Lentil, a French Bulldog puppy with a cleft lip and cleft palate, is raising awareness about the condition in humans, according to a CNN article.
Lentil is the only surviving puppy of a litter that all had facial defects, the article notes. Lentil's owners in New Jersey turned the dog over to the French Bulldog Rescue Network of Philadelphia who tended to him with around-the-clock care. He could not eat or drink without help due to the severity of his cleft palate and cleft lip.
Lindsay Condefer, a volunteer, fed him through a tube, at first every two hours and then every three hours after he had grown stronger. Condefer began to post about her experience of raising Lentil on Facebook, and she was shocked at how many followers he quickly accumulated -- now more than 90,000, according to the article.
Months later, he grew large enough to receive surgery at the University of Pennsylvania veterinary school's Dentistry and Oral Surgery Service. His cleft lip was only a cosmetic issue, so the doctors there only performed surgery on his palate.
The vet school saw an opportunity to add Lentil to a program where they pair up kids and animals that have the same condition. As part of the program, the dog has served as an ambassador for those with cleft lip and cleft palate, visiting hundreds of children. He has also participated in the Children's Craniofacial Association kids' camp in Orlando, FL.
