Cleft Palate Puppy's Rescuer Needs Your Help

BRICK, NJ — As a veterinary technician and certified animal rehabilitator, Jennifer Doherty sees all kinds of difficult animal medical problems.

So when a client of Brick Town Veterinary Hospital on Chambersbridge Road came in a few weeks ago with a 5-day-old puppy that wasn't thriving, it didn't take long for her to see why: Phoenix had a cleft palate.

A cleft palate is an opening between the mouth and the nasal cavity that happens when the tissues separating these two cavities do not grow together properly, according to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons website. The birth defect, which also happens in humans, affects the ability to eat and swallow properly, and can lead to food and/or liquid going into the lungs, which can be deadly.

"Many veterinarians believe puppies with cleft palates are better off being humanely euthanized," Doherty said. "We would not euthanize our children if they had this defect, we would just find a way to treat them. That's what I'm trying to do for Phoenix."

The owner surrendered Phoenix, who is a mutt and is the product of an accidental litter, because the financial and time commitments to care for him exceeded the owner's abilities, Doherty said, so she took him on.

"The owner could see that the puppy was not thriving and brought the puppy to me," Doherty said. The puppy was diagnosed with a very severe Y-shaped cleft palate. "He is not the first cleft palate puppy I have saved." The other one, King, a bulldog mix, is 19 months old and has been adopted out (he's in the photo with Doherty and Phoenix).

"This puppy is full of life and I will do everything in my power to ensure he gets everything he needs," she said.

Right now, that means tube-feeding him every three hours around the clock. But he also will need surgery to close the gap in his palate, Doherty said, probably starting when he is about 4 months old. Phoenix is about 5 weeks old at the moment.

Dr. John Lewis, a board-certified dental specialist at NorthStar VETS, told Doherty it could take as many as three surgeries to complete the reconstruction, and the first costs about $4,000.

In addition to the cleft palate, Phoenix was recently diagnosed as blind and with a defect in the back of his brain that requires an MRI before the cleft palate procedure, she said.

This is far from the first time Doherty has stepped in to rescue animals in need. In 2016, she and her boyfriend, veterinarian Dr. Damian Mazzocchi, fostered a pair of puppies that were found abandoned outside a store in Toms River. The puppies later were adopted into loving homes.

The situation with Phoenix, she said, is a reminder of why it's important to spay and neuter pets.

"Phoenix was part of an accidental litter," she said. Puppies that are part of accidental litters are frequently mutts — Phoenix is part pit bull, part boxer and part border collie — and often wind up in shelters that are already overcrowded.

Beyond preventing accidental litters that lead to unwanted animals, there are medical benefits to spaying and neutering your pets, she said.

Because the care Phoenix needs is costly — the MRI is estimated at $4,000 — there are fundraisers in the works to help offset the costs.

This Sunday, Sept. 3, there is a Day at the Races fundraiser at Monmouth Park for Vet I Care, a nonprofit that helps struggling families with the costs of veterinary procedures. "Phoenix is one of the patients we are fundraising for," the group said in a post in Facebook. Doherty said Lewis, the NorthStar vet, will be collecting donations for Phoenix at the event. (For more information on the "Day at the Races" event click here.)

Brick Town Veterinary Hospital also will be holding a fundraiser for Phoenix on Sunday, Sept. 24 from noon to 4 p.m. with a gift auction, a 50/50 and vendors. There will be microchipping available for $25 and a pet photo shoot, so bring your pets. And no fundraiser is complete without a bake sale; this one, however, is for the dogs: it's a dog cookie bake sale.

Doherty said Brick Township officials are allowing them to use the Civic Center parking lot for additional parking and have offered other assistance for the event at the vet clinic, which treats the township's police dogs. "They have been so helpful," she said.

All of the proceeds will go to Phoenix's medical bills, said Doherty, who has a GoFundme campaign set up as well. It has raised about $2,000 in three weeks. If you would like to contribute a gift basket or other items to the fundraiser, you can email her at TechSitting@gmail.com.

Cleft palates are congenital and can be inherited, Doherty said. "Some animals are much less fortunate and don't ever get the help that they need," she said. "I believe some of those puppies are often labeled as 'failure to thrive' and their breeders may have never checked the roof of their mouth."

She said there is help available for anyone who's faced with a puppy or kitten that has a cleft palate and that euthanasia doesn't have to be the answer.

"There are so many people that are willing to help with cleft palate puppies. There are many Facebook groups that are dedicated to saving these puppies," she said.

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Doherty