FYI Feeding cats with dental issues.

[syzygycat]

I've many ways of getting my cat with oral cancer to eat til I found some that work. Maybe this'll help others.

Blending cat food and water seems to be the go-to method. I've found stirring 3 parts pate 1 part water then pushing it through a 40mesh then 60mesh flour sifter gets rid of all the hard bits and "blends"the food far more consistently.
I flip the sifter upside down over a plate and use a plastic putty knife to 'wipe' the found through. A lot of the food sticks to the inside of the mesh, I use a 2nd putty knife to scrape it off. And I use the narrow 1.25" putty knife to 'spoon feed' him. It needs to be thin layers and not too much at once. The narrow putty knife is better than a spoon and less frustrating than a Popsicle stick.
A lot of canned foods come out the strainer looking like dots of sand in water (every Purina, wellness, Sheba, Tiki. and BFF pates do this). As if the meat was dried and milled into a powder then reconstituted, all of those foods are come out like that irritate his gums more.
Merrick bistro pates (except turkey) Weruva classic pates, Royal Canine wet foods, Gerber Baby food all come out of the strainer/sifter/siev like mayonnaise. With Those brands in particular: 95% of the the passes through (most of flavors don't even need a first pass with larger 40mesh sifter).



The putty knives:

The 40mesh flour sifter:

The 60mesh flour fifter (with the 5% of 5.5oz can of Merrick beef that got filtered out) :

My eldest cat needs RX food, doesn't have mouth issues but eats a lot more of the her RX food when it's filtered (she otherwise licks Royal Canine and Purina RX pate dry leaving 3/4 of the food behind) I've been filtering everyone's food.

 

[maggie101]

Thanks! That's a little too much work for me. Luckily my cat's issue is not as bad. If the day comes this info will help. She eats nulo minced tukey&Duck and orijen canned also eats wellness,sheba and ff classics turkey&giblets. I will check out merrick

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

When dental is a issue with any of mine if it is safe for them to have a cleaning they get that. Otherwise, pate with small amounts of water added. I have also taken Tiki Cat shreds mixed with water or a pate and blended it in a mini food processor.

 

[syzygycat]

Thanks! That's a little too much work for me. Luckily my cat's issue is not as bad. If the day comes this info will help. She eats nulo minced tukey&Duck and orijen canned also eats wellness,sheba and ff classics turkey&giblets. I will check out merrick

Using one flour sifter and a flat untencil takes as much time and cleanup as stirring the food up in a seperate bowl. Faster if you're string til it's fairly consistent texture.
Much less time than getting it in then out of a blender. And less cleanup than a blender.

For my guy. The small mesh 2nd sifter has to be added in the past week or two...

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

My vote will always be with what is good/works for your cat. I mainly feed pate, but occasionally add small amounts of shreds minced with kitchen shears or like I said whirled in a mini processor ( mine has a self clean function) . I don't care about the extra work, especially when getting them to eat is tough.Over time I have done many to get a cat to eat including following them around with food on a big spoon. It is about them not me.

 

[syzygycat]

...Over time I have done many to get a cat to eat including following them around with food on a big spoon...

I've been doing that too. I stopped putting away the carpet shampooer. It was neccisarry too often. lives in the bedroom now

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

I've been doing that too. I stopped putting away the carpet shampooer. It was neccisarry too often. lives in the bedroom now

How many us will do anything to help our fur babies? It is what it is. I am sure your efforts are are appreciated by your little one The carpet cleaner says give it a rest I am thankful we have hardwood floors, makes it a little easier.

 

[daftcat75]

My concern here is that while the food started out nutritionally complete and balanced, what is being left behind on the sifters? Could that be containing nutrients that aren't getting pushed through?

For the cat with oral cancer, I'd say keep doing this if it keeps him eating. For the others, I wouldn't sift their food because you just don't know if you're sifting out nutrients. For example, liver might be chewier than muscle meat and thus bits of liver may be more likely to be left behind on a sifter. This would be a huge mistake as liver has critical nutrients especially vitamin A. I'm not saying you're sifting out liver or vitamin A. I don't know what is being sifted out. And that's concerning.

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

My concern here is that while the food started out nutritionally complete and balanced, what is being left behind on the sifters? Could that be containing nutrients that aren't getting pushed through?

For the cat with oral cancer, I'd say keep doing this if it keeps him eating. For the others, I wouldn't sift their food because you just don't know if your sifting out nutrients. For example, liver might be chewier than muscle meat and thus bits of liver may be more likely to be left behind on a sifter. This would be a huge mistake as liver has critical nutrients especially vitamin A. I'm not saying your sifting out liver or vitamin A. I don't know what is being sifted out. And that's concerning.

The food left in the sifter should be finer at that point and could probably be put back in with what passed through. A lot of work tough.I like the mini processor if a cat is difficult to feed. You can add a little water to make it thinner. Problem is to much water a they can get filled up but may not be getting all the calories they need, so you have to be careful of that.

 

[syzygycat]

The food left in the sifter should be finer at that point and could probably be put back in with what passed through. A lot of work tough.I like the mini processor if a cat is difficult to feed. You can add a little water to make it thinner. Problem is to much water a they can get filled up but may not be getting all the calories they need, so you have to be careful of that.

This is one of the main perk of weruva classic pate's. All the poultry flavors, Poultry with salmon, and just salmon can pass completey through the mesh ( beef, lamb, shrimp, and specially tuna leave a some stuff behind).
Merrick's pate's leave some grit behind but the largest bits that don't pass through looks like bone, but is some sort of white caked powder. When I scrape off the stuff that didn't pass through (about a teaspoons worth), stir it with water the white bit break up and pass through.

I bought a few can's of Nulo for the 1st time. Tried my mesh method with MedalSeries Chicken & Turkey Pate.
The meat passed through the larger pore size mesh with turning into powder floating in water.
BFF pate, Wellness Complete pate, Sheba, any Purina/FancyFeast pate all do this and irritates the cat's gums, some do better with a pass through the smaller pore mesh sifter. Nulo was nice and smooth without needing a second pass BUT Nulo did have one major issue in regards to:

My concern here is that while the food started out nutritionally complete and balanced, what is being left behind on the sifters? Could that be containing nutrients that aren't getting pushed through?

...NULO had bits of kelp and bone too big to go through the mesh. One 5.5oz can had a few hundred bone chunks all larger than lower case "o" in most 12pt font (about 1⁄8"). Sifting them out means the cat would be getting a lot less calcium. And It's kinda messed up to put bone shards into a pate



-Since the foods are supposed to be smooth Pates or not suitable in the first place most the vitamins, mineral, and amino acids should be well blended.
-Most brands add many of the nutrients as powdered nutrients which should all pass through.
- As with the case with Nulo its the naturally sourced minerals that might be an issue.
-But It's important to note "complete and balanced" means the AAFCO minimum is met. Almsot every mfr exceeds that minimum for minerals.
For example, "Complete and Balanced" adult cat food required 0.6% DM caclium (as of 2007). Every brand I buy has way more than that. So feeding a variety of brands ensure that he still gets plenty of calcium even if one meals has a caclium deficit.
Weruva Classic Chicken pate: 1.05% Ca.
Dr. Elsy's Chicken pate has 1.29% Ca.
Merrick Bistro Chicken pate 2.12% Ca.
Nulo's Chicken pate has 2.42% Ca.

Thats 175%-400% of thier Calcium requirement.
Meat with no bone at all already meats an adult cat's phosphate requirement. It's actually very hard to find catfoods that have less the four times the amount of phosphates a cat needs.

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

Very true about mineral content being higher then the requirements.My problem with AAFCO a minimum is listed but stuff like phosphorus can be off the charts in some food. After having an issue with a cat regularly vomiting food and trying a lot of different things my own I consulted a nutritional vet. She looked at everything I her vet records and recommended eliminating all gums. The food I was feeding had one, not 3 or 4. I had nothing to lose. She has not vomited food for months. Issue is there are two brands of pate that no gums. One I would not feed,it has more than 3 x the phosphorus.Trading vomiting for kidney disease not a good idea. So I have one brand of pate and one brand with a couple shreds she can eat. Bottom line here is doing what is best for your cat. We are the best judge on that.

 

[daftcat75]

This is one of the main perk of weruva classic pate's. All the poultry flavors, Poultry with salmon, and just salmon can pass completey through the mesh ( beef, lamb, shrimp, and specially tuna leave a some stuff behind).
Merrick's pate's leave some grit behind but the largest bits that don't pass through looks like bone, but is some sort of white caked powder. When I scrape off the stuff that didn't pass through (about a teaspoons worth), stir it with water the white bit break up and pass through.

I bought a few can's of Nulo for the 1st time. Tried my mesh method with MedalSeries Chicken & Turkey Pate.
The meat passed through the larger pore size mesh with turning into powder floating in water.
BFF pate, Wellness Complete pate, Sheba, any Purina/FancyFeast pate all do this and irritates the cat's gums, some do better with a pass through the smaller pore mesh sifter. Nulo was nice and smooth without needing a second pass BUT Nulo did have one major issue in regards to:


...NULO had bits of kelp and bone too big to go through the mesh. One 5.5oz can had a few hundred bone chunks all larger than lower case "o" in most 12pt font (about 1⁄8"). Sifting them out means the cat would be getting a lot less calcium. And It's kinda messed up to put bone shards into a pate



-Since the foods are supposed to be smooth Pates or not suitable in the first place most the vitamins, mineral, and amino acids should be well blended.
-Most brands add many of the nutrients as powdered nutrients which should all pass through.
- As with the case with Nulo its the naturally sourced minerals that might be an issue.
-But It's important to note "complete and balanced" means the AAFCO minimum is met. Almsot every mfr exceeds that minimum for minerals.
For example, "Complete and Balanced" adult cat food required 0.6% DM caclium (as of 2007). Every brand I buy has way more than that. So feeding a variety of brands ensure that he still gets plenty of calcium even if one meals has a caclium deficit.
Weruva Classic Chicken pate: 1.05% Ca.
Dr. Elsy's Chicken pate has 1.29% Ca.
Merrick Bistro Chicken pate 2.12% Ca.
Nulo's Chicken pate has 2.42% Ca.

Thats 175%-400% of thier Calcium requirement.
Meat with no bone at all already meats an adult cat's phosphate requirement. It's actually very hard to find catfoods that have less the four times the amount of phosphates a cat needs.

For the one with oral cancer, exceptional times require exceptional measures. Keep sifting the food for him if it helps him because oral cancer doesn’t have great outcomes anyway. Enjoy the time you have with him.

For the healthy cats, you don’t know what you don’t know. You’re taking a gamble that what you’re sifting is inconsequential. That’s not a gamble I’m comfortable with. But they’re your cats.

 

[syzygycat]

For the one with oral cancer, exceptional times require exceptional measures. Keep sifting the food for him if it helps him because oral cancer doesn’t have great outcomes anyway. Enjoy the time you have with him.

For the healthy cats, you don’t know what you don’t know. You’re taking a gamble that what you’re sifting is inconsequential. That’s not a gamble I’m comfortable with. But they’re your cats.

He lost wwight and only ate watered down lickable treats the first month his stomps started.
With my perfected mesh method (and feeding every 4 hours); he's averaged 0.11-0.15lb gain each week for 4 weeks

 

[syzygycat]

So I did a little experiment, wanted to see if I could make Fancy Feast pate smooth enough for Luke to eat.

I measured everything precisely, so if it does work I can repeat it.

I used FF Classic Chicken Pate. (It's much smoother & finer than beef or turkey)

I know FF is grittier than other brands. So first 1st I ran the 3oz can of pate in the the Ninja food + 5mL water to processor til it was totally liquid (15sec), played it safe and added 20g (aka 20mL) water ran the Ninja for another 30 secs.
After pouring it out. You can see how a food processor doesn't pulverizes the hard chunks. Just turns them to smaller grains.

I weighed the all liquid FF I could get into a baggy: 98g
Poured and mashed thin layers of FF over a larger pore (0.45mm). With effort recovered 54g of filtered.

I didn't bother trying to use the smaller mesh sifter. I was basically a layer beige flour sitting at the bottom nearly clear water.

experiment Failed.

 

[IzzysfureverMom]

So I did a little experiment, wanted to see if I could make Fancy Feast pate smooth enough for Luke to eat.

I measured everything precisely, so if it does work I can repeat it.

I used FF Classic Chicken Pate. (It's much smoother & finer than beef or turkey)

I know FF is grittier than other brands. So first 1st I ran the 3oz can of pate in the the Ninja food + 5mL water to processor til it was totally liquid (15sec), played it safe and added 20g (aka 20mL) water ran the Ninja for another 30 secs.
After pouring it out. You can see how a food processor doesn't pulverizes the hard chunks. Just turns them to smaller grains.
View attachment 475997

I weighed the all liquid FF I could get into a baggy: 98g
Poured and mashed thin layers of FF over a larger pore (0.45mm). With effort recovered 54g of filtered.
View attachment 475998



I didn't bother trying to use the smaller mesh sifter. I was basically a layer beige flour sitting at the bottom nearly clear water.

experiment Failed.

You are doing the very best you can with your beautiful beloved Luke. We both know what they need nutritional wise. Let face it though what you are going through with Luke like I went through with Valentino all bets are off. You just want to get food into them if possible
and love on them as much as possible for as long as possible. Please try to to take care of yourself and get some rest.Luke loves you and wants you to be healthy.