One of my cats won't chew his food

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lovemycats74

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One of my cats never chews his food. I adopted him in December of 2008. I think he has an eating disorder, LOL.
He grabs a lot of dry food at once and just swallowes it without chewing. I have seen him chew before every now and then so he does know how.
And his teeth are fine. I think itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s because he was at the shelter too long before I adopted him. He was there for four weeks. He is starting to gain
a lot of weight. Any advice on what to do? Also, when he is eating there are no other cats around. Does not chewing dry food make him gain weight?
 
arlyn

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Most cats actually do not chew dry food.
They haven't got teeth designed for chewing anyway, every tooth in their jaws is designed for ripping and tearing.
 
dusty's mom

dusty's mom

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Originally Posted by Arlyn

Most cats actually do not chew dry food.
They haven't got teeth designed for chewing anyway, every tooth in their jaws is designed for ripping and tearing.
Click to expand...
Oh good, cuz my cat doesn't chew either!
 
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katgoddess

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The only time my cat chews his food is when he's eating a larger-sized kibble. However, most cat kibbles are tiny in size, so he rarely chews. This is common behavior, I believe.
 
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zoe2009

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My little female doesn't chew her dry food either. She did when I first adopted her but then I noticed she was throwing up every time she ate dry food. So I put her on canned foot and I put a little water with it and she is fine. But the canned can't have any chunks or she won't chew them up. So I make sure it is the patte.
 
sharky

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Cats are designed to rip and tear so no they do not chew food the way a human does ...
 
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yosemite

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Cat jaws do not move side to side - only up and down. Even with large pieces of food they will break it with the tip of the tooth and swallow.
 
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frankthefkat

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so my cat does't chew and then throws it all up .... whole.. with some water in it ....... any suggestions? 
 
txcatmom

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I know this is and old thread, but since someone reasked the question, I'll just say that canned food would likely solve the problem and is much healthier for kitty.  The details of how cats chew were explained well upthread. 
 
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I have a similar. probi know now that cats don't usually chew but mine eatks too fast n he chokes on it n he has a really sensitive stomach so he can't even eat wet food because he'll have diarrhea . what do I do?li
 
minka

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If your cat is eating too fast, you can either: raise the bowl up by placing it on a book, only put a small amount of food in the bowl at a time, or place a golf ball or rock in the bowl so he kitty has to eat around it.

What kinds of wet foods have you tried? If the only ones you have given are like Friskies or Fancy Feast, you can't come to the conclusion that your cat can't eat wet, but instead that your cat can't handle the junkier wet foods. He also could be sensitive to grains; it could be a million things that I wouldn't be able to narrow down without more info.
 
ldg

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Minka said:
If your cat is eating too fast, you can either: raise the bowl up by placing it on a book, only put a small amount of food in the bowl at a time, or place a golf ball or rock in the bowl so he kitty has to eat around it.
What kinds of wet foods have you tried? If the only ones you have given are like Friskies or Fancy Feast, you can't come to the conclusion that your cat can't eat wet, but instead that your cat can't handle the junkier wet foods. He also could be sensitive to grains; it could be a million things that I wouldn't be able to narrow down without more info.
Click to expand...
Try a limited ingredient wet food that has mostly meat in it, like Before Grain, Nature's Variety, or By Nature 95% Meat foods.
 
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