Pet Nutrition Thread: I see no problem with my cat's vegan diet.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > Pet Nutrition Thread: I see no problem with my cat's vegan diet.

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

HelloSailorSign posted:

Sometimes, you're in the vet hospital really late at night...

... you're super hungry, and everything is closed...

...and that cat food that you're heating in the microwave suddenly starts smelling so good...

Don't eat Purina JM. It tastes like how fish food smells.

EN isn't bad.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2013 04:12

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 23:29

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

You can make a cat-appropriate diet vegetarian, but you have to get all the amino acids in synthetic form, which is very expensive and not very appealing to the cat. It has been done for very specific research projects. There is at least one essential compound (arachidonic acid) which I believe is not available in a truly vegan form--it is derived from animals, and cats don't make their own (as carnivores, they shouldn't have to). Other compounds may be available synthetically, but are much more likely to be derived from animals in a commercial diet, or just not present in sufficient amounts. So, a truly vegan diet for cats won't work, and a vegetarian one will be expensive (if it is nutritionally adequate) and taste bad.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2013 06:16

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Malalol posted:

That makes sense..Ive actually never heard of someone wanting a vegan diet so I'm not too well versed on that... for vegetarian, I figured Ok, you get these plant things with x amino acids and then this plant thing with the rest and viola, complete protein diet. Obv. its not as simple as that though.

Yeah, most people don't realize how many other nutrients there are to consider besides protein, even if they understand that not all proteins are created equal because of amino acid composition. There are also essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, and the food has to taste like meat (at least for cats, dogs are retarded and will sometimes eat anything).

# ¿ Jun 22, 2013 14:53

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Piggycow posted:

This may be a really dumb question, but I can't find much on it directly. Is there any reason I can't just buy some chicken breast for $2/lb, stick it in the oven, rip it apart, and throw it in my cats bowl? Works out to cheaper than any of the "high quality" foods and it is pure protein. If I wanted to be really lazy/have something in storage, I have had cans of chunk chicken breast from Costco for $2.50/lb that taste perfectly fine to me. I'd still leave out a bowl of decent dry food and probably mix in some regular wet every so often just for some variety. I don't quite get why more people wouldn't at least go the canned chicken route if they were so worried about having too much junk in the food when it is cheaper.

The general recommendation is to have no more than 10% of calories come from an unbalanced food source. Treats are usually not balanced; table food scraps, chicken breast, and canned chicken certainly are not. Canned chicken also usually has a lot of sodium. As a treat, human food, especially plain lean meats, are not bad, but if you use it as a major part of the diet you miss out on the correct amounts of various vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids. Note that plain boiled or baked chicken breast is often recommended as part of a "bland diet" to help pets get over gastrointestinal illness, but that is usually only recommended for a week or so.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2013 05:54

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

LoreOfSerpents posted:

The amount of food needed for a cat to safely lose weight can vary wildly between cats, but this actually seems like a lot of food to me.

Solid Gold Indigo Moon is 450 calories per cup, so even if you split them up, you would've been feeding them 112.5 calories each just in dry food. The small cans of food used to be 132 calories (I don't know if they still are, though).

Assuming the calories are still the same, you were trying to feed each cat 244.5 calories per day. That's more than my 18-pound cat was eating to maintain his weight. He's a lazy indoor cat, so obviously it'll be different for others, but that's a lot of calories.

I'm really curious how the new food works out for you! My cats were jerks and became picky eaters when I started their diets. How many calories is your cat getting with the new food?

This is true (both that all cats are different and that amount of food may be a lot). My cats are both 10-11 pounds, and eat 165kcal each per day. When they were fat-asses and I was initially trying to get them to lose weight, it took about 200kcal per day to get them to start losing anything, and then as they lost weight I had to adjust downward to where we are at now.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2013 20:17

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

scunish posted:

Wow. I seriously thought we've been skimpy with the food. Imagine the money I'm going to save! Ha ha

Exactly! I don't understand why people don't take pet weight loss more seriously for the cost savings alone.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2013 21:13

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Lady Xava posted:

As an aside: anyone have luck brushing their cat's teeth?

I brush mine (nearly) daily. The gradual getting-them-used-to-it would be the nice way to do it, and I am sure it's doable, but I didn't have the patience so I'm mean. I hold them down, hold their head in one hand, brush each side quickly with the other (I use a regular human toothbrush and no toothpaste), and give them a treat as soon as I release them. They hate it, but they also love the treat, and the know they only get it after the teeth get brushed so they remind me each night and hold still while I grab their head.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 03:08

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Malalol posted:

I dont like the new packaging BG was neat that it looked so minimalistic..and it was! with the simple flavours, 1-6. Now its all, some salmon or chicken medley with a dumb name and not as cool packaging.

Is it a good idea to recommend limited ingred diets or more novel stuff like lamb/venison for breeds prone to itchiness (bull dogs, pits) off the bat or is just plain chicken/beef stuff okay?

The more over-the-counter weird ingredient diets a dog eats before a vet gets involved in the diet trial process, the harder their job gets because their choice of proteins to try gets even more limited. This is because OTC diets are rarely truly limited ingredient, and without a veterinarian's input the diet trial is likely to be done incorrectly (not fed long enough, or not fed exclusively). So, if a dog is still itchy on an OTC venison diet (or the owner tried that 3 months ago and says venison didn't work), how do I know if it didn't work because the dog is really not food-allergic, or if it's because of any of those other factors?

Also, food allergy is a thing, for sure, but flea allergy and environmental allergies are so freaking common that I think people do their itchy pets a disservice by trying to figure out the food allergy situation themselves. I cannot count the number of dogs I see for itching where the owner tried to change the diet a couple times, to no avail, and the dog has either classic flea allergy or seasonal allergies that could have been managed sooner if only the owner didn't try to chase down the food thing first.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 05:20

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

FISHMANPET posted:

So what's bad about carbohydrates in cat food? Are they digested or do they just pass through? My cats are gigantic assholes about the volume of food they eat, and if I can give them twice as much food but half of it will just pass right through them, I'm fine with that.

Is dry food that much denser, calorie wise, then wet food? I'm feeding Solid Gold and my cats are faaaaat.

If you want to increase volume without adding calories, you need fiber specifically, not just any old carbs. Look for a weight-loss food and see if that's higher fiber/lower calorie; also, veterinarians will carry diets formulated for weight loss or weight management that will be pretty high fiber. There will be undigestible filler ingredients, but it sounds like that's what you want.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2013 21:24

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Double Plus Good posted:

I watched her eating a dry kibble and she has to shift her jaw over and crunch pretty effortfully to eat just one kibble. We got a different brand that's supposed to be easy to chew, Pedigree Small Breed Easy to Crunch. She basically ignored it. So my dad suggests softening the food up, so I put a little water on her Nutro Ultra (I wasn't too keen on the Pedigree anyway) and microwaved it for a few seconds, then stirred it up with a spoon. She liked that and ate it for a while, but eventually went back to not eating much at all. She'll also occasionally eat it if it has sat for a while and reabsorbed the water, so that the kibble are puffy and soft. Going off of this, we went and got her a tin of Nutro wet food, and she scarfed it down faster than I've ever seen her eat. Great! But, feeding her wet food everyday isn't good idea, right? I honestly have no idea because our last two dogs just gobbled down whatever my dad gave them. We've never had a picky eater. I was trying to feed her 30 mins to and hour before our walks, but she wouldn't eat then. I thought maybe the walk would stimulate her appetite, but that didn't work either.

As long as her stomach and your wallet can handle it, there's nothing inherently bad about an all-canned diet, if that's what it takes for her to eat. As far as her teeth, they don't chew with the ones you photographed, but if her jaw is mis-aligned the chewing teeth in the back could be messed up as well. Did the vet evaluate her teeth, both for alignment and any other issue that might make it difficult to chew (such as a painful fractured tooth way in the back)? Honestly, I've seen dogs with pretty messed up jaw/tooth alignment eat just fine (think of all the smash-faced breeds with their requisite under-bites, and the long-nosed dogs and their stretched-out jaws), and I've seen nasty dental problems lurking in the back of mouths that look just fine in the front.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2013 06:03

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Ballz posted:

I have a cat that's been on a urinary SO diet for several years, so she's been getting Royal Canin's prescription formula. But while she's bladder stone-free, this food has turned her into a rotund ball of blubber and fur. Even the "moderate calorie" urinary SO formula has done little to help her lose weight.

At her most recent trip to the vet, the veterinarian suggested that because she hasn't had any stones in years it might be safe to move her onto a diet food, and he specifically prescribed Hill's Feline C/D. But once again I'm a bit concerned about ingredients, however the vet said if I find another prescription brand that is overall healthier but still accomplishes what C/D does, to let him know and he'll sign off on getting it.

So with that in mind... is there a better alternative to Hill's? Or for that matter, does anyone else besides Royal Canin do urinary SO? If there's better quality brands for either of these, I'm all for it.

If your primary concern is that your cat is fat, the problem isn't the type of food, just the amount. Is feeding her less of the SO not an option?

# ¿ Sep 8, 2013 01:01

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Organza Quiz posted:

I've been noticing grain free dry food brands popping up around here and wondering if I should switch. Is there any nutritional difference between "grain free" cat foods and cat foods that have grains as filler if it looks like they have the same percentage protein/fat/everything else? Is it healthier for cats to be eating processed pumpkin compared to processed corn? I was under the impression that as carnivores they're pretty much not going to be processing anything other than the protein/fat/essential vitamin stuff.

Speaking of which, does cat food in the US have the little percentages on the side of the packet? I had assumed they didn't since I've never been able to find any info online about what percentage what any of the foods referred to in the thread are, but I noticed someone mentioning percentages earlier in the thread so now I'm wondering. If they do have them, could someone post a few of the breakdowns for the more popular foods mentioned in this thread? Basically it'd be really helpful if I had a better idea of how the brands mentioned here compared to the brands that are available in Australia so I know how I'm doing in terms of feeding the little monsters.

Pet foods have the breakdown for protein, fat, moisture, fiber, and sometimes ash/minerals or specific vitamins listed on the labels. To get percentage of carbohydrates, you add the rest and subtract from 100.

If the nutrient breakdowns are similar, there shouldn't be much of a nutritional difference between grain-free formulas and formulas with grains. Some of the grain-free formulas will have more protein and fat, but you are correct that some of them just replace the grains with other starches, and that substitution is of no benefit except in the case of a grain allergy.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2013 05:40

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Olothreutes posted:

They eat about 26 cans (just over 2 cases) every month, for the 13.2 oz cans. When I couldn't get the EVO I picked up a case of 5.5 oz cans of the Instinct stuff, and they love it. It disappears much faster than the EVO did, which is a problem since it's more than twice as expensive. The big issue is that I can't get food with fish ingredients, it screws them up pretty bad. I'm having a really hard time figuring out a cost effective solution to this, I'm coming to appreciate just how good that food was for the dollar.

Petflow.com has EVO for 28.99/case of the big cans. I use them for my EVO order each month (1 case of the small cans) and have never had a problem with them being unable to get it. Free shipping doesn't hurt either.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2013 21:00

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

aghastly posted:

I'm going to call my vet tomorrow to clarify, but I figured I'd ask to see if anybody has any experience with this.

My 4-month-old kitten is currently on a prescription diet due to stress/food sensitivity? colitis. The difference in his stool is like night and day, he's no longer having gross pudding stools or diarrhea and goes once a day as opposed to 3+ times a day.

A diet change was in order anyway because the stuff he was on was pretty high in carbs. The vet told me the prescription diet is formulated to be easy to digest, and can be switched in and out without causing any digestion distress like if I was switching between nonprescription foods.

I read that Innova can be good for cats with sensitive stomachs. Has anyone switched to a different food entirely after finishing the prescription diet? Or should I go back to his old food and transition? If it's the old food that was causing his issues, I don't want to start it up again.

You should be able to transition slowly from the easily-digestible food to a new food, as opposed to the one that was causing diarrhea.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2013 05:56

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Eej posted:

So thanks to the recall it's getting hard to get Innova EVO 95% protein canned food for my cat around here since a lot of stores have either stopped carrying it or decreased how much they have on hand. Are all the highly recommended protein foods more or less interchangeable?

I get my EVO from Petflow.com, and have been very happy with that.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2013 16:15

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Lead Pipe Cinch posted:

I've got an 8 month old, 20 poundish rat terrier mix who positively inhales his food at mealtime and acts as if he is dying if someone is eating cheese or meat within his scent shot. We're feeding him the amount his food's feeding guide says to (He's on Nutro Puppy and we give him about 2 1/4 cups a day) and the vet says he's right at the ideal weight so I'm curious if his eating habits indicate that we might be underfeeding him or if he's just a dog who's super into food and would eat forever if given the opportunity.

If he's at his ideal weight, he is not underfed.

# ¿ Oct 22, 2013 18:57

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Mondlicht posted:

A bit of background. I've been feeding my 6-7 year old cat Lola Solid Gold dry food for well almost two years now. I haven't had any problems with it, and while I meant to put her on canned at some point I ended up being out of work so I it had to wait. In a few months when my new job starts I'll be able to buy her good canned stuff, but in the mean time I'm trying to figure out what to do with her dry food situation.

She's been scratching her neck a lot lately, making tiny scabs and then eventually scratching them off. I always keep an eye on them to make sure they aren't infected, but I'm not sure if it's dry skin or an allergy. It's starting to become winter here, so I don't know if the cold/indoor heating is bothering her skin, or if she became allergic to the Solid Gold. I'm looking at trying Orijen, since I can buy it pretty easily here. I'm just curious if anyone has had any experience with a cat becoming allergic to their food. If it's something I need to take her into the vet for I'll suck up the debt and go, but I thought I would try this first. She's also gained a bit of weight, she's 10 lbs from around 8 lbs, and I'm not sure if it's the food or if she's just gaining weight due to age.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I feel like a bad cat mom being broke and not being able to do more, but thankfully she's been healthy all year up until all this scritchy scratchy business.

Certainly cats can develop food allergies, but they also scratch the same if they have a flea allergy--is she on flea meds?

# ¿ Nov 24, 2013 01:01

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Also a vet, also not receiving any kickbacks for food sales. In fact, food is an incredibly low profit margin part of veterinary practice.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2014 00:58

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

HelloSailorSign posted:

Hey, you've got reasons to think so, dont feel bad. It's a very common thing for people to believe, and a lot of vets are very touchy about being accused of it because it leads to people not taking RX diets and questioning our ethics (and the fact that 99% of people in vet med aren't doing the job for money even though we should be trying to get more money with our crippling school debt). Heck, a few days ago a client declined a RX diet I recommended because they didn't like the ingredients. Even after explaining the reason why, they still didn't take it, and are using a sub-par (and in some cases contraindicated) diet for the disease I'm trying to treat for.

Now, there are unethical people in every field, but there aren't that many in vet med - they don't last long.

Actually, that guy came back two days later for the RX food. Made me super happy.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2014 04:25

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

JakeP posted:

The pet store near my house sells Monkey Chow. I don't think anyone here owns a monkey. Anyone know whats up?

There are a couple companies that make exotic diets for zoos, and I think one of them actually has something called "monkey chow." I've seen it used by wildlife rehab people as part of a diet for various critters, so depending on the protein/fat/carbs it may be something people feed to their not-monkey animals (potbelly pigs? ferrets? skunks? raccoons? people have all kinds of weird creatures).

# ¿ Jan 22, 2014 03:51

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Spermy Smurf posted:

I really should have mentioned: The vet said "low-fat food, here is the one we carry."

So she didnt say "this and only this is what you should feed the dog," but more of a "it's all we have along those lines."

Yeah, for pancreatitis cases, sometimes low fat is all that you want/need. I would take the list you found and the percentages to your vet and ask them, as they have an idea of how severely affected your dog is and how severe the fat restriction might need to be. I do think it's likely that they will approve of something OTC if low fat is really all they want for your dog's diet.

Another note on low fat diets--there are some diseases that require so low a fat content that you can't find a suitable diet over the counter, and even among prescription diets, some are much lower than others so it becomes not just "low-fat" but "this particular expensive low-fat food." But, I wouldn't expect most pancreatitis dogs to need that specifically.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2014 16:19

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

jacido posted:

But I feel when it comes to weight loss, any vet would sell you their food on their shelves to make some extra money? If that's not the right assumption then I definitely apologize.

That is definitely an incorrect assumption. I can't be the only vet that routinely recommends people simply feed the pet less food to get them to lose weight. If they need or want a weight loss diet to make the process easier, of course I'm going to recommend the ones we carry. Vets carry prescription foods as a service to the client--it is more convenient to get the recommended food at the time/place it was recommended, no?--and because they work for the conditions they are prescribed.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2014 15:03

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Account McAccount posted:

I just learned that Innova Evo/ California Natural were bought by Proctor & Gamble (in 2010 )...

Yeah, kind of explains why EVO had like 2 bacteria outbreaks in the past year.

Could get these off the "good pet food" lists?

e: oh yeah almost all of the google links about this are deleted so you'll have to look thorough it :sadcat: Only one I could find ATM

e: NVM here's a great one

Or maybe bacterial contamination is something that happens once in awhile when you make products out of meat? If you avoided every manufacturer, factory, or brand that ever had a recall you would have very little to feed your pets, and not much to eat yourself.

EVO and other Natura lines are still good foods and I still both feed and recommend them.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 00:44

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

AuntBuck posted:

I feed my cats Evo dry because they love it to bits, but Proctor & Gamble recently changed their dry turkey and chicken food to include some lower quality ingredients. Tapioca starch is now the fourth ingredient. I guess that's not technically a grain but it is definitely filler. If I could find my cats something else they enjoyed as much I would switch. I may switch them anyway, this is not the same food and they are having diarrhea.

If your cats are reacting poorly to the new ingredient/formula, switching would be perfectly reasonable. If you really want to avoid "fillers" you'll have to switch to wet food, because kibble, by definition and regardless of brand, is meat held together with carbohydrates (ie, grains, starch, and other "fillers"). How else can you make meat into a cracker?

# ¿ Apr 29, 2014 18:14

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Metabolic is pretty low calorie density so if you were to switch to something like Wellness, it would likely be a lot less volume. The patients I have on Metabolic are doing really well, but if you are noticing undesirable effects from the diet, just ask your vet if it's ok to switch to the same number of calories in a different diet. Depending on how much your vet has you restricting him from his maintenance requirements, going to another food might be fine, or they might want you to stay with the one specifically formulated for weight loss. One factor is that the other nutrients in dog food are provided in proportion to the calories, so if you are restricting the calories a lot, you may be under-dosing some other things as well, and weight-loss foods are formulated to fix that problem.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2014 17:07

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

I've been in the market for a new cat food for at least one of my cats, because she's been vomiting a little more frequently and having diarrhea once in awhile. Current food is Natural Balance tuna and shrimp, which she thinks is awesome. She's kind of finicky and likes new foods for a day or two and then turns her nose up, and she's really picky about consistency--for more solid pates, like when they come out of the fridge, she licks them to death instead of eating chunks and it's almost like she'll get tired of licking and give up. Then her sister, who scarfs her own food, runs over and eats the rest, or pushes her off and then finishes it. Sister eats EVO 95% venison because she was also vomiting with increasing frequency and the EVO worked pretty well as an OTC limited ingredient novel protein diet, once I graduated from vet school and could no longer get cheap or free Hill's RX diets.

So, I decided to cruise the aisles at Petco and see if I could find a couple different reasonably limited ingredient canned cat foods that might work for both cats, in terms of palatability, not causing excessive vomiting or diarrhea, and cheaper than EVO (or even Natural Balance) would be a plus.

I think the answer is Fancy Feast Flaked Fish and Shrimp. I kid you not. The ingredients are fish, shrimp, fish broth, and vitamins and minerals. It's cheap. Both cats love it more than their current foods and way more than the limited ingredient flavors of Natural Balance (I tried duck and venison as those were the most limited of the LID line). On a per-calorie basis, this flavor of Fancy Feast is 79% protein and 21% fat, 0% carbs, which is ridiculous, and even the EVO 95% line, while being fairly low carb, has most of the calories from fat, not protein. I don't actually know if feeding this much protein will make a difference, but if we were to go by the "what would they eat in the wild" theory, more protein would theoretically be better. It'd be awesome if it somehow keeps them satiated for longer so they don't pester me for breakfast at 6am but I'm not holding my breath.

So, in summary, the local Petco thinks I'm crazy because I bought 30 individual cans of one flavor of Fancy Feast (they didn't have it in a case). I will report back on whether it works out for their special snowflake GI tracts once they've been on it a little longer.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2014 04:09

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

sansuki posted:

This is a ridiculous question, but I was asked by a friend, so here goes.

She has a normally developing, hyperactive Golden/Labrador Retriever mix who is 7 months old. Her boyfriend just bought a bag of Nutro Natural Choice Small Bites Adult Dog Food. She is worried that since this does not say FOR PUPPIES on the bag, that this might harm him. Like.....cause hip displasia.

Please, enlighten me as to what happens if you feed a 7 month old dog regular dog food.

There isn't a hard and fast rule about when to switch from puppy food to adult food, because every breed is a little different in how fast and long they grow, and when you neuter them can also affect their metabolism and growth. But, it's common sense that puppy foods are formulated to support growth and maintenance foods are not, so if the dog is still growing significantly, they should be on a food that has the nutrient to support that.

Short answer: Is the dog still growing much, or has he kind of leveled out? If still growing, puppy food.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2014 15:40

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Absolutely DO NOT feed a growing puppy a mixture of crappy foods and raw ground meat for any extended period. That's just asking for problems. Your plan of slowly switching sounds find, but if it were me, I would just switch immediately to what I wanted him to eat and take the consequences, rather than buy two bags of crappy food I did not intend to use for more than a couple weeks. Not all dogs have problems with rapid diet switches.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2014 16:37

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Tamarillo posted:

I also checked with the local vet who said to feed good quality puppy biscuits and that sometimes breeders have odd ideas.

Yes, yes they do.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2014 06:22

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Braki posted:

The veterinary dentist who taught me was never a fan of bones. They can break teeth, get stuck in the GI tract, etc. She goes by a knee test, so if you can't comfortably hit your knee with it, you shouldn't give it to your dog.

Our dentistry professor's hardness test was to see if you can make an indentation with your fingernail, and if you can't it's too hard for safe chewing. Especially puppies, their baby teeth are more delicate. And yes, brush daily if you're going to do it, once a week won't do much.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2014 05:12

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Rubicon posted:

My cat had to have a tooth extracted due to gum issues at her last cleaning. I'm thinking I wanna switch her to a softer dry food, if possible.

Currently feeding her Wellness Core dry and Wellness Core canned.

The dry is her daily food and the canned food is about 3 times a week. I can't afford to feed her canned food daily. She is eating the dry food and doesn't seem to have any problems. I'm just worried that she is hiding any pain she might be having.

Any suggestions?

If she just had one tooth extracted and doesn't have any residual inflammation visible where the tooth used to be, it shouldn't be causing her any issues. Teeth are removed to prevent pain or because they are causing pain, and usually removing the tooth resolves the issue. Also, a lot of cats don't really chew, and if they do and one side hurts, they use the other side. Basically, the dry food you have is likely fine.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2014 06:45

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 23:29

Dr. Chaco: Mar 30, 2005

Also, any chew toy or treat that the dog swallows in big chunks is going to be a risk for blockage, in addition to not cleaning effectively since it didn't really get chewed. Some dogs are good chewers, some are gulpers, so just keep an eye on your dog with whatever chew toy or treat you give them.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2015 16:24

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