{"id":12702,"date":"2016-06-10T08:48:52","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T15:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.accessrx.com\/blog\/?p=10872"},"modified":"2013-06-10T08:48:52","modified_gmt":"2013-06-10T15:48:52","slug":"puppy-cleft-lip-l0610","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/puppy-cleft-lip-l0610\/","title":{"rendered":"Puppy With Cleft Lip Helps Kids With Similar Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pet<\/a>
Pet therapy offers hope to kids.<\/figcaption><\/figure>A five-month-old French bulldog named Lentil is helping kids with facial abnormalities. The 10-pound puppy named Lentil was born with cleft palate and cleft lip. Now he travels from hospital to hospital to help kids deal with the emotional struggle that comes with such problems.<\/p>\n

Lentil’s early days<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lindsey Condefer, a volunteer with a rescue group, took Lentil in. He was the only puppy of his litter to survive, but the first three months of his of life were touch-and-go. Condefer had to feed him through a tube.<\/p>\n

“In the beginning, he ate every two hours throughout, over a 24-hour period, and then as he got older, we were able to stretch it to three hours,” she explains.<\/p>\n

Knowing Lentil would need surgery to fix the cleft palate that made eating and breathing difficult, Condefer sought the help of two surgeons. They were able to fix his palate, but left his cleft lip, since it wasn\u2019t causing any medical problems.<\/p>\n

Lentil\u2019s story goes public<\/strong><\/p>\n

Condefer decided to write a blog while she cared for Lentil, and eventually the puppy had a following.<\/p>\n

“I started the blog first just to sit and write and get all my thoughts out, to like let people know what I was feeling and going through,” says Condefer.<\/p>\n

“And then the blog turned into his Facebook page, and I remember looking at him and thinking … ‘Wait, he has 3,000 people following him? Oh my gosh, he has up to 10,000?’ ”<\/p>\n

Helping kids<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now Lentil tours around hospitals, spending time with kids who craniofacial abnormalities, like a cleft lip.<\/p>\n

\"Doctors
Doctors say pet therapy can help children deal with emotional struggles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Seeing him meet these children — and he would just go up to them, sleep on their lap and you could see how they related to him and how he related to these children — it was wonderful,” Condefer tells CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“He’s here for a reason, and he’s made it for a reason, and that’s what makes him special.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A five-month-old French bulldog named Lentil is helping kids with facial abnormalities. The 10-pound puppy named Lentil was born with cleft palate and cleft lip. Now he travels from hospital to hospital to help kids deal with the emotional struggle that comes with such problems. Lentil’s early days Lindsey Condefer, a volunteer with a rescue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-health-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t