# Nearly no teeth !!!! what to do next ????



## Moggs (Sep 22, 2010)

Hi all, I'm, new to this forum and would really appreciate some advice. I have 2 Siamese, a female spayed aged 10.5 yrs and a male neutered 6.5 yrs.

They have both had their teeth done recently and the female had 6 teeth out and the male 3. The female has had at least 3 dentals and the male 2. I've given them the 'toothpaste' from the vets that they lick around their mouths. I've fed a mainly dry diet, free feeding it during the day with a pouch of wet food between them in the morning and t-time. Each time they have gone for dentals I find it traumatising, last time the female had a top canine out which I wasnt expecting, this time its 6. I was constantly being told by my old vets that Siamese as a breed are more prone to Gingervitis. I changed vets recently as I lost confidence in the old one after 20 years. I am mortified that the female now has nearly no teeth, she has 1 top canine and 2bottom canines left.

I am now trying to work out what will be best for them both food wise, particularly the female with hardly any teeth left, I'm guessing this is a little late, but I've always felt I've done the best by them both diet wise, you are told that these 'top' brands are the best for your animals and you believe it, I now realise I have been nieve. I've read your A-z's of wet and dry food which were very helpful, thank you. I think that I am going to switch dry food to Orijen which I think will be suitable based on all I've read, but I'm still unsure which wet food to opt for. Do you think the female will be able to cope with Orijen dry food with nearly no teeth?? Previously they were fed on Hills Science and either Whiskas pouches or Sheba alu trays.

Can anyone shed any light on suitable foods please. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Moggs said:


> Hi all, I'm, new to this forum and would really appreciate some advice. I have 2 Siamese, a female spayed aged 10.5 yrs and a male neutered 6.5 yrs.
> 
> They have both had their teeth done recently and the female had 6 teeth out and the male 3. The female has had at least 3 dentals and the male 2. I've given them the 'toothpaste' from the vets that they lick around their mouths. I've fed a mainly dry diet, free feeding it during the day with a pouch of wet food between them in the morning and t-time. Each time they have gone for dentals I find it traumatising, last time the female had a top canine out which I wasnt expecting, this time its 6. I was constantly being told by my old vets that Siamese as a breed are more prone to Gingervitis. I changed vets recently as I lost confidence in the old one after 20 years. I am mortified that the female now has nearly no teeth, she has 1 top canine and 2bottom canines left.
> 
> ...


Hiya Moggs, welcome to the pf! Before talking you through some great wet food choices another question. Have you considered feeding raw food?

You can get commercially prepared raw minces that contain what your cats need nutritionally, which even your gummy cat will be able to eat. But make no mistake, even a teeth-challenged cat can still chew pieces of raw meat. Feeding those a couple of times a week might help contain the existing damage.


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

What a shame poor paws  

We have two gummies here  well they have 4 teeth between they manage very well with most foods as long as its mashed up 1st or it just arrives back the way it went in especially dry food :arf: they can eat raw minced turkey & love that :thumbup: they also get Hi-Life & purley & thats realy easy to mash up


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## Moggs (Sep 22, 2010)

Thank you for your reply, I've read about raw food quite a bit on your forum and you all seem to be recommending it. I assumed she wouldnt be able to manage raw food with the chewing. If you think it will help I am open to any suggestions. Can you recommend any of the prepared raw minces / where to buy please?


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## Lulu's owner (May 1, 2009)

Hi. I know how worrying it is when your cat has to have most of its teeth out. My little Lulu is quite young, about two or three, and came to me with chronic gingivostomatis. She now only has the four canines plus the tiny teeth inbetween. She swallows dry food whole. I've just started buying Burns because I think it is meant to be more wholesome than most. I just feed her what she is able and willing to eat. She likes Gourmet Perle sachets because the food is quite wet and comes in little slivers which don't need chewing.

I shall also be interested to hear if anyone has any suggestions for healthy wet food for a cat in this situation, as I don't think Gourmet Perle is particularly good for cats but Lulu does like it and it is easier for her to eat than any other wet cat food I have come across.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Someone asked the question about the raw complete prepared food not long ago, here is a link: http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/122521-complete-raw-food-line.html

Because this is minced food, even the bone is minced, there is very little chewing involved. But even if you were to feed some raw goulash sized pieces your gummy cat would manage. They just chew on the gums, rather than tear at the meat with their teeth.

If raw is just too daunting at the moment, have a look on zooplus. There are plenty of really good cat wet foods out there that don't cost the earth. I would recommend you look at the likes of Grau, Bozita, Smilla and Animonda.

I personally would not feed dry food. If you feed a high quality wet food then they will get all the nutrients they need, plus the moisture, from the wet food.

Lulu's ownder. I have heard it so often now that people recommend burns classic for cats with gingivitis. I personally don't see why that food should be so much better for them than other foods that also don't contain any sugars or grains and that are even higher in meat content, such as the ones I have listed above. It is a cat food myth by now that that food is a good for cats with dental problems imo.


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## Lulu's owner (May 1, 2009)

hobbs2004 said:


> Someone asked the question about the raw complete prepared food not long ago, here is a link: http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/122521-complete-raw-food-line.html
> 
> Because this is minced food, even the bone is minced, there is very little chewing involved. But even if you were to feed some raw goulash sized pieces your gummy cat would manage. They just chew on the gums, rather than tear at the meat with their teeth.
> 
> ...


I tend to buy my cat food from the pet shop so I'm quite limited as to what's available, and I just bought the Burns the other day because they had it in stock and I assumed it must be good because it was £3 for 500 grams. I looked on their website and to be fair to the makers they do seem to take a holistic approach to the wet/dry issue. They say that it's the overall quality of the food that's important rather than whether it is wet or dry, something to do with the balance of bacteria in the saliva if I recall correctly. It seems to have a reasonably high meat content, the highest I can find in Nottingham's shops at least.

I might try Lulu on a few small chunks of raw meat but I'm slightly worried that because she has so little strength in her jaw (I can tell that when she nips me when I've annoyed her) she might be in danger of choking.


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Lulu's owner said:


> I tend to buy my cat food from the pet shop so I'm quite limited as to what's available, and I just bought the Burns the other day because they had it in stock and I assumed it must be good because it was £3 for 500 grams. I looked on their website and to be fair to the makers they do seem to take a holistic approach to the wet/dry issue. They say that it's the overall quality of the food that's important rather than whether it is wet or dry, something to do with the balance of bacteria in the saliva if I recall correctly. It seems to have a reasonably high meat content, the highest I can find in Nottingham's shops at least.
> 
> I might try Lulu on a few small chunks of raw meat but I'm slightly worried that because she has so little strength in her jaw (I can tell that when she nips me when I've annoyed her) she might be in danger of choking.


My apologies Lulu's owner. I got my Bs mixed up. I was talking about Butcher's Classic wet food in my rant above, not the Burns dry.  Sorry.

Re the raw, you could start slowly and with small pieces, or even with supermarket mince, and increase the size of the chunks as her jaw muscles strengthen.


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## Lulu's owner (May 1, 2009)

hobbs2004 said:


> My apologies Lulu's owner. I got my Bs mixed up. I was talking about Butcher's Classic wet food in my rant above, not the Burns dry.  Sorry.
> 
> Re the raw, you could start slowly and with small pieces, or even with supermarket mince, and increase the size of the chunks as her jaw muscles strengthen.


An understandable error, as before Lulu's teeth were taken out I tried her on Butchers because I'd bought some info about gingivostomatitis that pushed Butchers heavily. In the event, Lulu's teeth came out so easily that the vet said they must have been in a far worse state than they appeared (the awful thing was that her teeth looked fine and it just seemed like the gums were terrible, which made opting for extraction more of a dilemma). I'm just glad she's happy and painfree now, but I ought to try and help her keep her few remaining teeth and this thread has made me start thinking about that.


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## Moggs (Sep 22, 2010)

Thank you for your replies, it is appreciated. I have ordered some Bozita in chunks which I'll mash up and a couple of Bozita pate one's to try and see how they get on, and left the dry food.

You said about supermarket mince, I dont want to order a bulk quantity online of raw mince until I know how it goes, I've had a look at the Raw to Go site you suggested, thank you. Am I ok to get some good quality supermarket chicken or turkey mince to try them on initially? Do I just keep it in the fridge and give them small amounts of the raw meat as a supplement to try it, do I just give it as it is raw (seems weird), do I need to put anything on it if its just a snack in addition to the Bozita? I haven't worked out what Taurine is for, do I need any for the raw mince? 

Sorry for the 20 questions, I just dont want to make any further mistakes


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## hobbs2004 (Mar 12, 2010)

Don't worry about asking questions; the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask. 

It is perfectly ok to feed raw food for up to 20% of the weekly meal without having to worry about it being balanced etc (containing the right ratio of muscle meat, bones, and offal).

So, if you feed your cat twice a day, then 2-3 meals of raw a week are completely acceptable.

Try anything you can find in the meat section in the supermarket. Minces of various animals, heart, kidney, liver (though only a little as it contains a lot of fat-soluble Vit A, which is invaluable to cats but of which you can feed too much). Anything. Raw fish I would limit to once a week.

Yes, just keep it in the fridge or freeze portions and defrost in the fridge. Then bring up to room temperature (most easily done in a bain marie) and just feed raw.

For more info on raw feeding check out the raw feeding thread on this section. Here it is: http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/111455-thinking-about-raw-feeding-basic-guide.html


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## Moggs (Sep 22, 2010)

I ordered the Bozita yesterday so hopefully it will be here in the next few days and we'll be hitting the fresh meat aisle at the supermarket tomorrow. Hopefully we should have 2 very happy cats. Particularly our gummy female (Aja) who loves her food 

Thank you, your advice has been very much appreciated. :thumbsup:


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