How to feed my boy with missing teeth! He's withering away!!

[kayleighcat]

Hi everyone!
My name is Kelly, and I took my cat Arnold in about 9 months ago to have 9 teeth extracted + other dental work. Before the procedure, I was told that as long as the kibble cat food we feed him is small enough for him to swallow, that even cats with no teeth can swallow food like this, so we went ahead with the procedure. Since his surgery, he has shown that he is in less pain, which I am very thankful for, but we are having the toughest time finding any type of food that he will eat, and as a result, he has been consistently losing weight and I'm worried about him. His behavior hasn't changed, only his eating habits. We've bought him several types of small kibble dry food that he seems to struggle keeping in his mouth, and gives up easily. We've tried adding chicken broth to his food to soften it which he doesn't like. We've tried steaming the kibble for a short while to soften it, which hasn't worked. We've tried nearly every kind of wet food and the only one he will show some interest in is fancy feast gravy lovers, but he'll lick the gravy and that's it, and it gives him the runs, which we don't want. Do you have any suggestions to help our boy eat? Maybe a soft kibble? I've tried looking for a chewy not crunchy kibble and have been unsuccessful beside the food toppers which I don't want to feed to him strictly. Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Willowy]

Chicken baby food mixed with a smooth canned food and a splash of heavy cream or KMR (for extra calories), mixed until it's smooth and appoximately gravy consistency, or somewhere between gravy and pudding. I've found that Royal Canin Babycat is the smoothest, and most cats like it, but Fancy Feast Kitten turkey flavor will work too. The baby food usually makes it extra palatable.

Some cats will eat their kibble ground to powder in a coffee grinder (a food processor won't make it smooth enough, so just get a cheap coffee grinder, usually around $10) and mixed with water until gravy-ish.

 

[Azazel]

Try sprinkling some fortiflora on top of the canned food to entice him. Fortiflora is primarily animal digest which acts as an appetite stimulant. I would try this with canned food without gravy on top so he can't just lick the fortiflora off the gravy.

Cats don't actually chew their food much, even small kibble. So if he's really that uninterested in food I would also want to make sure that there wasn't still an underlying issue such as pain.

 

[lisahe]

Some cats will eat their kibble ground to powder in a coffee grinder (a food processor won't make it smooth enough, so just get a cheap coffee grinder, usually around $10) and mixed with water until gravy-ish.

Try sprinkling some fortiflora on top of the canned food to entice him.

I think both these suggestions are good. Our cats love to have crumbled freeze-dried chicken treats on their food. Our pickier cat will eat just about anything with that stuff on it.

I know you said you already tried all kinds of wet foods but (just in case) two kinds that are very soft and lappable are Sheba pates and Weruva BFF Play pates. Our cats love both and though what A Azazel says -- about cats not chewing their food much -- is true, something soft might be especially appealing for Arnold. If he can get past the kibble/wet food thing! It takes time -- about a month or so for our cats -- but it's definitely possible to transition them!

Good luck!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! I don't think I saw it mentioned above - how about some human canned tuna or chicken in water? Try variations of it - some of the meat added to the dry food, just the 'juice' poured over the dry, or smash the dry up to better soak the juice. Whatever combinations of all of the suggestions you've been given might ultimately be your key in getting him to eat more 'mushy' food. It'll be a process, but with some 'testing', patience, and fortitude you will, over time, find a solution.

Keep us posted on what you try, and what may or may not work - perhaps we can come up with some more ideas!

 

[amandag1]

Hmm maybe try delectables squeeze ups or bisque/stews he might lick those and get some extra calories
They have senior 10 year kind with vitamin b,e

weruva makes very mushy pate/jelly like food which can be easier to lick up

 

[amandag1]

Also- tiki cat velvet mousse... also very lickable food

 

[Kitty Mommy]

My Max had most of his teeth removed because of tooth resorbtion. I mixed his favorite pate style food with warm water. It was soup consistency that he could easily lick.

 

[sandyshores]

Having a senior cat with all teeth removed, he gulps down Greenies hairball treats in one gulp... doesn't chew. Neither does my other cat that has teeth. I feed my cats wet food (one raw but the other hates raw so he eats Wellness. Wellness Chicken & Herring seems to be the favorite of most cats as it is pretty stinky! I know a lot of people feed kibble all the time but I personally don't think it is good for them so I've always fed mine wet food. HOWEVER, living in Florida I did have to find a kibble that they would eat in case of a hurricane and I couldn't get them their regular food. I tried about 8 different ones, all different prices, The only one they both would even entertain eating was the Purina One Hairball. I don't think either of them "chewed" it, they both just gulped it down like they do the Greenies treats. The sizes of the pieces aren't real big.

A comment on baby food, thought I'd pass this along as it seems to be the "go to" food when a cat isn't eating.
Baby food is mostly water, so one jar is just water and 1 oz of meat - it isn't a "balanced" food for your cat. Obviously none of us want to feed our cats baby food long term, but if they aren't eating anything else, this is a good option short term to get their appetite up.
I bought the BalanceIT supplement to add to it so it is "balanced" with vitamins/minerals needed. For one jar of baby food (which is 1oz of meat) you add 1.7grams of BalanceIT. I found this tip on the website for IBD cats. And don't buy the chicken... forgot why they said not to get it.... but there is beef and they like beef baby food.. The BalanceIT supplement is expensive but it has liver in the supplement so easy to do. If you want a cheaper alternative, you can also use Alnutrin with Egg Shell supplement. If you use that you have to add 1.8 grams of liver along with 0.42 grams.of alnutrin. Obviously you would need something that can weigh in grams but well worth the $30-$40 to get a scale that measures grams as these are little amounts that are hard to convert to ounces (ie 1.7 grams = 0.0599657 oz). Anyway, just something I learned and thought I'd pass it on for anyone interested,