[Mom2BabyNatalie]

Awwwwwww, Tia is such a dollbaby!!! I just love that lil' bug!!!

I haven't offered anything by mouth to Emma, at the direction of her vet.

The cleft is wide open and the problem would be, that if the kibble were too large - she of course, couldn't swallow it... and too small, it would actuallly go INTO the cleft! Yikes! They don't want anything wet (like soaked kibble) because obviously, that would just be inhaled through the cleft / nasal airway...

Another problem for Em, is that she couldn't pick up a small kibble...... she can bite, but only if it's something (like one of her stuffies or a blanket) that she can.... hmmmm, how do I explain it...... well, she has to pushhhhh her whole face down INTO whatever she's biting on, in order to get a good grip with the sides of her jaws..... she can't pick up a lil' piece of something like a "normal" pup could, because the cleft splits the whole front of her mouth / gums and nose right down the middle.

We're talking about starting her on some very thin pureed puppy food through a larger tube.... she will have her first vaccination on Sunday (scary for me since her immune system has always been so compromised!) but once she gets past that, we'll likely start with a more "solid" food.... for now, she continues with the formula only.

(which, by the way, I just heard from PetAg today and Emma has another 24 cans of formula in the mail and on the way to her!) YAY!! They have helped out so much!!!