[Gpdd] Health: requesting advice for problem picking up food

[Carla Martinez]

Hi all,

We send our good wishes to all. Snowball is having a problem that
puzzles me and it could be quite serious for him so I would appreciate
any advice of anyone who has dealt with this before or has any ideas...

Snowball is 5 years old with malocclusion. The vet told me last week
that Snowball's front teeth don't really function anymore. That explains
why he needs his lettuce cut up...but it seems the problem has advanced
to where I give him and his mate a plate of salad and he has to pick
through the strips of lettuce. It seems like he wants the lettuce to be
just a certain texture to get it in his mouth, not too soft, not too
hard.

He loves fruit and has a sweet tooth. He begs for food. When I give him
a section of cantaloupe or tomato or strawberry I cut them into narrow
strips with tapered ends so they can fit easily in his mouth. But he
still has problems getting them into his mouth unless I hold them
straight for him. But I can't hand feed him every bite of food.

I've been supplementing with Critical Care, but now he is getting tired
of the Critical Care. He only wants to eat Critter Berries sometimes. He
can eat some hay. 

It seems like all the foods he has, he needs to pick through them and
find the bits that allow him to get them in his mouth. Next week I start
back to work and I'm worried. Do you think he will adapt to the front
tooth problem? Do I need to mush up his salads in the blender? I haven't
tried that yet. Now he is rejecting his pellet slurry as well. 

Any ideas, suggestions?

Thanks from Snowball and Carla
Apache says: look how I save food for my buddy!