Fangless cat has trouble eating

[ziggyandshade]

Hello
My boy had to have all 4 of his fangs removed because of decay. He’s 10 years old and I’m noticing he has trouble keeping food in his mouth when eating. His bowls are raised and are whisker friendly, porcelain bowls. Wondering if anyone has experience with this and if there’s a way to remedy it. I notice it with wet and dry (his dry gets water added) I think because the wet food sticks to the bottom of bowls and he seems to give up trying to get it in his mouth. He laps up his food as opposed to when he had his fangs, he’d bite it. His weight is stable.

 

[maggie101]

My cat had tooth resorption. Now can only eat pate

 

[Kflowers]

We had a similar situation. With the dry food, be sure to change it every day. We weren't adding water, but as he ate pieces of dry would roll back into the bowl. He had a free feeder so it was a never empty bowl. Fortunately, we quickly noticed that the dry slightly dampened by kitty food was quick to mold. Just keep an eye for that. Not being able to keep food from dribbling out now and then didn't seem to bother him. None of the other cats bothered him about it. You might want to put a white place mat under his bowls so you'll be able to find any bits that escaped him.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Does he still have other teeth, like the teeny tiny front teeth, both uppers and lowers? One of mine has his fangs, but is missing those little bitty upper ones so food is occasionally falling out of his mouth. But he doesn't have any problem licking up his food, just keeping treats in his mouth sometimes.

I wonder if you tried a raised, TILTED bowl if that might help. That's what I use for my guys. That way his head won't have to be straight down and he would have a better chance of the food staying in his mouth. If he used to bite into a pile of food, he will learn quickly to lick it up instead. You might even try adding a little bit of water to his wet food to make it more lickable if it's thick.

 

[maggie101]

Hello
My boy had to have all 4 of his fangs removed because of decay. He’s 10 years old and I’m noticing he has trouble keeping food in his mouth when eating. His bowls are raised and are whisker friendly, porcelain bowls. Wondering if anyone has experience with this and if there’s a way to remedy it. I notice it with wet and dry (his dry gets water added) I think because the wet food sticks to the bottom of bowls and he seems to give up trying to get it in his mouth. He laps up his food as opposed to when he had his fangs, he’d bite it. His weight is stable.

Also she has trouble a acting on an elevated bowl so hers is flat whisker free.try using a Paper plate or cookie sheet

 

[ziggyandshade]

We had a similar situation. With the dry food, be sure to change it every day. We weren't adding water, but as he ate pieces of dry would roll back into the bowl. He had a free feeder so it was a never empty bowl. Fortunately, we quickly noticed that the dry slightly dampened by kitty food was quick to mold. Just keep an eye for that. Not being able to keep food from dribbling out now and then didn't seem to bother him. None of the other cats bothered him about it. You might want to put a white place mat under his bowls so you'll be able to find any bits that escaped him.

Thanks for that, I give him small amounts of dry food with water. Anything uneaten is thrown away after 1/2 hr. I hope his wet food isn’t molding overnight, though.

 

[maggie101]

A food timer for wet might help. My cat Maggie is at a healthy weight. I leave out a 6 oz can if I don't have time,only 110 cals and she is 9 pds. She eats multiple times and a 3 oz can 60 cals at night. It takes her almost 2 hrs to eat in the morning

 

[ziggyandshade]

A food timer for wet might help. My cat Maggie is at a healthy weight. I leave out a 6 oz can if I don't have time,only 110 cals and she is 9 pds. She eats multiple times and a 3 oz can 60 cals at night. It takes her almost 2 hrs to eat in the morning

Thanks for the info!

 

[ziggyandshade]

Does he still have other teeth, like the teeny tiny front teeth, both uppers and lowers? One of mine has his fangs, but is missing those little bitty upper ones so food is occasionally falling out of his mouth. But he doesn't have any problem licking up his food, just keeping treats in his mouth sometimes.

I wonder if you tried a raised, TILTED bowl if that might help. That's what I use for my guys. That way his head won't have to be straight down and he would have a better chance of the food staying in his mouth. If he used to bite into a pile of food, he will learn quickly to lick it up instead. You might even try adding a little bit of water to his wet food to make it more lickable if it's thick.

He has 1 tiny tooth on the top, one on the bottom, so most of his tiny teeth fell out. I’m going to blend his food to see if more of a pate will be easier to eat.
Will try a tilted bowl also. Thanks!

 

[Alldara]

You can try adding more water to the wet and seeing if you can make it a soup. I used an inexpensive blender to do that for my cat when she had a difficult time eating due to illness.

I also leave wet food out for my cats overnight and haven't had them get ill. When ita really hot I put the bowl in the freezer before I put the food in (ceramic)

 

[ziggyandshade]

Also she has trouble a acting on an elevated bowl so hers is flat whisker free.try using a Paper plate or cookie sheet

Cookie sheet is a brilliant idea.

 

[ziggyandshade]

You can try adding more water to the wet and seeing if you can make it a soup. I used an inexpensive blender to do that for my cat when she had a difficult time eating due to illness.

I also leave wet food out for my cats overnight and haven't had them get ill. When ita really hot I put the bowl in the freezer before I put the food in (ceramic)

Thanks for the great ideas.