this may be the stupidest ? you've ever heard

How old is she? I would figure that a broken tooth would still be painful. It's definitely painful for us. The best thing would be to have the tooth checked by the vet, and then let them determine what the next step would be. It all depends on the tooth and the severity.

Thats right, if your cat is not in any obvious pain, chances are it doesn't bother your kitty too much. i have witnessed cats with no teath eat their hard foods down whole with no problems what so ever. try to give your cat a mix of hard- dental based treats or hard food mixed with wet food, which may help with its teeth.

cats also do not reveil pain like we do. if we stub our big toe for example, we feel like rolling about the floor holding it and crying. a cat - examples are declaws- arein great amounts of pain due to their toes missing, but they get over it. they hide pain easily.

You probably want to get the broken tooth removed. DOes she make any sounds when eating? Patches (17) also has bad teeth. A few years ago, she was making strange sounds while eating. We took her to the vet, and they had to pull most of her molars.

However, she still insists on eating dry food. She gets extra wet food (and HEATED so it will be easier to eat), but she will still go for dry. She actually crunches it in half with her front teeth, and then she swallows them. Kinda weird, but I think if your cat isn't in any pain and likes dry, let her eat it. Just be sure to offer wet food. Some days Patches will decide that the dry isn't worth the effort.

I happened to think all cats should be off dry food by age ten so I wouldnt but make her happy

If you continue to feed her dry, make sure she gets enough moisture/water from other things. Perhaps you could get a pet water fountain or places different containers of water around her home. Older pets are at risk for kidney problems, and they often don't drink enough water without a little prompting. How old is she?

Cats don't chew dry food. They crunch some of the pieces and swallow most of the food whole(that's why dry food doesn't really do much for the teeth contrary to a common belief) Cats don't need very many teeth in their mouth to eat dry food. But you might want to avoid the types of dry food that involve large pieces or are very hard. Stick with the kind of kibble that is small or easy to crunch.

l would personally get her looked at - a broken tooth might not cause a lot of pain, but there is a risk it will cut her mouth, and that will. And I have known cats in their late teens, some with health issues, have ops, as anaesthetics are very good these days, so that isn't necessarily a prob. If she wants to eat dry food, then you might want to let her, but it wont necessarily help her teeth - all mine are over 10, have biscuits and blood tests show no problems.