9/3/19: Please welcome Bogart! He was born on 8/28 by c-section on 8/28 at MS State Vet School. The breeder did not want him because of his cleft palate. The breeder turned him over to one of the students who has been taking care of him the past week. She reached out to us to see if we could take him into rescue. Hew as transported from MS to Ga today and will spend the next few months with one of our volunteers. At this time, he is being tube fed every few hours. If he needs corrective surgery when he gets older then we will certainly make that happen for him. For now, we will do all that we can to help him grow big and strong.
He saw the vet today and the vet did notice anything else wrong with him other than his cleft palate and a little cleft lip too. He weighs 11 ounces today.
9/10/19: Bogart is two weeks old today. He weighs 1 pound and 2 ounces. Which at two weeks old he should be 2 pounds. So he will be running a little behind each week. He is still currently eating every three hours around the clock until he reaches two pounds. But he is thriving & gaining about 1 ounce a day. His eyes are not open yet. Which is a little unusual but because of his slow start could be reason of delay.
He has moved in the clear past signs of SB or hydro. He is not deaf, he follows sounds. He is moving all about and lifting himself on all four. We don’t see any leg or hip issues. He does have a cleft lip, and gum line but it is hardly noticeable.
The cleft palate will be challenging as we move into wean feeding stage. There is a risk of aspiration pneumonia. We will continue tube feeding him for a few more weeks.
9/17/19: Bogart is three weeks old today. He weighs 1 pound and 11 ounces. He is now eating goats milk every four hours. He is about one pound behind in weigh for a dog his age. His eyes are open now with no visible issues. He will move into a playpen tomorrow with more room to walk around. He will see the vet this week for his three week check up and first deworming. We are going to continue tube feeding for another few weeks and go straight to feeding him dry kibble. We want to avoid feeding mush to reduce the risk of infection and aspiration pneumonia. We will start to teach him how to drink from a bottle.
9/24/19: Bogart is four weeks old today. He weighs 2 pounds and 7 ounces. We have seen a few worms in his poop. He is learning how to use a puppy pad and will get to feel grass under his paws very soon. He is a handful he is walking and very curious of his surroundings. He is beginning to play with his toys. And he has a overall really great temperament.
10/1/19: Bogart is five weeks old today. He weighs 3 pounds. He is still about one pound behind for his age. He went to the vet with concern of his left eye; it has been cloudy. The vet said he has an ulcer and prescribed eye ointment to be put on eye four times a day. Other than that he is doing great and has a very great temperament.
10/8/19: Bogart is six weeks old today. He had his first bath this week and started eating dry kibble. He is still getting goat milk with his food. He is still not drinking water from the bottle, but we are working on it. His cleft palate is sealing off and he should not have any issues as he gets older. He does still have an eye ulcer, so we are continuing with the medication to keep it lubricated. His vision is poor in that eye currently. He will have his second deworming this week and first set of puppy shots. He is fully puppy pad trained and is learning how to potty outside. He loves running around in the grass.
10/15/19: Bogart is seven weeks old. He weighs 4 pounds and 7 ounces. He is eating dry kibble with no goat’s milk. He is drinking water out of bowl with no issue. We are no longer seeing worms and he will be getting his last deworming this week.
10/22/19: Bogart is eight weeks old. He weighs 7 pounds and 6 ounces. He is doing great drinking water and eating dry kibble from a bowl. He has had no infections or issues with drinking or eating. We believe that since he has not had any infections so far that he will likely not have any moving forward. But he does get one piece of kibble stuck in the opening after each meal. We are having to remove it with tweezers, q-tip or small toothbrush. He does not like this at all. Other than that, he is pretty easy going, happy, feisty and playful!
He goes back to the veterinarian next week for his 9-week second set of puppy shots, another deworming and will have his left eye rechecked. His ulcer has still not healed so we will continue with medication and monitor it closely.
11/5/19: Bogart is 10 weeks old. He weighs 8 pounds. He got is second set of puppy shots last week and will get his third set in two weeks. We will be consulting with the specialist regarding a cleft palate surgery to close the gap in the roof of his mouth. He is still a little too small to have this surgery but will likely be a candidate in a few weeks after he reached 10 pounds.
11/19/19: Bogart is 12 weeks old and he weighs 8.8 pounds. He got his third set of puppy shots and his eye rechecked. His eye ulcer is cleared up. He is scheduled to have his cleft palate surgery on 12/2. He will have an esophageal feeding tube for two weeks after surgery.
12/3/19: Bogart is 14 weeks old and he weighs 12.2 pounds. He had his cleft palate surgery yesterday and all went well. He is on strict restriction for the next two weeks while he has his esophageal feeding tube. He can not have anything in his mouth; no food, no water, no toys, no bones and no bulldogs (he loves to chew on his foster brother).
12/17/19: Bogart is 16 weeks old and he weighs 13 pounds. He had had his esophageal feeding tube removed yesterday and is able to eat food and drink water from a bowl again! He is still on strict restriction and is not able to chew on things or play yet. He will eat canned food for the next two weeks and if all looks after that he should be cleared for adoption.
1/7/20: Bogart is 19 weeks old and weighs 15 pounds. He is still a little guy! His mouth is healing great, but he still on restriction. Today we are switching from canned food to hard food soaked in water. He is allow to chew on soft toys. As soon as the membrane is fully healed he will should be allowed to have hard food and bones again. He will be cleared for adoption at that time.
1/21/20: Bogart is 21 weeks old and weighs 19 pounds. It appears that the membrane is fully healed and he is able to eat hard food again. We will monitor him closely over the next few weeks to be sure the membrane is thick enough to handle hard food in his mouth. He is so close to being cleared for adoption!
3/5/20: Bogart has been adopted. Congrats Bogart and Robin!
