Senior boy with bad teeth

My 16 yr old is just home from the vet with fluids and antibiotic. Last winter he had 3 teeth removed. No one tooth seemed inflamed this time but he wasn't eating or drinking. They said he has old teeth and this will be a problem for us now on. He has lost 2 lbs since Nov.

I had started feeding canned food in addition to dry, but it seems like I will need to switch to all canned for him. We have tried Wellness, avoDerm, Natural Balance. Avoderm has been the winner so far, but only has 2 flavors they will eat-both fish.

Several questions....
Any other good brands to try?
Are less expensive brand of canned ok?
Also, I know you are supposed to introduce new dry foods over a week does that apply with canned?

Oops, one more question...
Any good place to buy in bulk for a better price than Petco?

Avoderm is in my 3 brand rotation with my older cat (12-13 yo, we aren't sure). I generally pay between $1.29 and $1.39 for a 5.5 oz can. He also eats Evo and Wellness.

Honestly, for an old guy I'd feed him whatever canned food makes him happiest. If it is Friskies, so be it, ya know? While trying to switch Jack's food over to canned, he tried a little bit of everything without it upsetting his tummy. YMMV, though, so try one for a couple of days then try another.

Petsmarts in my area do put alot on clearence if short dated so that might be a shot to look into(not alot of wet but I just save 100 yesterday and got avoderm drys and royal canin. Also look into the smaller petstores as some will order by the case and give you a break(I used to do this but would pay up front-had experience with them for a good few years so knew risk was minimal.
Far as brand-I have a bunch of cats eating friskies. Is it what alot of ppl with only a few cats would go for-no. But for this many cats thats the difference between the beloved wet and just dry.
If its a new brand I would do it slow but if its same brand different flavor I haven't had to many issues pop up. I alternate my guys on big can friskies and 9lives or whiskas when on sale and coupons are out(I buy dozens of papers for good coupons lol
I am with jenwales if the food makes the cat happy why not as long as its name brand and known(I admit to trapping cats with shoprite brand "fancy feast" and the "cat tuna/salmon" ugh gross but it gets them trapped and fixed

Originally Posted by Lovecat

My 16 yr old is just home from the vet with fluids and antibiotic. Last winter he had 3 teeth removed. No one tooth seemed inflamed this time but he wasn't eating or drinking. They said he has old teeth and this will be a problem for us now on. He has lost 2 lbs since Nov.

I had started feeding canned food in addition to dry, but it seems like I will need to switch to all canned for him. We have tried Wellness, avoDerm, Natural Balance. Avoderm has been the winner so far, but only has 2 flavors they will eat-both fish.

Several questions....
Any other good brands to try?
Are less expensive brand of canned ok?
Also, I know you are supposed to introduce new dry foods over a week does that apply with canned?

Click to expand...

Have you tried any of the Nutro cat foods? My senior guy eats the Natural Choice dry and gets the chunks with sauce canned. The Nutro Max Cat Senior has a smaller flatter kibble than the Natural Choice line so it might be a better dry if you are concerned about him being able to eat it. There is a large variety of canned in both lines too. My Chester tends to like the ones with chunks and sauce. He can be a picky boy.

As for shopping at Petco you may find their prices to always be higher than most other pet specialty shops. They do have good sales sometimes with the Pet co Pals card. But you might find more variety in canned at other large pet specialty stores.

I would, in my opinion, mix foods from old to new when switching from brand to brand for at least a week. Even the wet food. Different ingredients digest differently so you may cause stomach upset. I have seen it happen. Some cats may not be so sensitive but you never know.

I hope you find what works for your senior guy.

Thanks for the advice everyone