Dry Food With Bad Teeth

My almost 17 year old cat has a bad tooth and has trouble eating dry food. I have been trying to get him to eat wet food, but he is so picky! Anyhow, he seems to like the pate wet food, but I think he has trouble eating it because it's too mushy. I've tried giving him wet food chunks, shreds, etc..., but he just licks the gravy. Do you think if I mixed a little bit of dry food in with the wet he will #1 Be able to pick the wet food up better, and #2  Will the dry food get moist enough that he could eat it without hurting his tooth? I do not want him hurting his tooth, because the last time he did, he stopped eating for a couple of days and got dehydrated. 

it could work. ever considered getting the tooth removed so he's not in any pain and can eat better?

Mixing them could work, especially if a little extra water is added. I agree with jml that a visit to the vet to get that tooth removed would also be good. Though I would still try to get him on wet food and off dry to prevent any further medical problems.

The vet said that because of his age, it would be too risky giving him anesthesia to remove the tooth. I wish I could get him to eat the wet food by itself, but it's been a couple of weeks now of trying, and I'm worried he just isn't eating enough. Does anyone know what brand of dry food is good as far as low carb, high protein? Also, how much of the dry food should I add with a 3 oz. can of wet food? Thanks for the replies!

I feed my 12 year old cat a mixture of 2 brands of dry cat food, she likes variety. They're both grain free, low carbs and high protein and they're the only ones on the market that have no by products or meals of any kind in them. One's the Halo brand chicken, and the other is the Petcurean Now! brand turkey and duck. As for wet food, I feed my other cats Halo and Wellness which are also grain free and low carbs and high protein. I go online and buy them from Chewy.com because they are cheaper than in the stores.

You could also try blending the pate style foods with more water to make it soupy and easier to eat.

I would also think about getting a 2nd opinion about removing that bad tooth.  If he is an a lot of pain, it needs to come out.  As long as they do a blood workup ahead of time and know what his health issues are, if any, then there is no reason why they cannot do dental work.  Old cats get dental work done every day.   Yes, it he were my cat, I would be very worried about it ( I would worry about my 5 year old cat going "under"), but I would worry more about them being in pain 

I just called and made an appointment with the vet.. I weighed Barney, my cat, on the bathroom scale yesterday and he only weighs 8 lbs. Back in October, he weighed 14 lbs. Something else is probably going on with him besides a bad tooth. I am trying everything to get him to eat more. I tried making his food more soupy by adding water, but he still somehow managed to drink all of the liquid out of it, and left the meat in the dish. I was looking at petsmart online and I noticed some of the wet cat food comes in chunky loaf. I haven't tried that yet, just the regular pate. Do you think he could chew the chunks o.k.? When I give him chunks in gravy, he doesn't eat the chunks, but I think that is more because he just likes the gravy. I wonder if he would be more likely to eat the chunks if they are in a loaf-type food, and it might be easier for him to grab the food to eat it. I will see what the vet says, though, and go from there. Thanks, everyone, for the good advice!   

maybe try a shredded kind, there's wellness signature at petsmart, it's got tiny shreds of chicken and beef in sauce and he doesn't really needs to chew it cause they aren't big chunks. oh and when he's at the vet, ask them to run a thyroid test, weight loss could be a sign of hyperthyroidism in older cats as well as bad teeth. even if he has hyperthyroidism but his lungs and heart are fine, he should be able to go under anesthesia and get his tooth removed and maybe have them clean his teeth as well and look for any other bad teeth that could be hurting him. hope something helps him out

Here's what I have learned about mixing canned food with water.  If it's not grain free food, after they lick up all the liquid, you have a bunch of stuff left in the bottom of the bowl...I think it's the wheat gluten stuff, personally.  Reason I say this is because I give my old girl grain free AND on occasion non-grain free.  There is such a difference as I prepare it all the same way.  With the grain free, there is never anything left in the bottom of the bowl.  Odd, huh (or maybe not )  Additionally, I have learned that you really have to blend the heck out of it at a high speed (whether it's grain free or not) or it WILL separate and the "meat" or whatever can get left behind.   I use my magic bullet, put the food in it, add some water, some probiotics or whatever additives I want to, and blend everything until it's the texture i want.  Sometimes I add even more water to make sure it's a soupy consistency, because my girl likes it pretty soupy.  Another advantage of doing this is you can make pate out of any kind of canned food

Now, with your guy, if he has a bad tooth, I honestly would think he would do better just lapping things up rather than having to chew at all, but if you think he is the type to grab at a loaf type chunk of food, by all means give it a try.  Some cats are good at that, some aren't .  Just depends on the cat.  I have watched all my cats eat and some of them have figures that out, and some have never done it...some have always just used their tongue to pick up their food, silly kitties.

that your old guy is only suffering from a toothache and nothing more, because that's a huge weight loss in such a short time, as I'm sure you're well aware of.  That's the problem with cats since they're furry.  It's difficult to tell when they lose weight like that unless they like to be picked up and held, then you can usually tell.  When is his appointment?  Has he been drinking more water than usual lately?  

He is at the vet right now. I dropped him off this morning. My husband called them about 15 minutes ago to see if they are done with him yet. So far, the vet said his physical was actually pretty good. He did lose weight, but not as much as I thought. I thought he weighed 14 lbs. in October, but the vet said he weighed 11.3 lbs. He now weighs 9.2 lbs. So, not as much weight loss as I thought, but still he is a lot thinner than he used to be. Most of his adult life he weighed around 14 or 15 lbs. They tested him for diabetes today, and he doesn't have that, so that's good news. They tested his urine, and that was good. We are still waiting on a couple more tests. Hopefully, we'll know in another hour or two. He did say the gums around his tooth still looks inflamed. I will have to ask him again when we pick Barney up from the vet if we can pull his tooth. The vet is actually my husband's brother in law, so I trust him. So, if he thinks it's too risky, I'll trust that he knows what he's talking about. I hope the other tests come back good. Besides his tooth hurting, maybe he is just being picky about his food. He ate dry food all his life and maybe he just doesn't want the canned. I'll have to ask the vet if he has any ideas to get him to eat more.Mrsgreenjeans, the food I give him is grain free, it is the Fancy Feast classic pate. But, he still manages to only lick up the water, I don't know how, lol! I wish I had a magic bullet. I guess I could just put it in a regular blender. I do have a mini food processor, does that work like a blender? I never use it, so I don't know how it works, lol. I only use it sometimes to grate cheese. I hope I can figure something out, because if he ends up being totally healthy, I hate to see him starve himself to death just because he's being picky. 

There is a water additive at Amazon that is supposed to help prevent tooth decay, I've been giving it to my cats now for 2 or three years and their teeth have improved in whiteness. It's in a white bottle with blue lettering and states it is tasteless. You might give it a try. My 13 year old went through major surgery for an abscess last year, he had a lot of stitches and drains, and he came through it fine. You could try some tuna juice or meat baby food to tempt him to eat, cats usually love those two. Good luck!

jatsk said:

 
He is at the vet right now. I dropped him off this morning. My husband called them about 15 minutes ago to see if they are done with him yet. So far, the vet said his physical was actually pretty good. He did lose weight, but not as much as I thought. I thought he weighed 14 lbs. in October, but the vet said he weighed 11.3 lbs. He now weighs 9.2 lbs. So, not as much weight loss as I thought, but still he is a lot thinner than he used to be. Most of his adult life he weighed around 14 or 15 lbs. They tested him for diabetes today, and he doesn't have that, so that's good news. They tested his urine, and that was good. We are still waiting on a couple more tests. Hopefully, we'll know in another hour or two. He did say the gums around his tooth still looks inflamed. I will have to ask him again when we pick Barney up from the vet if we can pull his tooth. The vet is actually my husband's brother in law, so I trust him. So, if he thinks it's too risky, I'll trust that he knows what he's talking about. I hope the other tests come back good. Besides his tooth hurting, maybe he is just being picky about his food. He ate dry food all his life and maybe he just doesn't want the canned. I'll have to ask the vet if he has any ideas to get him to eat more.Mrsgreenjeans, the food I give him is grain free, it is the Fancy Feast classic pate. But, he still manages to only lick up the water, I don't know how, lol! I wish I had a magic bullet. I guess I could just put it in a regular blender. I do have a mini food processor, does that work like a blender? I never use it, so I don't know how it works, lol. I only use it sometimes to grate cheese. I hope I can figure something out, because if he ends up being totally healthy, I hate to see him starve himself to death just because he's being picky. 

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Good that he doesn't have diabetes and that his urine looks good (one of the checks for kidney disease).  However, swollen gums around that tooth is NOT good .  Imagine if that was YOUR mouth .  It's not that cat's don't feel pain, it's just that they don't show it like we do.

Fancy Feast Classics is what I use most of the time, and when I blend it up WELL with water, my girl can lick it all up leaving nothing.  But if I only try to mix in water with a spoon, then she will lick all the liquid and leave the remains.  A blender would probably work well...don't know about the food processor .  Oh, and BTW,  if it isn't a freshly opened can, I do heat up the watered down leftovers for a few seconds in the microwave to bring out the smell.  I do about 15 seconds on 1/2 power, then stir it up again (just with a spoon) but it really depends on how much you are warming up and how powerful your microwave is. 

Well, the vet just called back and said that everything that they checked came back fine. He said he wasn't able to get a stool sample from him, though, but he said the chances of him having a parasite are slim since he has been staying indoors. He said that sometimes when cats get old they just don't want to eat as much and they slow down. Also, he said he may just want some dry food, since that's what he is used to. He told me to offer him both wet and dry food. He said that cats who have bad teeth learn how to flick the food to the back of their mouth and swallow it without really biting down on it. He still doesn't want to pull the tooth. So, I will try offering him a small amount of dry food again and hope he can eat it. I know Science diet isn't the healthiest food, but the pieces are real tiny little balls, so he can eat those better than bigger pieces. I figure it is better to have him eat a food that may not be the healthiest versus not eating at all. I am confused, though, about food for cats. The vet told me Iams is a good wet food and Fancy Feast isn't. But, I forgot to tell him that I feed the classics, without the junk stuff. Those are good, aren't they? Is Iams really that bad? The ingredients look not much different than FF, except it does have rice in it. Also, I think some of them have vegetables in them now, too. Is rice bad if my cat does not have diabetes? Aww, I wish this wasn't so complicated, lol! 

I forgot to add that the vet is giving him an anti-inflammatory shot and an anti-biotic for his tooth. I just hope he doesn't keep getting the infection back. 

The Iams Purrfect Delicacies Select Cuts entrees don't look too bad. The Iams pates appear to have quite a bit of carbs.

But yes, the FF Classics are good. The other varieties are packed with carbs. I'd be interested to know why your vet things FF is bad and Iams is good. 

jatsk said:

I forgot to add that the vet is giving him an anti-inflammatory shot and an anti-biotic for his tooth. I just hope he doesn't keep getting the infection back. 

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I am sorry - but the infection will not go away completely with anti-inflammatory or an antibiotic, it will return. The meds will help temporarily, for sure. :nod: OR - the cat may have to stay on an antibiotic permanently. But, with a bad tooth that will only continue to get worse and allow bacteria into the blood stream and body, the infection will continue and become chronic. If this were my cat, I would go ahead with a "quick anesthesia" and get that tooth pulled asap. It won't take long at all. To me, it is a quality of life issue now. Tooth pain and root infection is extremely painful. You can get another vet's opinion too. Since this vet says that he looks "good" and not too bad then I am wondering why the hesitation to pull that tooth. IF there were some serious health such as heart, etc., then I agree that it may out of the question to do the extraction. Your kitty is not being picky - he is becoming fearful of eating because of the pain. Eating causes extreme pain to a bum tooth.

Your vet did not find anything seriously wrong and the weight loss is most likely from the painful tooth/teeth/gum inflammation. It is a tough spot to be in but for me, the decision would be the tooth extraction and may be worth the risk so my cat would not have to live in such pain, but that is me.

Try getting some Fortiflora from the vet . I order it from Amazon. Sprinkle a little bit on a tiny bit of wet food - Fancy Feast is just fine. Most cats go nuts for this stuff. It really works. It is also a probiotic and safe. Ask you vet about it. It may help get your cat off dry food all together.

Hi, your cat is elderly now I think that it would be a great time to give him or her Raw instinct bite size.It has every thing your can possibly need, except being a lil pricey, it's real easy ,just scoop and let defrost in [I use paper plates gives their whiskers a little more room ] for about 10 min. and your good to go ,It probably be well appreciated..Good Luck....Scotty A.K.A Scottie.Let him eat all he wants till you see how much he needs ,unless he or she is a tubby LOL

I'm lucky my 16 1/2 year old cat has great genes for teeth. It's been three years since his last dental cleaning and 3 weeks ago, he had his teeth cleaned because he was showing signs of gingivitis. The time between dentals for him is right at 3 years because he doesn't get gingivitis due to his genetics for teeth.

The vet clinic where I take my cat has 3 vets, two female and one male. The owner of the clinic is a female vet and she told me many vets don't like to put an animal, whether it's a dog or cat under anesthesa because of extreme old age. They worry the animal will have a reaction later on and/or will die while under anesthesa and the vet gets the blame.

She also told me any animal whether it's 16 years old or 6 years old can have a bad reaction causing complications later on or die under anesthesa. In my opinion, the pet owner should make the final decision, but look at the big picture too and ask direct questions to get direct answers from your vet.

When my cat needed dental work, I knew the risks and decided I wanted him to be put under from anesthesa. I told the vet if anything goes wrong while he's under and if he doesn't survive or has complications later on and has to be euthanized, it's not her fault. Since I have a good pet relationship with my female vet, my vet told me since he's so old, she was going to use only 1/2 the normal dosage based on his present weight. This dosage put him under to get the dental procedure done and he was fully awake about 25 minutes after the procedure. Long story short, no problems from anesthesa.

As for dry food and an old cat who doesn't like wet canned cat food, this is what I do when my cat gets in the "I'm not eating wet canned cat food" mode.....get a 7 1/2" granite mortar and pestle on eBay. Then take the dry kibble and crush it up into very fine small pieces. Put this into his food bowl, then add very warm water and mix it up to make a nice gravy, not too soupy and not too thick, out of it. I just call it a soupy mess. If all goes according to plan, the cat will lap up this mixture.

In my case, after a week of this gravy mixture, I start mixing it with some of his wet cat canned food. After a week of this concoction, I take away the gravy mixture altogther and then he's eating wet canned cat food again.

Thanks, everyone, for the advice! We also talked to my husband's sister, who is a vet technician, and she said that the risks for putting a 17 year old cat under anesthesia  weigh more than the risk of notting pulling his tooth. So, between what the vet said and what she said, we will probably not get his tooth pulled. She also said that her cats when they got to be that old, they stopped eating as much food, too.  The vet said the same thing about his cats. They said cats that old just don't want to eat as much. I will try some of the tips that were given to get him to eat more. He has started eating a bit more the last day. I think I figured out that he does not like leftover re-heated food. Usually, he eats half of a 3 oz. can and then I give him the leftovers later and he doesn't eat it. So, today, I decided not to give him the leftovers and give him a new can. He ate half of it. So, that's better than nothing. Maybe I will give him a fresh can of food at each feeding, and then when he is done with that, make a gravy out of it and see if he'll lick it up.If not, I guess it will just have to go to waste. I tried mixing dry food with the wet and he started gagging, so I don't think I'm going to do that again. I'll just have to keep an eye on his weight to make sure he doesn't lose any more.