“Hope is the last thing ever lost.” (Italian proverb)  I found that when looking for quotes about hope, or in this case Hope. <3 I like it. Especially if it refers to baby Hope.

My heart is a bit lighter today, because I think, maybe I’ve solved the mystery, and why baby Hope has had such a struggle. Not that I’m “happy” about my discovery, but just being able to put a finger on things is a relief.

I think baby Hope has a cleft palate. Obviously, I’m not a doctor and can’t technically diagnose this. She was so young and tiny that my vet apparently didn’t notice anything obviously abnormal at her first visit. You see, if you look up “cleft palate” images on the internet (come on, you’ve all tried the internet diagnosis thing 😜); they have the obvious cleft lip, or there’s the palate with an obvious split or opening in the roof of the mouth. You can’t miss it! All I see in baby Hope is a really high palate and even that, is way in the back of her mouth. The other puppies all have flat, straight looking palates. And I’ve never had a puppy with a cleft palate before so nothing to reference from in my memory bank. But that would explain all the problems she’s had in her short life so far

So I don’t have an official diagnosis or a prognosis; just a guess. We’ll wait to see what the “real” doctor has to say next week at Hope’s recheck.  But that’s what Dr. Mom thinks. 😉