Cat Nutrition

[teeneythebetta]

Dry food does not clean teeth, think of it like this...

Imagine going to your dentist and being told to forget using your toothbrush — because all you really need for good dental health is to simply eat a few crunchy tortilla chips every day.

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosi...cleaner-teeth/

[Laki]

omg yea dry food, if anything, gets pieces STUCK in the gum line. The tostito reference is a good one. I used to think dry food cleaned their teeth too but being on pet forums for years has got me into mad researching on everything with my pets.

Oliver wakes me up for dry food in his dish.

[Viva]

Dry food doesn't clean the teeth necessarily but plaque build up is easily wiped off with anything, including hard food. Obviously a dentist or vet will tell you otherwise because how else will they make money? Humans need more dental health care because we eat things like sugar and get cavities.

[Laki]

Gingivitis in dogs and cats is caused by not seeing the vet to scrape build up off- just like humans. Dental care is essential, at least dogs can chew bones and there are treats designed to help clean teeth like dentastix.. Cats are much harder! lol

I hear enzymatic toothpaste helps reduce vet dentals in both cats and dogs. I used it for my dog and it did help, he lived for 14 years and never had any dental issues. Cats, again, can be less tolerant and not so quick to trust us with their mouths. lol

[finnfinnfriend]

They say to try and feed smaller sized kibble because it doesn't get stuck in the gum line as much.

[Kitty Whiskers]

I tried some different brands of canned food when my Siamese was a kitten. She used to love, the Thanksgiving Dinner and Grammy's Pot Pie cat food. She also loved many other "high end" cat foods but ever since she was spayed, she wont touch those good-for-her best brands out there. She only wants to eat Friskies canned food. I have no idea why she changed her tastes for wet cat food just because she was spayed. The next day after she was spayed I went out and bought her a months worth of canned food and the next morning when I gave her, her favorite flavor in her favorite brand she refused it, day after day, every new can, different flavor etc, she all refused. Can't figure it out. I ended up donating all that good expensive canned cat food to the local no kill animal shelter :) Happy kitties chowing down yummies there for sure now!

But for her dry food I give her, her favorite which is Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul adult cat food. As a kitten she had the kitten formula of Chicken Soup. I tried different dry brands like Blue, and Core, etc but she refused to even try it no matter how long I tried to offer it to her. She does not like the canned Chicken soup however. Picky Kitty!

[Silverfang]

Originally Posted by Laki

Oliver wakes me up for dry food in his dish.

So does Ashes. I tried to put her on a wet food, after a month she went meh, and demanded her kibble. I gotta say, her teeth are great. Or at least her vet claims. I can hear her now, oh I know you have great teeth, you showed them to me when you were hissing at me.

I'm trying to transition her over to Blue, at least she'll crunch most anything in front of her.

[Laki]

Haha!! She sure sounds like a fiesty one :)

[ThePearlFish]

I MIGHT have to switch my tabby girl onto a mainly wet diet if her UTI doesn't clear up well.. This is gonna be fun when she loves the dry over the wet...

[Silverfang]

She sure is feisty... it's why I don't think I could transfer her over to a full time diet of wet. She's a fussy furball, who will tear my skin off if she doesn't get her way.