Advice for a Toothless cat

[crinzin]

My 6 year old male cat is a bit of a picky eater, let alone the fact that he has no teeth to eat with... I am having a bit of trouble keeping weight on him, and I'm hoping someone can suggest something for me.

Here are his restrictions;

- All teeth were removed because of decay, abcesses and ulcers

- Lives in a barn, so he runs around on his own accord from 8am to 1pm (after that he lives in a heated tack room by himself)

- Active in hunting, but because of the lack of teeth, is unable to kill and eat anything

- He is fully "intact" as he does not spray or wander, nor does he ever have interest in females (follows me around all day)

He eats one kind of canned food only, others he refuses to eat any of it. He likes gravy and chunks from Friskies, chicken flavour. The can reccomends feeding 1/2 can each day in two feedings. He eats a whole can in a day in two feedings! He eats the gravy and chunks, doesn't leave anything. I cannot seem to keep a good weight on him, so I'm looking for a weight booster or something? Maybe a higher protein or fat content in something similar?

Any suggestions?

 

[Willowy]

Are you sure you're reading the can correctly? The cans of Friskies I have say to feed 3/4 ounce to one ounce of food per pound of body weight daily. 1/2 can per day wouldn't be enough for even a very small cat. Most indoor neutered cats will need 1 or 1 1/2 cans per day, so an outdoor intact tom will need far more (neutering reduces caloric requirements; intact cats need a LOT more calories!). 3 cans (5.5-ounce size) a day would not be out of the question. He's being underfed; just feed him more and he should put on weight nicely . How much does he weigh right now?

Also, has he been de-wormed recently?

 

[crinzin]

I didn't realize being intact would create a need for so many extra calories. In the food amount aspect, I think you are looking at the small cans. I use the larger cans which has more than twice the amount of the small ones. I will double check the can to make sure, but I've looked before and figred out the weight ratio. As for his weight now, I cannot be perfectly certain, but I will check!

And he was de-wormed last vet visit.

 

[Willowy]

Is it the 13.2-ounce (368g) cans? I didn't realize the chunks came in the large cans (I can't find anything but patè in the large cans of Friskies). If so, yeah, that should be enough for him. But if it's the 5.5-ounce (156g) can then one a day won't cut it. If it is the large can, maybe adding some raw meat to his diet will chunk him up a bit. Some nice boneless chicken thigh would be good. Or pork--it's higher fat and cats usually like it a lot. Beef seems to disagree with many cats.

I didn't realize testosterone burned so many calories until I had my dog neutered. I had to cut his food intake by almost half! It sure saved on the food bill, LOL.

 

[catwoman707]

Yes, he needs at least 2 cans a day of the short cans of friskies.

You can also keep a dish of smaller bites dry out for him, believe it or not!

If you've ever seen cat vomit that is on a dry food diet, notice the vomit is unchewed food? Oh they crunch now and then but for the most part the food isn't really chewed.

I once could never imagined this to be true until I experienced several cats now with zero teeth, eat dry just fine, although it's important to supplement with canned.

Can I ask why you don't have him neutered? Eventually this WILL cause a problem, whether it's cancer or the many other issues, there will come a time, believe this.

I love that you care for him and he visits the vet!

 

[furryfriends50]

You could try feeding more canned (if he'll eat it) or to try put some extra wieght on him you could cut up raw meat into small pieces.  My cat Wilda, who has three teeth, has no issues gumming down meat.  It has also helped her gain wieght