Humans, navel-gazing and self-obsessed beings as we are, are not relentlessly and unapologetically anthropocentric. We tend to assume that our world is the only one that counts, and that that is different from us is either strange, weird, or otherwise unaccountable. Hence we ask questions like, “Do dogs have belly buttons?” For all placental mammals, or which humans are only one species, an umbilical cord is a necessary part of typical gestation. In humans, you are a scar, a physical reminder or our nine months as uterine passengers.
So, where is a dog’s belly button ?
Dogs are physiologically different from humans in many ways; the difference most relevant to whether dogs have belly buttons is the positioning of the nipples and navel. In humans, the nipples are toward the top of the torso and the navel toward the bottom. In both male and female dogs, the navel is flanked on either side by nipples.
One reason we think to ask, “Do dogs have belly buttons?” Is that we are accustomed to having generally less body hair than dogs and thus having our navels more accessible. Following a successful whelping, the umbilical cords from her puppies. Not only is this scar negligible in size compared to a human navel – and generally flat – but it is also rapidly obscured by fur.
As you can see in the above image of a freshly-whelped Bulldog puppy, there can be no doubt about whether dogs have umbilical cords. Where you find an umbilical cord, you’ll find a belly button. This means that you have the answer to your question, to white, “Do cats have belly buttons?” – is likewise a resounding yes. In humans, or course, the scar is far more plainly visible – it either sticks out or appears as a small ribbon-attracting chasm in our lower abdomen.
A dog’s belly button is really only visible and noticeable for a short time after birth. For many short-or medium-haired dogs, the best place to seek evidence of the connective point of the umbilical cord is right around the little tuft of hair where your dog’s coat meets around the base of the ribs. What we might refer to as a dog’s belly button is usually a small thin scar located just below the end of the ribcage, and just above the start of the abdomen.
As far as belly buttons in the animal kingdom go, humans are outlier to have such apparent navels. We are the only species of placental mammals to decorate them with tattoos or furnish them with jewelry. Monotremes (egg-laying mammals such as the platypus) and marsupials (pouched mammals like the kangaroo) are really the only mammals out there that do not have a true umbilical cord, and thus have a belly button of any kind. Most other placental mammals are more like dogs and cats, in that they have navel scar which simply fades with time.
A dog’s herniated belly button
Indeed, if something goes wrong with a puppy’s development. A hernia is one such unfortunate situation. As you may know, a hernia is basically a condition where something is meant to be securely positioned inside the body. An umbilical hernia in dogs is a medical condition in which the small wound is created when the umbilical cord is severed. Normally, a wall of muscle seals after the spot where the umbilical cord was connected.
The only real question in this photo is not whether this American Cocker Spaniel puppy has an outing, but why it is having glamor shots when it should be at a veterinarian’s office. In my youth, I had a dog who had a very small knob-like bump. I never gave it a second thought, but it was probably an uncomplicated umbilical hernia. An uncomplicated umbilical hernia presents no cause for concern, and often subside of its own accord.
The puppy in the photo is a complicated umbilical hernia, in which parts of the internal abdomen, such as a bit of intestine, protrudes through the gap in the muscle wall. It’s only when you have a dog belly button at all that you should give a dog’s navel any serious thought. Since this child or hernia is most common in young puppies, most canine patients can have their problem repaired around the same time that they are spayed or neutered.
Can you find your dog’s belly button ?
Dog belly buttons are inherently fascinating to people from the moment we notice them as infants or toddlers. While many animals play with poke around in their ears, we are probably the only ones with the spot where our umbilical cord provides nutrients and waste disposal during gestation.