{"id":1751,"date":"2021-05-04T11:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T15:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/?p=1751"},"modified":"2022-07-11T11:23:21","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T15:23:21","slug":"squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Squirrel,
Princess Squirrel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She was struggling with eating and drinking on her own, as well as playing and chewing on toys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thick, white mucus would build up and make it hard for her to swallow or breathe through her nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of that, it was difficult for her to gain weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is how she looked when she was first adopted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Squirrel<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Her foster explained: \u201cShe is choking & sneezing food and mucus out her nose every day, anytime she moves around, plays or chews on toys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe almost lost her a few times the first year,\u201d said her foster. \u201cSo she is a fighter for sure. She is a spunky little thing loving life!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her diagnosis? A cleft palate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that there was a split in the roof of the mouth (similarly, a cleft lip is a split in the lip).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That split allowed food and water to go up in the nasal passages, causing difficulty breathing and constant infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That also meant that she could not get the proper nutrition her body needed to grow properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the reason why a puppy (or a kitten) with a cleft palate is typically the runt of the litter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, a bit of anatomy. When you touch the roof of your mouth, it is firm because there is bone behind it. You are touching your \u201chard\u201d palate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PICTURES OF THE CLEFT BELOW ARE GRAPHIC AND ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bone then disappears in the back of the mouth, so that part of the palate is called the \u201csoft\u201d palate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on preop pictures, Squirrel clearly had a cleft of the hard palate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surprise came when we put her under anesthesia. A more thorough exam revealed a cleft in 100% of the roof of the mouth. So little Squirrel had a cleft of the hard palate and the soft palate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all of the pictures of the mouth below, Squirrel is on her back, and you see the inside of the roof of the mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pre-operative\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Surgery entailed stealing tissue from Peter to give to Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WARNING: THE PICTURES BELOW ARE GRAPHIC, SO CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We created a \u201cflap\u201d by using healthy tissue from each side of the roof of the mouth to cover the defect or split in the middle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, we were able to cover the entire defect in the hard and the soft palate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"During<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Squirrel went home safely the day of surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had to be kept quiet and away from chew toys and hard food for 3 weeks to protect the surgery site and the stitches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her foster took exceptional care of her\u2026 She did not spoil her at all as you can see in this picture\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Only two days after surgery, her foster commented: \u201cShe is eating watered-down canned food, and lots of it. She is also drinking better. Hardly any sneezes. She doesn\u2019t seem painful. I am amazed at how well she is doing honestly!! She seems surprised she can breathe through her nose and not sneezing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four days after surgery, she kept improving: \u201cSquirrel is now eating soft can food. No water added. She ate half a can this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three weeks after surgery, we examined her mouth under sedation to assess the surgery site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, 100% of the surgery area \u201ctook.\u201d The left side of the mouth (the pink area) still needed a bit more time to heal as nicely as the right, but I was reassured that everything worked out after the first surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Healed\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Squirrel\u2019s foster concludes: \u201cI cannot thank you enough for giving her this gift! She now has a new lease on life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, FFcert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.DrPhilZeltzman.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem. She was struggling with eating and drinking on her own, as well as playing and chewing on toys. Thick, white mucus would build up and make it hard for her to swallow or breathe through her nose. Because of that, it was difficult for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[183,273,274,157,121,156],"class_list":["post-1751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cleft-palate","tag-hard-palate","tag-oral-surgery","tag-phil-zeltzman","tag-soft-palate","tag-veterinary-surgeon"],"yoast_head":"\nSquirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-04T15:55:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-11T15:23:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Phil Zeltzman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dr. Phil Zeltzman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dr. Phil Zeltzman\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/316f5474f0c7ca4fdcbd26977751788f\"},\"headline\":\"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-04T15:55:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-11T15:23:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/\"},\"wordCount\":642,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cleft palate\",\"hard palate\",\"oral surgery\",\"phil zeltzman\",\"soft palate\",\"veterinary surgeon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/\",\"name\":\"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-04T15:55:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-11T15:23:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg\",\"width\":989,\"height\":848},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog\",\"description\":\"Serious advice for true pet lovers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/logo.png\",\"width\":529,\"height\":79,\"caption\":\"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/drphilzeltzman\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/drphilzeltzman\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/316f5474f0c7ca4fdcbd26977751788f\",\"name\":\"Dr. Phil Zeltzman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4906cf28046a4e3991c94ad9fefbe1b1a74c267307ac5746f5e84321e1ac9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4906cf28046a4e3991c94ad9fefbe1b1a74c267307ac5746f5e84321e1ac9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dr. Phil Zeltzman\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Phil Zeltzman is a traveling board-certified veterinary surgeon, servicing the areas of Allentown (Lehigh Valley), Bethlehem, Easton (Northampton County), Reading (Berks County), Jim Thorpe (Carbon County), Stroudsburg (Monroe County), Quakertown (Bucks County), Pottsville (Schuylkill County), and Harrisburg\/Mechanicsburg (Dauphin County) in Pennsylvania, as well as parts of Western New Jersey. He performs specialized orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries on dogs, cats, and small exotics at your family vet\u2019s hospital. After graduating in 1993 from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Liege in Belgium, Dr. Zeltzman simultaneously worked as a general practitioner, emergency vet, and journalist for three years in his native city of Paris, France. He completed a one-year internship at the University of Georgia, followed by a three-year surgery residency at Surgical Referral Service in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He then worked as a surgeon for four years at a surgical practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an additional four years at a surgical practice in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. He is a board-certified surgeon and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, a coveted professional achievement Dr. Zeltzman is also a certified surgeon for the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO), having performed thousands of these procedures in dogs from less than 30 pounds to more than 250 pounds! The results of his work have been very impressive. Dr. Zeltzman\u2019s interests include all aspects of soft tissue, orthopedic, cancer, reconstructive, and neuro surgery, as well as physical therapy and emergency cases. He also has a strong interest in the prevention and treatment of obesity. His newest endeavor is stem cell therapy for arthritis, kidney disease, liver disease, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA). Dr. Zeltzman knew he wanted to be a veterinarian since the age of 5 when his favorite TV shows were Flipper, Daktari, and Lassie. \u201cBecoming a veterinary surgeon has been a dream come true, and I am as passionate about my profession as I was when I first started,\u201d he says. In practice, Dr. Zeltzman\u2019s goal is to offer the best surgical care, the safest anesthesia, and the utmost pain management to all of his patients. Actively involved in teaching, lecturing, and publishing, both locally and internationally, Dr. Zeltzman has published two books: Cocker Spaniels: A Practical Guide for People Owned by a Cocker and Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound, a book on weight loss for both dogs and people, co-written with Rebecca Johnson. He also writes a monthly award-winning newsletter for true dog and cat lovers. It is read in all 50 States, as well as more than 40 foreign countries. This newsletter has evolved into his blog. As a Certified Veterinary Journalist (CVJ), blogger, columnist, and award-winning author, his goal is to write meaningful articles, newsletters, and books that will make a difference in the lives of pets and their owners. He has published numerous articles in national and international veterinary journals, and is currently working on several book projects. He is also a prolific speaker. Dr. Zeltzman is a member of the Cat Writers\u2019 Association, the Dog Writers\u2019 Association and the Authors\u2019 Guild. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Lehigh Valley Veterinary Medical Association (LVVMA), and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS). He is a monthly contributor to veterinarypracticenews.com and a regular contributor to Dog Fancy, PetsAdviser.com, and PetHealthNetwork.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/author\/phil\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog","description":"Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog","og_description":"Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/","og_site_name":"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman","article_published_time":"2021-05-04T15:55:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-11T15:23:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Dr. Phil Zeltzman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dr. Phil Zeltzman","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/"},"author":{"name":"Dr. Phil Zeltzman","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/316f5474f0c7ca4fdcbd26977751788f"},"headline":"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery","datePublished":"2021-05-04T15:55:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-11T15:23:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/"},"wordCount":642,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg","keywords":["cleft palate","hard palate","oral surgery","phil zeltzman","soft palate","veterinary surgeon"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/","name":"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg","datePublished":"2021-05-04T15:55:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-11T15:23:21+00:00","description":"Squirrel, a 2 year old bully mix, had an unusual problem.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Squirrel-skirt.jpg","width":989,"height":848},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/squirrel-gets-a-new-lease-on-life-after-cleft-palate-surgery\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Squirrel gets a new lease on life after cleft palate surgery"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/","name":"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog","description":"Serious advice for true pet lovers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/logo.png","width":529,"height":79,"caption":"Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/drphilzeltzman\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/drphilzeltzman"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/316f5474f0c7ca4fdcbd26977751788f","name":"Dr. Phil Zeltzman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4906cf28046a4e3991c94ad9fefbe1b1a74c267307ac5746f5e84321e1ac9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1c4906cf28046a4e3991c94ad9fefbe1b1a74c267307ac5746f5e84321e1ac9b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dr. Phil Zeltzman"},"description":"Dr. Phil Zeltzman is a traveling board-certified veterinary surgeon, servicing the areas of Allentown (Lehigh Valley), Bethlehem, Easton (Northampton County), Reading (Berks County), Jim Thorpe (Carbon County), Stroudsburg (Monroe County), Quakertown (Bucks County), Pottsville (Schuylkill County), and Harrisburg\/Mechanicsburg (Dauphin County) in Pennsylvania, as well as parts of Western New Jersey. He performs specialized orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries on dogs, cats, and small exotics at your family vet\u2019s hospital. After graduating in 1993 from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Liege in Belgium, Dr. Zeltzman simultaneously worked as a general practitioner, emergency vet, and journalist for three years in his native city of Paris, France. He completed a one-year internship at the University of Georgia, followed by a three-year surgery residency at Surgical Referral Service in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He then worked as a surgeon for four years at a surgical practice in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an additional four years at a surgical practice in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. He is a board-certified surgeon and a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, a coveted professional achievement Dr. Zeltzman is also a certified surgeon for the tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO), having performed thousands of these procedures in dogs from less than 30 pounds to more than 250 pounds! The results of his work have been very impressive. Dr. Zeltzman\u2019s interests include all aspects of soft tissue, orthopedic, cancer, reconstructive, and neuro surgery, as well as physical therapy and emergency cases. He also has a strong interest in the prevention and treatment of obesity. His newest endeavor is stem cell therapy for arthritis, kidney disease, liver disease, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as well as tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA). Dr. Zeltzman knew he wanted to be a veterinarian since the age of 5 when his favorite TV shows were Flipper, Daktari, and Lassie. \u201cBecoming a veterinary surgeon has been a dream come true, and I am as passionate about my profession as I was when I first started,\u201d he says. In practice, Dr. Zeltzman\u2019s goal is to offer the best surgical care, the safest anesthesia, and the utmost pain management to all of his patients. Actively involved in teaching, lecturing, and publishing, both locally and internationally, Dr. Zeltzman has published two books: Cocker Spaniels: A Practical Guide for People Owned by a Cocker and Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound, a book on weight loss for both dogs and people, co-written with Rebecca Johnson. He also writes a monthly award-winning newsletter for true dog and cat lovers. It is read in all 50 States, as well as more than 40 foreign countries. This newsletter has evolved into his blog. As a Certified Veterinary Journalist (CVJ), blogger, columnist, and award-winning author, his goal is to write meaningful articles, newsletters, and books that will make a difference in the lives of pets and their owners. He has published numerous articles in national and international veterinary journals, and is currently working on several book projects. He is also a prolific speaker. Dr. Zeltzman is a member of the Cat Writers\u2019 Association, the Dog Writers\u2019 Association and the Authors\u2019 Guild. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Lehigh Valley Veterinary Medical Association (LVVMA), and the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS). He is a monthly contributor to veterinarypracticenews.com and a regular contributor to Dog Fancy, PetsAdviser.com, and PetHealthNetwork.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DrZeltzman"],"url":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/author\/phil\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1751"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2252,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1751\/revisions\/2252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}