- Owned by
- 1 cocker
Here's a story about an English cocker spaniel born with a cleft palate helping children affected with same disease.
Pamela Cowan
2/5/2009
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=4d69ca11-543f-4a82-9a82-149665c43828
Peanut, an English cocker spaniel with a cleft lip and palate, has been making rounds at the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre.
Six months after Peanut was born, staff at the centre asked his owners, Pat and Jim Schinborn, if they'd bring the dog to the Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic to visit kids while they waited between their appointments with a number of health-care professionals.
The Schinborns both work at Wascana and have a two-year-old grandson with special needs, so they didn't hesitate.
Peanut's first clinic appearance in November grabbed the attention of the clinic's dentist, physicians and plastic surgeon, as well as some of the school-age kids.
Carolyn McKinnon, a speech-language pathologist who works with children who have cleft lips and palates, recalled one small boy's reaction.
"Pat was explaining to one of the kids that Peanut has a cleft lip and palate and one of the boys who was six years old said, 'I've got the same thing and I had trouble eating!'"McKinnon said.
"He definitely got that the dog has the same condition and the difficulties that can come along with it."
She explained a cleft is an opening or a split in the lip or the palate, which occurs between the sixth and 12th week of pregnancy and affects one in 750 children.
"Before the palate is repaired, and that usually happens when the child is about 12 months old, there can be difficulty swallowing with liquid coming through the nose, but there are bottles that have different nipples that can help," McKinnon said. "Making sure that they're getting enough nutrition can be an issue at the beginning."
Initially, it looked as though Peanut's difficulty eating would tip the scales against him.
"He weighed only 190 grams when he was born in June and we noticed on the second day that he was losing weight even though he was sucking--then we knew something was wrong," Pat said. "We had to bottle feed him for seven weeks."
At six months, the pup's cleft palate was repaired.
"His lip still turns up a little bit and his teeth kind of stick out, but we're quite happy with him the way he is--he's kind of unique," Pat said. "He's a happy little guy. The(staff)asked if I'd be interested in bringing him to more clinics and I said, 'Sure, if it will help the kids.' And I get joy out of that, too."
Pamela Cowan
2/5/2009
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=4d69ca11-543f-4a82-9a82-149665c43828
Peanut, an English cocker spaniel with a cleft lip and palate, has been making rounds at the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre.
Six months after Peanut was born, staff at the centre asked his owners, Pat and Jim Schinborn, if they'd bring the dog to the Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic to visit kids while they waited between their appointments with a number of health-care professionals.
The Schinborns both work at Wascana and have a two-year-old grandson with special needs, so they didn't hesitate.
Peanut's first clinic appearance in November grabbed the attention of the clinic's dentist, physicians and plastic surgeon, as well as some of the school-age kids.
Carolyn McKinnon, a speech-language pathologist who works with children who have cleft lips and palates, recalled one small boy's reaction.
"Pat was explaining to one of the kids that Peanut has a cleft lip and palate and one of the boys who was six years old said, 'I've got the same thing and I had trouble eating!'"McKinnon said.
"He definitely got that the dog has the same condition and the difficulties that can come along with it."
She explained a cleft is an opening or a split in the lip or the palate, which occurs between the sixth and 12th week of pregnancy and affects one in 750 children.
"Before the palate is repaired, and that usually happens when the child is about 12 months old, there can be difficulty swallowing with liquid coming through the nose, but there are bottles that have different nipples that can help," McKinnon said. "Making sure that they're getting enough nutrition can be an issue at the beginning."
Initially, it looked as though Peanut's difficulty eating would tip the scales against him.
"He weighed only 190 grams when he was born in June and we noticed on the second day that he was losing weight even though he was sucking--then we knew something was wrong," Pat said. "We had to bottle feed him for seven weeks."
At six months, the pup's cleft palate was repaired.
"His lip still turns up a little bit and his teeth kind of stick out, but we're quite happy with him the way he is--he's kind of unique," Pat said. "He's a happy little guy. The(staff)asked if I'd be interested in bringing him to more clinics and I said, 'Sure, if it will help the kids.' And I get joy out of that, too."
