A white American Pitbull recently gave birth to a litter of puppies, but one looks noticeably different from her siblings.
Pearl the Pitbull gave birth to five puppies, three boys and two girls, at her home in Hancock County, Mississippi on November 3, one of which had a bright green colored coat.
Her owner, Annise Tooley, 57, said: ‘I looked it up straight away and they say it’s a rare condition but it’s not harmful to her at all.
“And usually it goes away after a few weeks, but sometimes it doesn’t,” she added, revealing that the pup had been named ‘Fiona’ after the princess from the Shrek films.
This rare condition occurs when light-colored puppies are exposed to biliverdin, a green pigment found in bile, while still in their mother’s womb.
Biliverdin can sometimes mix with amniotic fluid and dye the fur of puppies, causing them to be born green.
A white American Pitbull named Pearl recently gave birth to a litter of puppies at her home in Hancock County, Mississippi, and one of them was born with a green-tinged coat.
Except for Fiona, the rest of the nest is completely white, just like their mother.
Typically, only one puppy in a litter is affected by this pigment, as each puppy has its own amniotic sac while still in the womb.
In most cases it is the weakest puppy of the bunch that is affected.
The green pigment can also be caused by meconium in the uterus. This is when a puppy passes its first stool while still in the womb.
Meconium may contain Biliverdin if the puppy ingested bile while in the womb. And if they poop before they’re born, the meconium can stain their amniotic fluid and dye them green.
Over time, the green color usually fades and exposure to this pigment does not pose any risk to the puppy’s health.
“Fiona is very healthy and extremely active,” Tooley said What’s the jam.
“She also keeps wondering if she should leave her mother and cries when she can’t find her.”
The green-colored puppy was named Fiona, after the character from the Shrek films
Tooley told it WLOX that she didn’t immediately notice Fiona’s green fur because she was born first. But once her siblings were born, it was clear that her coat was different from the rest.
Tooley owns four adult dogs: two Chiweenie Pitbulls and two purebred American Pitbulls.
The two thoroughbreds, Pearl and Harvey, are the proud parents of Fiona and her siblings.
Since she already has four dogs, Tooley plans to send the puppies to other loving homes.
“I wish we could keep them all because they are so cute,” she said. “But we can’t afford that right now.”
The rest of Fiona’s siblings have white fur, just like their mother
“We’re going to sell them all except Fiona, I’m doing a raffle for her,” she added.
Fiona’s condition is extremely rare. About one in 10,000 puppies are born green like her, according to Breedingbusiness.com.
But she is not the first puppy to be born in this unusual color.
Just before Saint Patrick’s Day earlier this year, a Golden Retriever puppy was born with the same green pigment.
Her owners, Greg and Carole DeBruler of Pensacola, Florida, aptly named her “Shamrock.”
“My husband and I have been raising puppies for almost 17 years and we’ve never seen anything like this!” Carole previously told What’s the Jam.
She and her husband were so surprised by the puppy’s appearance that they first tried to rub the color off.
Shamrock’s colorful coat has since faded to its normal golden color.
The amount of time it takes for a puppy’s green coat to fade can vary, but the pigment usually only lasts a few weeks or months.