Boy, my kitties aren't getting a break in terms of health, it seems. I noticed recently that my younger male seemed to be a little less bulky. Not unhealthy thin, but not as thick as he normally is - I'd say over the last few months, he's lost maybe a pound or two. I'd say he's still about 11-13 pounds when normally he's about 14 or 15. I could be losing my mind, but I looked to see how his teeth were. When I got him years ago, he was missing a few of the little front teeth, and over the years, three of his "canine" teeth have fallen out on their own (honestly, they looked fine to me and were not rotted or icky looking). Kitty seems the same in terms of his behavior and wanting to be cuddled, etc., but within the last couple months, he's started getting really insistent about begging for food. If I open the refrigerator, he just about climbs in looking for food and meows at me until I feed him. I've been giving him the canned food left over from when I still had Caspurr and there are times he would still meow at me after eating a can of food! But he never meows at me anywhere else - just the kitchen. I attempted to look in his mouth, and he threw a tantrum. But from what I could see, he only has the one canine tooth in the front and a few in the back, but I'd say he's lost more teeth than he's kept. I'm wondering if it's become too painful for him to eat? His gums looked okay - not swollen or bloody, but not white. Tooth holes were fine - no discharge or anything. None of the teeth are rotted or blackened and he has no mouth ulcers.Earlier I gave him some of his regular kibbles crushed into powder and mixed with a little milk (cow milk, unfortunately, because he does not like goat milk) and he did well with that. He also does well with canned food - pate and shredded. He also seems to have no issues picking deli meat up off the floor, which my other cats with a full set of teeth cannot do, which is ever so interesting. At the very least, there seems to be a relatively nearby vet clinic that does dental work for its patients (so I don't need to kiss someone's rear end for a ride to a clinic 2 hours away). Can someone advise on how to care for a kitty with so few teeth?
