[Mom2BabyNatalie]

Originally Posted by RowdysMom

She is just absolutely precious! Is is anticipated that she will eventually be able to eat without the tube? Is sure hope so! Does the tube seem to bother her?

Oh absolutely..... Emma COULD eat on her own right now.... heck, she'd down a steak if I'd let her!!! hahaha..... she has all the drive and desire.... and MOST of the "function" to do so..... it's just that at this point, I can't allow her to eat on her own, because of the cleft of course....

I don't think the tube has ever bothered HER.... she used to, and still does sometimes - - fight the "being held in a particular position" part of it..... (and she's always wanted to CHEW rather than swallow... something I may have to worry more about now that she has those back teeth!!)

The task has terrified me since the beginning..... but it's what she knows.... she sees it and knows she's about to get a full belly!! She gets as excited as if you were to shake a bag of Yorkie Yummies in front of your furbutts!! haha....

We've kept using the smaller tube to avoid any damage to her throat... and have had no problems at all with any type of introduction of "bad germs" or infection thus far. I tend to keep her and anything that touches her, in pretty sterile conditions... so we've been real lucky!

Once the cleft is repaired and the incisions are fully healed... Emma should be able to start off with moist solid food pretty much immediately, moving to a hard kibble shortly thereafter.

The only concern may be with her teeth in the front, but that's a "simple something" to deal with in the future....

Thank you to everyone.... for your continued encouragement and kindness...

::big hugs::