Working with Anthromorphic Animals.

So the setting of my story is a world filled with anthromorphic animals, or Animals as they go by (emphasis on the capital A) and I'm having a problem with the main character. You see, he's a Donkey, and he has hooves. Should I A) Let him use his mouth to write, fight, etc. B) Try to use his hooves or perhaps change the anatomy of the hoof of a Donkey C) Just give him hands.

My friend says I should use the mouth idea but I'd prefer if he stuck with hooves. What do you guys think?

What if he had a writing system using his hooves? Such as coating the end with something that leaves a mark if he rubs it against stone/paper/whatever. It would probably be a shorthanded script just for hoofed animals, but with the number of hoofed animals it's probably a language certain species know about.

Hmmmm.... perhaps. This story is still in the works so that might be a good idea.

That's a good idea. In Dinotopia they have a whole "footprint alphabet" so the dinosaurs can write things down. For fighting, hooves and teeth work perfectly well.

The hoof-marks sound like a good idea, but what if he sat on his bottom and grasped a pencil between his front hooves by putting his front legs together? I don't know much about animal anatomy, so it may not be physically possible for him to do it, but it was just an idea I had that I thought I'd share.

Perhaps he can simply morph into a more humanoid character, the process of which will give him hands for any needed time?