Post teeth extraction

Hey everyone! I just wanted to make a post talking about my experience with my cat having her teeth extracted to help anyone with an upcoming appointment. I noticed my Sookie had inflamed red gums, very bad halitosis and looked to be in pain while eating. I took her to the vet and he said she had some loose teeth, and some infection from the plaque and the best way to treat this was to clean her teeth, and extract the loose ones. He ended up needing to take all her back teeth so they wouldn't shift. He thought he was going to need to remove a front fang, but after cleaning it up he decided it could stay. Having a fang removed is much more complicated, and can cause jaw issues. As soon as we got her home I put out some wet food since she hadn't eaten in a while. She gobbled it all up right away. This may vary, but my little one is a pig when it comes to food and I don't think anything could stop her. She did seem to have some trouble with it sticking to her gums after eating, but a bit of work and she got it all cleaned up. She was very groggy all day and would fall asleep in random places and positions, including while drinking her water. She didn't really lay down and would sit upright staring off in space. She even did this all night for the next two nights , I checked on her every few hours and she was always found in the same place. Other than that, she was completely normal. She was eating hard food in two weeks, and seems to have no issues with it. I do give her wet food more frequently than I used to to give her gums a break, some days she will refuse her dry food. I'm not sure if that's due to irritation, or just a protest for the good stuff [emoji]128539[/emoji]. That is something she would do pre surgery, and the reason why she never had a lot of wet food. Beware though, she has gained some weight since eating more wet food, she was a small cat to begin with so its not a very big deal, but if you have a bigger cat try to watch this. She is 6 years old (5 at the time) and had her surgery in Feburary 2015. She has a clean bill of health in every other regard and is a spoiled little princess. Hope this helps anyone going through the same thing!

Actually the latest thinking is that a completely wet food diet is best for cats, and dry food is easiest for humans because you just put it down and leave it.  Most cats that are put on diets to lose weight are given wet food only, all they can eat at a sitting and then it is picked up, no between meals nibbling.  If your cat still has free access to dry food AND is getting more wet food, which she prefers, that could explain the weight gain -- she is eating more!  Check our Nutrition Forum for many ideas of what kind and how much to feed for the best health.

My vet told me that dry food is best for dental care. Wet food stays in their teeth, while dry food helps rub off the plaque.

Also my cat doesn't have free access to dry food. She has specific feeding times and measured amounts through the day. When she's given wet food, it's in place of dry food. Not both.