A French Bulldog, Born With Cleft Lip and Palate, Inspires Children with Facial Differences

Meet Lentil, a 5-month-old

who was born with a cleft lip and palate. Lentil's inspirational story began in New Jersey, where he was the only survivor of a litter of puppies all born with facial defects.Shortly after his birth, Lentil was rescued by the 

, who knew he would need special care and attention. As founder of the non-profit 

, Lindsay Condefer proved to be the perfect foster mom.The first few months of Lentil's life were touch and go, as he struggled to eat and drink on his own, and had to be fed through a tube. Eventually, Condefer sought help from the veterinary doctors at the University of Pennsylvania, who performed surgery to fix his cleft palate, leaving his cleft lip intact, as it was decided to be a non-threatening cosmetic issue.

The Perfect "Ambassadog"

After his surgery, his doctors realized that Lentil's inspirational story lent itself to a new program being developed at U Penn to support kids with certain conditions. The program aims to help kids cope with their conditions by matching them up with animals with the same conditions. Doctors felt that Lentil would be the perfect "ambassadog" for children with facial differences.Since then, Lentil has visited hundreds of children at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he is a very popular visitor.The surgery to repair Lentil's cleft palate was successful, and he can now eat and drink on his own. When he is not visiting children, Lentil is an adorable fixture at Condefer's pet shop,

, in Philadelphia.Learn more about Lentil on his

!