I want my cat's teeth to remain strong. how can i manage this if i only feed him soft food.?

i have read about eliminating hard food completely as it causes a lot of problems in cats. but how else will they exercise their teeth ? i dont want his teeth falling out when he is old.

I want my cat's teeth to remain strong. how can i manage this if i only feed him soft food.?
Hi there...consider brushing your cat's teeth regularly. This will help prevent periodontal disorders. There are enzyme toothpaste that are pet safe available in most stores and online. Petrodex is one: http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=39...





Here's an instructional video on how to brush cat's teeth by Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine for Feline Health: http://www.felinevideos.vet.cornell.edu/...
Reply:Here is a video


http://www.felinevideos.vet.cornell.edu/...





Your cat is not in any more risk for dental disease feeding wet then dry. Both risks are the same
Reply:I do not know where you read that hard food is bad for cats, but it's simply not true. Feeding dry food is one of the best things you can do for your cat because it helps to break up their plaque and tartar on their teeth. There are actually special foods that Science Diet makes that actually have enzymes in the hard food that break down tartar molecules and clean the teeth!





I never feed my cat soft food unless it is for a treat. Soft food is actually not good for their teeth at all. It is similar to us eating ice cream all the time. I would recommend feeding a good quality dry food once a day such as Purina, Eukanuba, Science Diet, or Royal Canin. Also, I have my cat's teeth cleaned by the vet once a year to cut down on plaque build-up.





Taking care of your cat's teeth is esential - not only so that his teeth won't fall out, but to prevent other internal diseases as well. You see, if plaque and tartar continue to build up over time, your cat can ingest some it and can give him nasty stomach and intestinal infecitons.





Good Luck with your little guy and remember that hard food is the way to go!
Reply:If you feed a good quality dry food you will not have any problems. It is worse to feed only wet food.


If you want to help your cats teeth i recommend Hills feline t/d. It is brilliant and works just like a toothbrush for your cats teeth.


You can give your cat wet food as a treat every now and then.
Reply:Taking a part from Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM article on the appropriate diet for a cat:


Dental Disease: Long-standing claims that cats have less dental disease when they are fed dry food versus canned food are grossly overrated, inaccurate, and are not supported by recent studies. Many veterinarians are coming to the realization that this is a myth that needs to be dispelled. First, dry food is hard, but brittle, and merely shatters with little to no abrasive effect on the teeth. Second, a cat's jaws and teeth are designed for shearing and tearing meat, and cats that eat dry food grind it in a way that it ends up between their teeth. There it ferments into sugar and acid, thereby causing dental problems. Third, many cats swallow the majority of their dry food whole and thus receive minimal benefit from chewing motion. There are many factors that contribute to dental disease in the cat such as genetics, viruses, and diet. There remain many unanswered questions concerning the impact of diet on dental health, but feeding a high carbohydrate, species-inappropriate dry kibble diet is a negative factor, not a positive one. Perhaps a more effective way to promote dental health is to feed large chunks of raw meat which is what cats’ teeth are designed to chew.





This from another source; Here's How:


Assemble supplies: sterile gauze, scissors, cat toothpaste (available at pet stores) or a weak sterile solution recommended by your veterinarian.


Wrap a strip of gauze around the index finger of your dominant hand and either dip it in the sterile solution, or apply a small amount of toothpaste to your fingertip.


Holding the cat in your lap, open his mouth


Gently rub your "finger brush" in a circular motion on his teeth, concentrating on the area next to the gums. Gently massage the gums at the same time. It's not necessary to do the back sides of the teeth.


Once your cat will tolerate this procedure, you can graduate to a small child's toothbrush.


Give kitty a few loving pats and kind words, along with a little treat to polish off with his shiny clean teeth.





My girl was a rescue that was about 1 year old and already had very set ideas, the 1st one was No one will touch my teeth. I haven't been able to use the tooth cleaning method. I just take her to the vet once a year for a complete physical and cleaning. I would rather have teeth problems later in life that all the illnesses that dry gives cats. She already is diabetic from me feeding her dry. She is now diet controlled and just beautiful. She takes me to her testing chair and wants a blood glucose test done on her ear as she loves the treats! I did try and introduce raw slowly but I found it under my pillow.





I am glad you are questioning dry food and I hope that you will read the articles in the links I give you.





www.catinfo.org


read this article for all the healthy choices


in food for your cat.





www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.ht...


Janet and Binky's Cat food chart
Reply:I feed my cats a wet food only diet, and a couple of times a week I give them tough or thick pieces of meat to chew on to help with keeping their teeth clean.





I haven't been brave enough to attempt brushing their teeth yet, but now I've seen the link posted by others, I might be tempted to give it a go.
Reply:No worries.





Neither dry food nor canned food will clean a cats' teeth. However, it is true that the better canned foods will at least promote a healthy environment in the mouth, whereas dry food is more likely to leave a sugary residue behind, not to mention particles of dry food. So you ARE doing the right thing.





Eating dry food does nothing for tooth or jaw strength either.





But you do have a few options. One is to begin brushing your cat's teeth on some regular basis. Either using a brush or even a gauze pad. You need only brush/wipe the outer sides of the teeth - their tongue keeps the inside pretty clean. There are ways you can get your cat used to this.





Next on the list are dental supplements. They won't do anything for jaw strength, but they will help with the healthy mouth environment and possibly tartar prevention. Examples of these are items from C.E.T. Dental (just google them) - they make supplements and treats that will actually do some good toward cleaning cats' teeth - but you don't want your kitty OD'ing on treats. One that I tried is the water additive. Neither cat objected to it being in their water, but I no longer use it because they drink very little. Another supplement is Wysong's Dentatreat or a product called PlaqueOff.





But one of the best things you can do will both keep the teeth clean AND promote strong jaws. This is providing food that they actually need to chew. This can be either chunks of raw meat (muscle meat) and/or raw meaty bones. It's quite safe to feed RAW bones, as they are malleable. It's cooked bones that dry out and splinter.





One of the easiest ways to do this is to feed raw chicken necks. This is what I do. I started by slicing the neck into thin discs - about 1/8 of an inch or so. I put them in their bowls, along with a little dry food to make it seem like a treat, and rubbed them with canned food or sprinkled some crushed dry food over them.





Much to my surprise, they were accepted quite well, and I eventually began making the pieces bigger. Now the pieces they get are about 1-2" long. It's quite a joy for me to watch and HEAR them crunching through that bone!





An added plus to this was that Poopy Poppy's stool firmed up quite a bit after adding the necks to her diet.
Reply:You can have his teeth cleaned by a veterinarian or start getting him used to brushing his teeth for him. best thing to do is cover his body in a blanket so he can not escape and then gently clean his teeth but make sure to use cat tooth paste and a special brush you can buy for him.