Cat with dental and weight issues

primal cat

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I'm not sure if this belongs in the food section or here. I know this is long, but I'm trying to cover the bases. I adopted my beloved Pikachu from the pound when he was about 5 months old. He wouldn't eat hardly anything, and for nearly two years he stayed very boney. Vet says blood looks good. He doesnt have worms. He seems to have been born with diabetes, although rare. He has sweet breath, a bad mouth, and drinks a lot. He's been like this since I got him. He has peripheral nerve damage I assume from diabetes, because he's only recently been able to jump up on things, but not confidently, thanks to a weak under-muscled rear.

I can't brush his teeth because his lips are so short that nothing fits in his little mouth. Unlike my other cats, I can't even stretch his lips enough to see his last molar in the light, and that's not from him resisting. He had gingivitis when I got him, and now has stage 2 peridontal. I've cracked calculus off, but this understandably scared him and isn't a solution.

He won't eat raw even if I hide a piece in his food, and I had him on Wild Calling canned for months after Evo added carrageenen to their cans. He hates canned and won't eat much. He grew skeletal on everything but Evo or Orijen dry food, which I hate to give, but he'd rather die than eat enough canned food. With those two dry foods he plays a little and feels better, and is an okay weight. I put lots of water in his food, hoping it will help his kidneys some.

Now he's started coughing at times. I'm concerned about asthma, because this is how one of my other cats started. Eliminating fish fixed it for the other cat, but how can I do this with Pikachu's food issue? I feed the cats in crates so they can't get steal each other's food. The low carb kibbles all have a fish protein I think. I'll have to research more. I'm willing to use a high meat dog food maybe - I have powdered taurine that I use for another cat who eats raw. I'd rather not feed kibble, and if the carbs are above ~24% he will be skeletal no matter how much he eats. I know a diet with carbs 0-10% can eliminate diabetes symptoms.

I love my little Pikachu so much, and the vets here are of almost no help. I have tried many and now basically do everything myself with heavy research since they let one of my kitties die by telling me she was okay when she wasn't. They just suggest a prescription diet for Pikachu which might even kill him. Any suggestions about food or teeth, considering I'd like to eliminate fish to see if his coughing stops?
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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I'm sorry no one has responded to your questions so far.  Perhaps no one has an answer for you. I know I don't
.  I mean, all I can tell you is to continue researching and sampling any low cal foods until you find something he likes better than what he's eating now.  Perhaps Wysong, Young Again...maybe something on this thread will be of help:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/304606/help-changing-my-cats-dry-food-and-find-the-best-for-him

For his teeth, that's tricky.  Obviously, chewing on something like a chicken wing would be great, but sounds like that's out of the questions.  IF he would chew on large pieces something,  that might help scrape them, but the question is...what might he chew on?  I give mine freeze dried raw as treats, and give them pretty big chunks of it to chew.   (Like Stella and Chewy or Primal.  )  That might fit the bill, and he might even like them, because them "seem" like kibble, only bigger.  Just make sure he gets plenty of water later in his kibble.  That's what I do, I add lots of water later to my guys' canned food.
 
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primal cat

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I was sad no one responded. Thanks for your answer. I had completely forgotten that at one point I was looking into Wysong epigen 90 for one of my dogs, but calculated that raw actually worked out cheaper. Pikachu won't eat nearly as much as a large dog though lol, and I only see fish oil. I think that might work out. I think Stella and Chewy or Primal could be an option in a couple of weeks, as my boyfriend lost his overtime, so we're struggling big time right now. It's too expensive as an entire diet right now, but I hadn't thought about it possibly scrubbing his teeth as a treat. I hope he likes it. I do add a lot of water to his food :) He's thirsty a lot despite his food being a soup, poor guy.

He eats very slowly (one meal takes nearly a day) and doesn't chew his kibble. Even when I was trying to make him like canned, he would only lick it so gently that food didn't stick to his tongue most of the time. He has the softest mouth - never bites down, and if he licks me I barely feel it. For this reason, I'm not sure I can ever get him to chew anything. His mouth looks fine minus the gums/calculus and short lips. I will definitely try the freeze dried though. I've never had to get a pet a dental before because they've never needed it thanks to raw meaty bones. I don't want to start.

He's such a weird cat - At one point I considered cooking for him since he won't transition, but he ran away from various cooked meats like he found the smell repugnant. He even ran away from a can of tuna, and sardines. This was before he started coughing. A while back I was eating gluten free fig bars, and he was curious. I offered him a chunk, thinking he would be disgusted, but he took it and begged for more... He hasnt had them after that for obvious reasons. Anyway, thanks again for the suggestions!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Most cats don't chew their kibble, because it's so small they don't really need to.  If you buy the Stella and Chewy's freeze dried, don't go by their little sample sized packets to see if he'll chew them, because last time i checked, they were all broken up, not in their normal form, which are little cubes  The sample size packets are more like crumbles.  But for taste, they are a good way to go.

Sounds like if Pikachu has stage 2 peridontal, he would definitely need a dental.  That may be one reason why it takes him so long to eat.  Maybe it hurts him to eat
  Since you barely feel him when he licks you, he may be one of those cats whose tongue is NOT like sandpaper.  There are some out there.  Isn't a specific breed or anything.  Some cats just have smoother tongues than others. 
 
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