A Better Beginning For Rocco The Cleftie

Little Frenchie Rocco came to me at 3 days old on January 10, 2023. He had a severe cleft palate, so his owner contacted me for help with keeping him alive.

A cleft palate occurs due to a failure of the roof of the mouth to close during development in the womb. This results in a hole between the mouth and the nasal cavity. That hole can allow food and liquids to travel into the lungs, causing aspiration, which can cause pneumonia or even sudden death.

I tube fed him in the beginning, which entails placing a tube into his mouth and passing the formula directly into his stomach, every 2 hours, around the clock. The weaning process began at 5 weeks. Doing so with him, was scarier than any other clefties I've raised due to the severity/size of his cleft. He now really struggles after eating with wheezing, sneezing and coughing fits. The possibility of him aspirating are high due to the size of the cleft and also because the cleft is on both the front (hard) palate as well as the back (soft) palate. Taking all of this into consideration, the decision to have the surgery to repair the cleft has been made. I've been looking into vets that are willing to do the surgery (very few will) and getting an estimate on the cost is difficult. I'm told that every cleft is so different that they all require a different procedures to repair. However, my research tells me that the cost will be between $3,500 and $4,000, so for now, I'm setting the goal at $4,000. Please consider donating so the Rocco can have a better beginning in what we hope to be a long, happy dog life!

Thank you in advance for giving him the best chance of that being a reality by donating!