Can cats eat without teeth?

tyjet

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Hi there. My cat Felix had to have his top fangs removed some years ago, along with a few other teeth because they were rotten inside and making him sick. Since then he has managed to eat but he is forever chewing his lips with his bottom fangs, leaving many scars and generally giving the impression of discomfort and irritation. I have tried to discourage this behaviour but he just runs away to chew his lip where he thinks I can't see him. He is very old now, just had his 18th birthday, so I fear that if he gets the bottom fangs removed he may not survive the anaesthetic. Recently he claws at his mouth while eating and this bothers me. He has a voracious appetite and has not lost his enthusiasm for food (like all Siamese he is very demanding!) so he is eating regularly but his discomfort pains me and I am unsure how to proceed from here. Any advice?
 

catpack

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I think this is something you need to discuss with your vet. I'm actually curious as to why Felix's lower fangs were not removed at the time the upper ones were...this is almost always done to prevent the problem you are currently having.

Perhaps some pain medication could be of help?

I do want to add that Felix is not chewing his lips on purpose...his lower teeth simply get hung or cannot rest properly in his mouth, so efforts to discourage this aren't needed.

Also, what type of food are you feeding him? I would opt for a canned only diet if you are not already feeding this as it is easier on the mouth.
 

hexiesfriend

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Cats can eat with no teeth. My kitty had none and she could eat both wet and dry. The dry was swallowed whole. If your cats fangs are actually opening wounds I'd worry. The passing the paw after eating could be an indication one of the fangs is loose. Also if it was such a source of pain for Felix he wouldn't be eating or he'd hesitate before eating. This sounds like it's bothering you more than him. I'd talk to your vet after an exam of your cat's mouth it is probably not as bad as you think.
 

chromium blues

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Oliver had all his pretty front teeth and nothing useful. He refused, for the most part, to eat dry food, swallowed everything whole, and never had difficulty.
 

jcat

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One of the shelter cats, Carlo, has no teeth and has no trouble eating either canned or dry food. He makes a bit of a mess when eating the latter, but so do a lot of cats with teeth.
 

misty8723

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I knew someone with an old cat, 18 or some such, with no teeth and all he would eat was dry. He had no problems at all.
 

slysy

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My old cat also had several teeth removed, and just like yours his lips would get caught in the teeth and he'd have little sores. Not much can be done about that. I fed him only wet food of the minced variety so he didn't have to chew it. He ate it just fine, just made a mess as others mentioned, he could spray that stuff all over the place. I also caught him helping himself to leftovers once or twice, he'd just gum the food to death. 
 

catladylou

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Romeo above with hiss fang, he now has no bottom or top teeth he had to have five out yesterday and he is eating but he is having a little trouble. We are finding hard to give him tablets. I mean come on TABLETS for a cat that will not let you got by his face, but I have got my little loving boy back so he must of been in some pain for a while poor boy. :nod:
 
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