Dust in food bowl - more than normal?

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Jenn

ZooKeeper
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
6,056
Location
Washington State
I know that it is normal for their to be dust or crumbs left in the food bowl, but I'm wondering if Tink is leaving behind more than normal. I dumped out her old food and gave her new food, from a new bag, a couple of days ago. The amount of dust in her bowl today caught my eye. The bowl did have quite a bit of food in it. First, does this amount of dust seem excessive, and two, if it is an increased amount for her (I'll keep an eye on it better), does this a warning sign? She seems fine otherwise...she's 657 grams and only ocassionally paws at her mouth - most of the time after a dust bath. Any need to worry?
 

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I see the poop in the bowl....


doesn't seem to me like there is a lot, i wouldnt even know what i'd be looking for pertaining to pellet dust. maybe the pellets were just too crumbly???
 
i dont have any clue what would cause that....
but what i do, is measure out his pellets every morning and throw out the old. that way i can keep track how much he eats... so on and so forth!
 
It looks like the bottom of the bag type pellets that I see around here. Not sure if that's the case or not but I fill a smaller Tupperware container and fill that from the large bag of pellets and before I scoop each chin's portion out I give the container a bit of a shake and that helps not get the dust into the pellets.
 
I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that it isn't a dental issue. No drooling, just the occasional pawing at the mouth.
 
My 50 lb. bag of oxbow is shipped laying flat, so when I stand it up and open it I do see some food dust up top. Do you see any food dust just outside of the bowl? If Tink was crumbling the pellets I'd think you would see the dust just outside of the bowl as well.
 
The best indicator of teeth issues that all chins exhibit is slow weight loss over time, if the weight is steady I would not worry.
 
turns out I did finish up a bag, and hadn't started a new bag of food yet as I thought. So a lot of the dust, which seemed like an unusual amount, may have been just the dust and crumbs found in the bottom of the bag. I'll have to pay attention more in the future, lol, but at least I think I found a reason for the dust, and Tink is ok. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and advice!
 
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