Food For A Cat With A Broken Jaw?

[AceCluck]

Hi,
About 2 weeks ago my older dog snapped at my cat, Aditya, and broke her jaw. She also has a small cheek fracture. She is doing good now, on antibiotics and metacam and at her last appointment they said she is healing well. My only trouble has been getting her to eat. She wants her regular crunchy food but she isn't able to eat it, she still can only lick food up. She's becoming very disinterested in her slurry of baby food, wet cat food and chicken broth and has started to eat only half of what she needs.

Does anyone have any ideas to get her to eat? Any softer "hard" cat foods that you know of for when she is able to chew again?

 

[ArchyCat]

You might try soaking some of her hard food in chicken broth until it is very soft. It won't have the crunch but it will have the taste. Or maybe try giving her KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) or goat's milk to drink. THE KMR should have a lot of protein, fat, calcium and the various trace nutrients cats need. You do have a unusual problem.

Please keep us informed how she progresses.

 

[LTS3]

What has the vet recommended that you feed?

I would not feed whole pieces of dry food until the cat's jaw is completely healed. Maybe you can try crushing up dry food into small pieces and sprinkling it over canned food? it's ok to ignore your cat if she keeps begging for dry food. As long as she is eating the canned food mixture, she is getting nutrition. You have to do what's best for your cat and help the jaw heal, even if that means temporarily no dry food.

 

[AceCluck]

You might try soaking some of her hard food in chicken broth until it is very soft. It won't have the crunch but it will have the taste. Or maybe try giving her KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) or goat's milk to drink. THE KMR should have a lot of protein, fat, calcium and the various trace nutrients cats need. You do have a unusual problem.

Please keep us informed how she progresses.

Unfortunately her hard food doesn't soften. I'm not exactly sure why, but it seems to be extra crunchy. I might try to switch her to a different one because she won't be able to eat anything extra crunchy even when she is healed, they told us she will have some arthritis. Thank you for your answer, though!

 

[AceCluck]

What has the vet recommended that you feed?

I would not feed whole pieces of dry food until the cat's jaw is completely healed. Maybe you can try crushing up dry food into small pieces and sprinkling it over canned food? it's ok to ignore your cat if she keeps begging for dry food. As long as she is eating the canned food mixture, she is getting nutrition. You have to do what's best for your cat and help the jaw heal, even if that means temporarily no dry food.

The vet recommended the slurry of baby food, wet cat food and chicken broth. Unfortunately she is getting tired of that. That's a really great idea about crushing up the dry food, I'll try that today. Thank you for the reply and thank you for reassuring that I can ignore the cries for dry food- that is what I've had to do but I felt terrible about it.

 

[Purr-fect]

Hi,
About 2 weeks ago my older dog snapped at my cat, Aditya, and broke her jaw. She also has a small cheek fracture. She is doing good now, on antibiotics and metacam and at her last appointment they said she is healing well. My only trouble has been getting her to eat. She wants her regular crunchy food but she isn't able to eat it, she still can only lick food up. She's becoming very disinterested in her slurry of baby food, wet cat food and chicken broth and has started to eat only half of what she needs.

Does anyone have any ideas to get her to eat? Any softer "hard" cat foods that you know of for when she is able to chew again?

Yes I do have a suggestion.

Find a healthy dry cat treat, I use "greenies" (they were about the best I could find that my cats seem to love).

Grind the treats into powder using a small cheap coffee grinder and sprinkle the powder on the food you want your cat to eat. Raed the calorie count of eachntreat and be mindful of how many calories you are giving her.....but in my unprofessional opinion, perhaps its ok to splurge a little on calories if it will get her eating and thru this tough time.

Just be aware that she may soon demand her ground treats even when her jaw has healed.