the problem, but there might be a genetic component.
The lump on Ziggy’s tummy is his umbilical hernia
Sometimes larger hernias can allow the intestinal organs to fit through the hole but in Ziggy’s case it was just fat that could fit through.
This illustrates an umbilical hernia in a person where the organs sticking through the hole in the muscle wall
Last week, we desexed Ziggy and fixed his hernia at the same time. He has recovered really well and should not have a problem in the future.