As for quality food, innova, petguard, spot's stew, wellness, innova evo, wysong, and nature's variety prairie are all good canned foods. There is only one good dry food as far as I am concerned, that being innova evo, since it has no grains. Even then, it's still not as good for long term cat health as all wet food, or raw food.
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
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I'd like to see a study that disproves that mastication of hard/crunchy foods versus soft foods shows no difference in the build up of oral plaque in any species. It certainly benefits humans to chew hard foods versus soft.
I'd also like to see your reference for hard foods leading to significant long term health risks in pets versus soft foods. For one, I have seen more fat pets who are fed soft/moist foods compared to those on a crunchy food diet.
ultimatebob
Lifer
- Jul 1, 2001
- 25,134
- 2,450
- 126
Yeah, my cat is down to three fangs as well. I think that he broke one jumping off of some place where he shouldn't have been (bad kitty!). He was acting odd for a week or so, but he's feeling a lot better now.
Funny thing is that I didn't even even know that lost the tooth until recently. I was feeding him a piece of beef jerky, and got a good look into his mouth then.
Funny thing is that I didn't even even know that lost the tooth until recently. I was feeding him a piece of beef jerky, and got a good look into his mouth then.
There are a few studies. Just google around. And LOTS of articles posted by vets. One study showed that cats only actually chew a small % of their food if it's kibble, and even then only using certain teeth. And kibble itself is not coarse enough to be scraping off tartar.
Other studies are more anecdotal. Cats who come in every year who eat dry still need their teeth cleaned just as often as cats who don't. Dry food is nowhere near as effective as even the simplest daily dental stuff like dental chews. Dental chews are nowhere near as effective as dental rinses. And dental rinses are nowhere near as effective as tooth brushing. Which itself is way less effective than yearly cleanings.
If you actually believe any human would be ok just eating pretzels, never brushing their teeth, and never going to the dentist, you are clearly delusional.
As for long-term health problems, I guess you've been living in a cave for the past 10 years, because there are articles all over the place about it. I know cats.about.com and thelittlebigcat.com have articles written by vets about that subject.
Perhaps you are basing your theories on dogs, who are significantly different than cats. Cats naturally eat almost entirely protein in the wild. Dry cat food has something like 40% protein AT BEST, and often as much or more carbohydrates. Most cats do not drink sufficient water to equate to their natural water intake they would get from eating wet food / prey, which further causes health problems.
Here's one article with references cited about the teeth myth:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=lib...act=show&item=doesdryfoodcleantheteeth
http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=lib...act=show&item=doesdryfoodcleantheteeth
Yes, you need specific cat toothpaste. That's really the most important part. The brush itself is less important. There's a whole process of introduction that is best. But eventually the routine is, get a little of the toothpaste on the brush, open the cats mouth, and try to get the toothpaste on all tooth surfaces. Unlike humans, the brushing itself is not as important as just getting the toothpaste onto the surfaces of the teeth. The paste does most of the work. It contains some sort of enzyme. Brushing a cat's teeth is not really to clean off existing stuff, it's to prevent new stuff.
But to make it acceptable to your cat, you usually have to slowly introduce to it the idea of you touching its teeth so it is not traumatic for the cat.
Get him a "grill"....seriously, there's a thread here somewhere about a vet who gave his cat gold caps, I'm sure you could get Corleone fitted for a "Grill"
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
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Stop being such a cocky bastard, and telling me, "If you actually believe any human would be ok just eating pretzels, never brushing their teeth, and never going to the dentist, you are clearly delusional."
I happen to be a well of dental knowledge, and I never implied that someone who ate hard foods would never have to go to a dentist.
Are you a vet tech or something or do you sell pet food?
pets, whether they eat primarily soft or hard food need to visit the veternarian, as there are no animal dentists in particular that i know of, to have their teeth checked at equal intervals. of course hard food WON'T eliminate all plaque build up. i never claimed that! it will lessen the amount of plaque as compared to a soft diet. this is just common sense.
and cats do chew their food. they don't swallow whole.
i think it's best to talk to your vet about what food is right for your pet.
moshquerade
No Lifer
- Nov 1, 2001
- 61,504
- 12
- 56
mechanical removal is just as important. the toothpaste is a help, but it's not the be-all, end-all.
Originally posted by: ShOcKwAvE827
well its decent but there are "high" quality foods like felidae, wellness, and innova. These foods usually are found at specialty pet stores (not petsmart or petco). I was pretty skeptical, I had my dog on Science Diet (which is total crap, literally) and my puppy pooped about 5 times a day mushy stools. I put him on Innova and he only poops 1 or 2x a day and it's solid.
dunno, i've had 3 cats and 2 dogs eating iams throughout their lives, and they've always had normal bowel movements, healthy coats, healthy skin, grown strong, been excited to get fed, etc.
So you agree that if someone just ate pretzels, that would have minimal impact on their dental health compared to soft foods, since brushing teeth, flossing, and getting regular checkups is WAY more important? Good, then we can agree. The same is true of cats. There is minimal benefit to cats eating hard food. I've provided a link, written by a vet, which provides further sources, written by vets or in some cases pet food manufacturer studies. The fact is, dry food offers very little if any benefit to dental health, and has many negative health benefits that can't simply be cleared up by going to the vet once a year for a $100 procedure.
Cats often swallow kibble whole. If you just watch your cats eat food you will see this. Furthermore, they only use a small portion of the tooth to chew when they do, and then just swallow the bits whole. They don't chew like humans do. They just shatter the food into smaller chunks and swallow the chunks. The chunks only touch a small portion of their teeth, and rarely the parts that need it (near the gums).
By the way in addition to reading this online, all three vets at my vet clinic have stated exactly the same thing that I have written in this thread.
Agitation when brushing helps, but getting the paste on the teeth is more important. That's according to the vets at my vet clinic, though.
Cats often swallow kibble whole. If you just watch your cats eat food you will see this. Furthermore, they only use a small portion of the tooth to chew when they do, and then just swallow the bits whole. They don't chew like humans do. They just shatter the food into smaller chunks and swallow the chunks. The chunks only touch a small portion of their teeth, and rarely the parts that need it (near the gums).
By the way in addition to reading this online, all three vets at my vet clinic have stated exactly the same thing that I have written in this thread.
Agitation when brushing helps, but getting the paste on the teeth is more important. That's according to the vets at my vet clinic, though.
Originally posted by: DonVito
Were you thinking I'd have horns or something?
Vito has never had wet food in his life until now (I got him a few cans of Iams because I felt his mouth might be tender after the teeth being removed, and out of sympathy).
The vet gave me some kind of sealant type material to rub on the outside of his teeth to prevent food and plaque from adhering. We'll see how that works.
uh huh
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
hmm never heard of that but I have ran my face above a girl's leg and she's lost her mind...
I don't get it. You head butted her in the stomach and she went insane?
- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
- 67
- 91
You're the third person to post that, but it's not true (at least in my case). Vito has never had anything but dry food (with the exception of the past few days, when I bought him a few cans of Iams wet food because I thought his mouth might be sore).
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