Cat teeth issues

SEL

SEL

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Benny came to us from a rescue 18 months ago. The vet at the rescue didn't think he was that old and back then his teeth were ok.

Roll forward to today's annual vet visit and he's got sore gums, plaque etc. We've mainly had him on a mix of Untamed & Purina gourmet wet food. Not a big biscuit eater but I think we'll have to try & persuade him.

Anyone else had a problem with the Purina? We fed the old cat on it & she also had teeth issues, but she'd had cat flu & vet always assumed it was that. Can't imagine it's the Untamed but that's too pricey to solely have him on that - he's a big cat!
 
Interested in any comments. My rescue will only eat Purina Gourmet - have tried all sorts including a myriad of expensive brands. Suspect Gourmet is not great on teeth.
 
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Mines on Purina Gourmet. I probably don’t want to hear this but why would you say it’s bad for teeth?
 
Is any wet food particularly good for teeth?

I posted on here the same kind of question a while ago and was told before spending £££ on a dental under GA to try antibiotics and something else, that cat dentals can sometimes be avoided. Maybe worth asking your vet about that?
I haven't actually done anything about ours still as our new vet said he really wasn't that bad and to just stop with the wet food.
 
I thought it was a bit of a myth that dry food helped teeth tbh. Or that it was significant anyway. Our vet asked if we were willing to brush their teeth, and if not to just keep an eye on them. Wet food much better for kidneys and to half quote our vet, all cats have shit teeth anyway 😂

Saying that, ours have ended up on a hypoallergenic dry food despite my preference, and they don't have a choice so they eat it! When I was feeding 100% wet I was getting the animonda carny tins off zooplus, as I absolutely refuse to pay that much money for pouches with 4% meat. Cost is the same as a branded pouch food but I felt better about the nutrition.
 
Really? So i was told that wet was bad for kidneys (by old vet who was the one wanting to band him out and do the dental) He said it was similar to feeding a cat Mcdonalds! I swaer its a minefield owning animals sometimes, every opinion ois different to another.
I am currenlty feeding wet again as we had kittens and have been trying to wean them off it, maybe i shouldn't bother!

I am absolutely NOT trying to brush them 😄
 
asmp said:
Mines on Purina Gourmet. I probably don’t want to hear this but why would you say it’s bad for teeth?
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My sample of 2 cats! Ben's teeth were fine 18 months ago and are very much not fine now. He was feral for a while then I know the rescue had him on 2 packets Felix plus biscuits so it must be something that's happened with us.

@poiuytrewq I asked for antibiotics yesterday and she wouldn't prescribe them. My current plan is some pain relief and get rid of the Purina. I don't think he's too sore to eat biscuits because I dropped some dreamies and they were gobbled up, I just need to find some he'll eat. Perhaps a mix of high quality wet plus biscuits. We've just had to have a load of roof repairs so not exactly got cash to burn on a GA and dental right now.

@smolmaus I've never had a teeth issue until the last 2 cats, so taking it personally! My local garden centre has a lot of brands so off to see what he'll eat.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Really? So i was told that wet was bad for kidneys (by old vet who was the one wanting to band him out and do the dental) He said it was similar to feeding a cat Mcdonalds! I swaer its a minefield owning animals sometimes, every opinion ois different to another.
I am currenlty feeding wet again as we had kittens and have been trying to wean them off it, maybe i shouldn't bother!

I am absolutely NOT trying to brush them 😄
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Depends on the wet!! Something like Felix or Whiskas, yeah its cheap shite but cats are designed to get water from prey and don't have a very good instinct to drink water so wet food prevents dehydration. Which is more dangerous than shit teeth.

I swore I would brush teeth when I got these two but we ended up having enough bloody problems that it went on the back burner and hasn't yet become a priority!

@SEL do just think about the fact some vets will have different standards for "okay" teeth than others! 👀 They could have been 98% the same 18 months ago and the only difference is the eyeballs looking at them! Not saying do nothing but don't panic!
 
My Ragdoll has an autoimmune issue where his gums are attacking his teeth, and he also had some tartar/plaque when he was checked last summer, so they recommended to put him on one of the seaweed supplements you can sprinkle on their food that's really good for helping prevent plaque. There's one called 'Plaque Off' (which I had used with my previous cat at one point), but I currently use Multi-Mite Plaque Out, which does seem to be helping and was a little cheaper but seemed to be the same ingredients.

Food wise, I have him on a mix of dry and wet (he has one wet tin/pouch per day, plus dry), and he currently has a subscription box from The Cool Cat Club, because they seem to have a good variety of flavours and types of wet food and dry food. He only has one bag of dry food from them a month and then the rest of the time he has Harringtons dry cat food, which actually seems pretty decent on the ingredients front (50% meat) compared to a lot of the other inexpensive brands. Seems to suit him anyway!
 
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will he tackle a raw chicken wing? None of my raw fed cats ever had teeth problems but I know most people dont want to go that far. But if he could be persuded to have a go at a chicken wing then it would help clean his teeth.
 
SEL said:
Benny came to us from a rescue 18 months ago. The vet at the rescue didn't think he was that old and back then his teeth were ok.

Roll forward to today's annual vet visit and he's got sore gums, plaque etc. We've mainly had him on a mix of Untamed & Purina gourmet wet food. Not a big biscuit eater but I think we'll have to try & persuade him.

Anyone else had a problem with the Purina? We fed the old cat on it & she also had teeth issues, but she'd had cat flu & vet always assumed it was that. Can't imagine it's the Untamed but that's too pricey to solely have him on that - he's a big cat!
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Does he hunt? Crunching vermin, even occasional birds, seems to clean their teeth quite well. Downside being leftovers mouldering in inaccessible places!
 
Our cat is 10 he goes to the vets for a 6 monthly check up usually and every time we see a different vet and each time get a different opinion on his teeth, one was very pushy to get them removed, the next less so, the most recent said his teeth were fine for his age 🤷‍♀️ I confused. We were saving for his dental but now it seems not!

He does get plaqueoff, special dry food for his teeth plus a small amount of wet food, plus some mice.
 
Exasperated said:
Does he hunt? Crunching vermin, even occasional birds, seems to clean their teeth quite well. Downside being leftovers mouldering in inaccessible places!
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Ummmm

He's more of a cushion than a cat! He is by far the laziest cat I've ever known. So no. And having seen him attempting to stalk a pigeon it would have to be a pretty thick mouse to get caught.

Might try some of that plaque off stuff.
 
Burnttoast said:
Whole prey does seem beneficial for teeth if they will eat them. We keep mice in the freezer for that purpose. I've fed day old chicks in the past as well.
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Crikey, none of ours will touch already dead (presume you don’t give live chicks for entertainment?), and certainly nothing that’s gone even faintly cold.
One brings prey to show off with; not always fully extinguished, either; but sometimes I’ll swop the rat for a bit of cheese and whang the corpse out the door to avoid leftover tails and feet in the porch. Cat will eat the cheese, stalk over the dead body, and go after fresh.
 
Exasperated said:
Crikey, none of ours will touch already dead (presume you don’t give live chicks for entertainment?), and certainly nothing that’s gone even faintly cold.
One brings prey to show off with; not always fully extinguished, either; but sometimes I’ll swop the rat for a bit of cheese and whang the corpse out the door to avoid leftover tails and feet in the porch. Cat will eat the cheese, stalk over the dead body, and go after fresh.
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No definitely dead! They don't all like them, but the ones that do really really do I've found. They'll get up onto the top of the fridge to retrieve them when I hide them to defrost. As BlackCat has got fussier in old age she won't tackle a whole one so I have to chop them into pieces, which gives a unique insight into mouse anatomy. Frozen sections, if you will 🤢 Too messy to cut up when thawed.
 
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