I recently came across the amazing story of Lentil, which is heavily trending on the web right now. Lentil is a 6-week-old french bulldog puppy born on February 2, 2013 and is the only survivor in his litter of 4 (one of them also was born with a cleft). Taken from his mother too early, surrendered by his owner, and left in a state when failure to thrive was at its greatest, this little fighter won the hearts of thousands of people all over the web. Now he has almost 23,000 fans (and counting) on his Facebook page, a loving foster Mom and is growing stronger each day – soon to find a forever home with the help of the French Bulldog Rescue Network.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m one of the biggest dog lovers in the world, but this particular story really pulls on my heart strings. During my specialty training in Pediatric Dentistry at Stony Brook University, my director was an integral part of the multi-specialty Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Team at the Stony Brook Medical Center. He would get paged when a baby was born with a cleft (lip, palate, complete or partial) and he would drag us into the hospital to see the whole process begin. I was blown away. Dr. Fred Ferguson would examine the baby, take an impression of the baby’s mouth in sticky compound material and design an appliance that the baby would use to feed (and thus thrive) properly. He would design the appliances with acrylic and medical tape and work off of trial and error, following the babies for weeks and months and continuously designing different appliances designed to help the child feed, mold the soft tissue and other functions in preparation for various surgeries that the child would undergo in phases. It was magically, especially given the fact that Dr. Ferguson was never officially trained to do so. I realized how very crucial that first contact with the baby is in order to set the child on a course to thrive and grow properly. Any child who has the support of a cleft palate team from birth is fortunate as it is not a luxury everyone has access to.Let me return to Lentil who is the first dog I have ever “encountered” that has been affected by a cleft. It’s not just cosmetic, but functional as well. Without the help of his foster mom, a daily 3-hour tube-feeding regimen to keep him healthy, monetary support from donations and the French Bulldog Rescue Network Lentil would not have survived. It’s his own little cleft palate team. As much as I wish I could bring you home myself, I’m rooting for you, special little bean!… I’m sure you will find a wonderful family and home soon!
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