French Jessie

11/15/20: Please welcome French Jessie! She is a French Bulldog that was born with a cleft palate and turned over to us by her breeder. She is 5 weeks old and currently under one pound. She will be tube fed every two hours for the time being while we get her stable. Her cleft is open in the front of the mouth but closes off as it goes towards the back of her mouth.

11/16/20: French Jessie saw the vet today for an x-ray and sonogram because of slight head shake. They suspect hydro frontal opening and fluid on the brain. We will put her on medication to reduce pressure. She is eating 20ml every 2 hours and has already gained two ounces.

11/18/20: French Jessie is six weeks old and a little over a pound. She is making steady progress with weight gain. She is not loving the tube feeding so we will try kibble soaked in goat milk next.

11/25/20: French Jessie is seven weeks old and now weighs 2 pounds and 1 ounce.  She is so full of life & doing absolutely amazing. She is eating hard kibble and drinking water. She started her medication today for her hydrocephalus.

12/9/20: French Jessie is nine weeks old.  She is eating hard kibble now with no issues.  She will see the vet in a week for her first round of puppy shots.

12/16/20:  French Jessie had her first round of puppy shots today.

1/6/21:  French Jessie had her second round of puppy shots today.

2/3/21:  French Jessie has all of her puppy shots now and is doing well.  She is scheduled to see the specialist for cleft pallet surgery on 2/24.

2/24/21:  French Jessie had her cleft palate surgery today and all went well.  She will have a feeding tube for two week following surgery.  Once the tube is removed she will transition from wet food back to hard kibble over a six week period while her cleft palate heals. We are hopeful that her first surgery is a total success and that she will not need additional revision surgeries down the road.

3/10/21: French Jessie got her feeding tube removed today and has been cleared to drink water and eat canned food. She is still not allowed to put anything else in her mouth for the time being; not even soft toys. There is a small part at the top of her incision that we will be monitoring closely. We hope it heals completely but if not she will need a revision surgery in the future. We will be updating the surgeon weekly with photos of the roof of her mouth and move forward as instructed by her. We are hopeful that after two weeks of eating canned food that she will be able to transition to the next steps which will be hard kibble soaked in water. Keep sending your positive thoughts her way!

3/24/21- Jessie has been cleared by the surgeon to transition from canned food to hard food soaked in water. And she is allowed to chew on soft toys. If all goes well she should be able to start eating hard kibble again in two weeks.

6/13/21 – French Jessie has been adopted.  Congrats French Jessie and Porter family!

Bully Bag Sponsors: Carol Robertelli, The Foy Family, Lana Norris

Name That Bully Sponsor: Marty and Susan Melson


five weeks old

six weeks old

seven weeks old

nine weeks old