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I want thinking about to switch to 33% raw food diet. As I starting to do research, I found that raw food can clean cat teeth. It that true?
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Can raw food clean cat teeth
- Thread starter catrepublic
- Start Date
It's not a hard fact that any diet or method of feeding can clean cats' teeth:
http://tcfeline.com/2010/08/11/cats-teeth/
Something strictly dental-based (that is, not addressing the differences in the immune system) that raw food offers that dry and wet can't is the chewiness of the meats. Where dry food crunches and breaks into small pieces, and wet food gets lapped up, raw food is chewier and forces cats to chew on it before it's small enough to swallow. In the process, the meats close around the teeth they're using to bite at it. When feeding bones, while they're trying to tear meat off, they can rub the edges of their teeth on the bone. It's capable of doing more than other foods in that sense, but there's still nothing that says it'll replace brushing or a dental.
It depends on the cat too - genetics determine a lot of a cat's dental health, and some cats will be just fine gulping down a piece of meat where others are more diligent to tear their food into smaller pieces first. If your cats aren't used to eating raw yet, you'll likely want to start by offering them smaller pieces that they don't need to tear as much of. When we first started offering raw, our cats were so confused and frustrated that this jiggly piece of meat was too big for their mouths, and they kept dropping it and walking away. I gave them little pieces that didn't require chewing to get them used to the taste and texture, and then made the pieces bigger and bigger until they were fine with breaking it apart themselves.
http://tcfeline.com/2010/08/11/cats-teeth/
Something strictly dental-based (that is, not addressing the differences in the immune system) that raw food offers that dry and wet can't is the chewiness of the meats. Where dry food crunches and breaks into small pieces, and wet food gets lapped up, raw food is chewier and forces cats to chew on it before it's small enough to swallow. In the process, the meats close around the teeth they're using to bite at it. When feeding bones, while they're trying to tear meat off, they can rub the edges of their teeth on the bone. It's capable of doing more than other foods in that sense, but there's still nothing that says it'll replace brushing or a dental.
It depends on the cat too - genetics determine a lot of a cat's dental health, and some cats will be just fine gulping down a piece of meat where others are more diligent to tear their food into smaller pieces first. If your cats aren't used to eating raw yet, you'll likely want to start by offering them smaller pieces that they don't need to tear as much of. When we first started offering raw, our cats were so confused and frustrated that this jiggly piece of meat was too big for their mouths, and they kept dropping it and walking away. I gave them little pieces that didn't require chewing to get them used to the taste and texture, and then made the pieces bigger and bigger until they were fine with breaking it apart themselves.
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It's not going to clean the existing tarter, only a dental can do that. However, in addition to what pinkdagger mentioned, I think sticky carb-laden foods can exascerbate a problem whereas a cleaner diet will help keep the mouth in better shape. Much like eating an apple vs eating a Snickers bar will do for us.
Agreed. Its not going to act in the form of a tooth brush but will help the mouth stay clean. Good luck!
