Vet says not to give cat wet food ever- but cat starving.

u_c_thesecond · 23-02-2012 08:14AM #1

So our little man went to the vets last week for all his shots and a general check up.

He v healthy- good coat- right weight etc. But the vet ATE us because he had plaque on his teeth- i ended up having to correct him as we only adopted him 2 months ago so that shut him up!:mad:

He says Fudge needs to be knocked out and have his teeth cleaned and that we have to stop feeding him wet food alltogether... how exactly is this healthy?

We mix dry and wet food together normally and since last week we only give him only dry nuts (vet told us to)and he wouldnt touch them and didnt eat for 19 hours before starting to root through the bin. And the worst part is he would smell our dinner cooking and he would start screaming at the kitchen door- broke my heart

Now ive called the vet about this and he says we have to be strong that wet food is bad for his teeth and that if he hungry enough he will eat the dry nuts- but he is not and he is starving. He sits beside the bowl of nuts and wimpers, After another 2 days of it i ended up having to buy wet food and give it to him because he wasnt touching the nuts and was starving.

He is getting his teeth cleaned next week, how do i approach this wet/dry food issue with the vet.Hes a pretty rude man in general and i dont think he happy i gave him wet food but i cant watch my cat starve.

EDIT- I had a cat before and i gave him the same wet/dry nuts food combo and he never had a prob with his teeth

The Sweeper · 23-02-2012 09:04AM

Try him on some raw meat. The wet food is bad for their teeth - there's no chewing action involved and it coats the teeth and disturbs the acidity of the cat's system. Over a long period, cats fed on tins of whiskas will need their teeth cleaned - unless they're outdoor, roaming cats, in which case they'll kill rodents, birds, lizards and insects and chomping on those will clean up their gnashers.

A raw chicken neck is an excellent meal for a cat - they clean their teeth, get raw food, taurine and calcium in one meal. (And this isn't just me, my vets recommend feeding them.) You can try strips of raw beef - tough cuts like stewing steak.

Dry food only diets seem to help delay the build up of tartar because they don't cling to the teeth, but I've seen just too many problems with FLUTD and crystals in the bladder to ever believe a recommendation of a dry-only diet.

u_c_thesecond · 23-02-2012 10:17AM

The Sweeper wrote: »

A raw chicken neck is an excellent meal for a cat - they clean their teeth, get raw food, taurine and calcium in one meal. (And this isn't just me, my vets recommend feeding them.) You can try strips of raw beef - tough cuts like stewing steak.

Dry food only diets seem to help delay the build up of tartar because they don't cling to the teeth, but I've seen just too many problems with FLUTD and crystals in the bladder to ever believe a recommendation of a dry-only diet.

our guy loves water so he would still get plenty of fluids with a dry diet- but he wont eat it. where could i get a raw chicken neck???

stupid question now but are you aure its ok to give him raw meat? id be worried about him being sick from it etc. he loves cooked meat alright he sometimes has our meat leftovers

fatmammycat · 23-02-2012 11:47AM

Our cats all eat a mix of wet and dry, and apart from the middle guy who was a rescue and ALWAYS had bad teeth from 2 or more years of poor nutrition, their teeth are fine.

Zapperzy · 23-02-2012 11:50AM

I'm sceptical of the benefits of dry food for teeth, unless it's a specific food for dental issues which has big kibbles. Dry is probably marginally better than wet but if you watch a cat eating they swallow most of the kibbles whole and only crack some of them in half. What would be much much much more benefit is to brush the teeth.

Mine has manky teeth, she was on dry for her first few years and she's on wet food now. She had manky teeth when on dry and still has manky teeth. There's a powder called plaque off, this used with brushing should be effective. Small bones such as quail can also help clean the teeth.

ziggy23 · 23-02-2012 12:47PM

As the Sweeper said, male neutered cats are at risk from crystals in their urine from being fed dried only. It happened to my 2 so now they are on wet food and their teeth are fine. Is there anyway you could brush your fella's teeth?

angry kitten · 23-02-2012 01:05PM

We've always used a mix of wet and dry food. Maybe you should try a different brand of dry food. Cats can be fussy about the texture of dry foods. Finding one they like is half the battle. I couldn't get chicken necks so I tried the raw plain pork ribs from dunnes. 1 of my cats loves them and I give him 1 a couple of times a week our other guy won't touch them. It also seems to have stopped him killing things.

Selfheal · 23-02-2012 01:15PM

Our girl gets a scoop of the dry stuff (is it called Hills? - from the vet) in the morning, which she loves, and then for dinner gets either raw turkey breast or raw chicken breast from Tesco. She's mad for this too, especially the turkey. When we first got her I tried her with various other bits and pieces from the butcher but she wasn't mad on red meat and I didn't pursue it as would not be her natural diet in the wild. I love to see her chomping away on the turkey breast and hopefully her teeth benefit too. Another benefit from this diet is her coat is absolutely gleaming - and I mean gleaming - and although we hardly ever see her dumps (she is very discreet) they smell an awful lot better than if she was eating junk cat food from tins.

I never thought about a raw chicken neck - will investigate.

angry kitten · 23-02-2012 01:46PM

I find the Royal Canin Pure Slimness dry food very good. My cats love it and the different shapes seem to stop them getting bored. I started mixing in some of the Royal Canin oral care dry food with it a couple of days ago. ll

Realistically we all get some degree of plaque on our teeth and if my dentist was that abrupt with me I'd find a new dentist. Maybe you should consider a different vet.

Sassy58 · 23-02-2012 03:12PM

One of our cats has bad teeth and our cats would be on mainly dried food with treats of wet food like applaws etc. We brought our cat to a vets adn he started going on about how bad our cats teeth were and how it was down to us giving her wet food all the time. Em no - our cat actually had cat flu as a kitten and when we bought her to our own vet she informed us that when they get cat flu bacteria can get into the gums and it affects the teeth and that it will be a life long thing.

zara flower · 23-02-2012 03:28PM

my second cat needs his teeth cleaned within the next year, my vet told me that some cats are simply more prone to building up plaque than others. i asked her about brushing his teeth and she said that after she cleans them it would be worth it if the cat can tolerate it. no point til she does her thing though. she never gave out to me for what i feed them which is half a can of wet food each and a bowl of dry food a day

Sassy58 · 23-02-2012 03:35PM

there is also a thing for dogs and cats that you mix in their food that is called plaq-off or something like that, which is suppose to be very good - I know I have it at home just haven't gotten around to trying it out yet

Taltos · 23-02-2012 06:28PM

We too got caught by the crystals - cue rush trip to UCD one night as the poor cat was in agony and fit to explode. A very expensive trip.

What we do now is this.
Food: Wet food - mixed with water - to encourage the cat to drink - working a treat and 8 months on no repeat of the crystals. We tried a few other things but nothing was clearing them properly.

Teeth: Regular checks with the vet but we do give our cat those denta-treats - not too many we have to be careful but a few each evening.

Have to go back soon to get another check up but at least so far the crystals are gone. Hopefully the teeth will not have gotten worse - last time they were about the same...

Discodog · 23-02-2012 06:48PM

Maybe there is a market for a Dentastix for cats.

Irishchick · 23-02-2012 07:37PM

u_c_thesecond wrote: »

how do i approach this wet/dry food issue with the vet.Hes a pretty rude man in general and i dont think he happy i gave him wet food but i cant watch my cat starve.

Can you change vets? I am a vet nurse and I wouldn't stand for this treatment. The vet is right but that is no excuse for bad manners. You are paying for his services.

You may have to do this gradually. Mix the wet in with the dry and see what he makes of it. Keep at this for a few days and he may start to eat the dry food along with the wet. After that you could try slowly reducing the amount of wet food you put in until his food is mostly dry with just a spoonful of wet food as a treat.

The Sweeper · 23-02-2012 10:17PM

Discodog wrote: »

Maybe there is a market for a Dentastix for cats.

They make them already - Feline Greenies.

ziggy23 · 23-02-2012 10:44PM

Taltos wrote: »

We too got caught by the crystals - cue rush trip to UCD one night as the poor cat was in agony and fit to explode. A very expensive trip.
Yes my poor Bob kept squatting and trying to pee, thought he was constipated at first but turns out there was a blockage. Over €200 it cost to get him treated the poor thing. I think it's males that usually only get this.

The Sweeper wrote: »

They make them already - Feline Greenies.

Really where do they sell these? I've never seen them around

The Sweeper · 24-02-2012 06:06AM

http://www.greenies.com/en_us/products/felinegreenies.aspx

That's the product - sorry, dunno where you can buy them in Ireland. I can get them online, in pet shops and there are promotional racks of them at my vet.

Taltos · 24-02-2012 08:38AM

I'll post a link later today on the dental treats we give ours, my OH gets them somewhere so will have to ask her.

Have a feeling it might be maxizoo zooplus - but I am not sure, know the dog food comes from there but nto sure about the cats dental treats.

spank_inferno · 24-02-2012 10:25AM

I wouldnt worry too much about it OP.

I would consider giving him a meal of wet mixed with some dry.

But the dry only diet isnt a necessity (in my opinion).

I dare say after the vet mentioned a dry only diet you walked past their very high commission hills/science plan dry foods in the reception

MsFifers · 24-02-2012 10:47AM

What kind of dry food were you trying? My cats refuse to eat the cheap stuff!

There are dry foods designed for fussy eater cats which smell v. appetising. Your vet will probably sell some of these? Or a large pet food store will have them - Hills or Royal Canin or one of those brands.

Also - Applaws tinned food can be bought online at sites such as zooplus, and I think is a better quality of food than things like Whiskas etc so should not have the same bad effect on the teeth.

Taltos · 24-02-2012 01:24PM

Whiskas is what we use:
https://www.whiskas.ie/our-products-snacks-and-treats-whiskas-dentabits.aspx

Taltos wrote: »

I'll post a link later today on the dental treats we give ours, my OH gets them somewhere so will have to ask her.

Have a feeling it might be maxizoo - but I am not sure, know the dog food comes from there but nto sure about the cats dental treats.

u_c_thesecond · 24-02-2012 01:52PM

ziggy23 wrote: »

Is there anyway you could brush your fella's teeth?

i doubt it- he hates being held for v long and when the vet checked his teeth he snapped at him, so if we tried to brush his teeth we would be looking at being bitten id say.

Hes a very defensive cat as he wasnt treated well by last owner

u_c_thesecond · 24-02-2012 01:59PM

spank_inferno wrote: »

I dare say after the vet mentioned a dry only diet you walked past their very high commission hills/science plan dry foods in the reception

yes

and he gave us a small bag of it for cat to try- and we figured it was a free sample- until it came up as a charge on the bill

well fudge wont touch it so he can lump it- its 80e for fudge to get his teeth cleaned but hubby and i said if we have to get his teeth cleaned twice a year its worth it rather than seeing him starve

zara flower · 24-02-2012 02:59PM

once a year should do it that's what the vet told me anyway

The Sweeper · 24-02-2012 11:50PM

Don't underestimate the seriousness of having a teeth clean - that's a general anaesthetic once a year you're talking about. General anaesthesia should never be taken lightly.

Ask your butcher for raw chicken necks or raw chicken wings and feed them to clean a cat's teeth naturally. (You can hit the wing or neck with a hammer first before you feed for the first time - getting your gnashers around new food can be daunting to a cat - and ALWAYS feed them raw.)

ziggy23 · 25-02-2012 03:17AM

u_c_thesecond wrote: »

i doubt it- he hates being held for v long and when the vet checked his teeth he snapped at him, so if we tried to brush his teeth we would be looking at being bitten id say.

Hes a very defensive cat as he wasnt treated well by last owner[/QUO

Yea unless they have been brushed since he was a kitten I doubt he'd like it! Ah poor thing isn't he lucky he has such a caring owner now though:)

Vet says not to give cat wet food ever- but cat starving.

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