Puppy Was About To Be Put Down, But The Vet Nurse Wasn't Having It.

By Editorial Staff in Nature On 16th December 2016
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#1

In April of 2015, a chocolate Labrador was brought for a C-section at the VCA Veterinary Care Animal Hospital and Referral Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

It was actually vet tech Chelsea Whitney's birthday that day. The Lab had nine puppies but one of them had a cleft palate, which meant that the dog would not live for more than two weeks. The family chose to have him euthanized because they thought the puppy was suffering. But Chelsea had other plans, she couldn't stand the thought of this happening and just had to step in.

#2

Chelsea shared the heartwarming story on her social media! She posted this, "Knowing the sucker I was, another vet tech got the family to sign the puppy over and got me to foster the puppy." This little guy was the perfect birthday gift for Chelsea.

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#3

Purebreds such as Labradors have a high rate of occurrence with Cleft Palate.

"It is a blessing to be able to provide humane euthanasia to puppies with cleft palates. Depending on the severity of the cleft, and if it affects the hard or soft palate, puppies usually do not thrive," she explains. "The space in the roof of their mouth does not allow them to suckle properly, and they eventually die of starvation."

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#4

Although the puppy was given around-the-clock care, his chances of his survival were still very low.But that didn't stop Ms Whitney in the slightest.

She wasn't going to give up on him. She brought the pup to the clinic everyday where it was easy to feed and stimulate him. She fed him through a tube and syringe every 1-2 hours, which was a very exhausting job.

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#5

This pup was a fighter and Chelsea saw that. She named him Bronson after her favorite roles played by Tom Hardy. Tom's character Charles Bronson was one of Britain's toughest prisoners.

The little guy didn't care that he was born with Cleft Palate... he was in this world to stay.

#6

Bronson was very active and loved to run around the house like a "madman" as he got older. He also had completely attached to her fingers as he constantly needed to suck on them. This, in turn became a touching bonding experience for them both. "Many cleft palate puppies that survive will often carry this trait with them to adult hood," she says.

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#7

The vets informed Chelsea that the pup's cleft palate was a particularly bad one.

It extended from his hard palate all the way to his soft palate. "The surgeon I worked with was a little skeptical about my taking this type of genetic defect on, but was also wanting to see how he would do," says Chelsea. "He would continue to monitor Bronson's defect so we could decided a day for surgery."

#8

He had become everyone's favorite puppy at Chelsea's clinic. Although Bronson was very social, he also happened to have "terrible, terrible manners." He became obsessed with putting everything in his mouth. This was harmful especially for him, considering his health condition.

#9

Bronson had also turned into her therapy dog. "By the time he was 3 months, he had already traveled to Hot Springs, Arkansas, Denver, Colorado, and Tucson, Arizona. My husband and I tube-fed him in the back of the car at gas stations on the 13 hour drive to visit his parents," she explains.

"I experienced for the first time in my life the need to keep something little forever," she wrote.

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#10

She was very persistent with the surgeon about the surgery but he insisted on waiting. As Bronson grew, his face grew, and his palate grew longer and closer. So did his mischief...Chelsea always had her hands in his mouth pulling everything out.

#11

It was his 1st and her 31st birthday, and it was finally time for the surgery. The day she had been waiting for so long had finally come. "My baby boy, my best friend, the bane of my existence and the absolute love of my life, was finally going to have a normal life," she wrote on Imgur.

#12

The first few weeks after the surgery were nerve-wrecking, but he came through.

His tissue has now completely healed and he is able to play with toys, chew on raw hides, swim in lakes, and go on walks like any other dog.