Buster goes to the dentist

Several weeks ago, I noticed that Buster was hardly eating his dry food. Nothing had changed -- the brand of his food (both dry and wet), location, bowl, etc. -- and after I started mixing about a teaspoon of it in with his wet food twice a day, he did eat it. But he was no less hungry, and being that I'm at work for most of the day M-Th., I started getting alarmed over the thought of him only eating around 7:30 a.m. and then 10 p.m. when I gave him the wet/dry food mix. Since his appetite hadn't waned, my immediate thought was that he had some sort of tooth issue going on that made it painful for him to eat the dry food. Otherwise, he seemed completely normal, though a bit more lethargic than usual (due to eating less).

After about a week and a half of his weird eating, I was able to take him to the vet. Sure enough, he had a couple teeth that needed removing. He hadn't been to the vet in a couple years, so he also was due for a couple vaccinations. Buster was pretty good throughout the entire appointment; he was really squirmy and obviously scared, but he didn't hiss or yowl or scratch anyone. On the drive home that morning, I had his carrier on the passenger seat with the open part facing me. The carrier had this fuzzy blue pad/carpet on the bottom, only affixed by a couple strips of glue. Post-vet trauma on the ride back, Buster was able to pull the pad up and crawl underneath it to hide as best he could. I snapped a pic of him at a stop light. Poor guy!

Anyway, Buster had surgery a couple days after that appointment to get the teeth removed. Now it's about a week and a half later, and he seems to be fully recovered. He's back to eating dry food, but not as much as before; I think he got spoiled by the five days or so both pre- and post-surgery when he could only eat the wet stuff. No way am I only feeding him only that, though; that'd add up really fast. Plus, he of course needs food at hand when I'm in the office, and I can't leave wet food out all day as it goes sort of plasticky.