Gingivitis - any tips?

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

OK, I have a question.....

I have had one vet tell me that the kitties need to have dry food - for their teeth. Indeed, was told that they should have ONLY dry food.

Had another vet tell me that dry food does not 'work'. The way cat teeth are, the kibbles are shattered and don't do much of anything for tarter, etc.

The only thing I have heard mentioned about size is that kitties tend to gorge on the small kibbles - and then up-chuck them. That's certainly true here.

It doesn't much matter to me any longer since 'we' can only have small kibbles. And then of only 2 brands. And then of only 1 type of 1 brand..... My Winston.....

But I still wonder at the difference in advice.

Based on my experience, I don't know that it much matters. My incredible Hannibal  preferred dry food. Ate it exclusively, even though the moist was available. And he had one of the worst cases of tooth problems.  Same true of many others I have had. I expect that, as with humans, much is genetic. And I DO believe in trying things that should work. But I still wonder about conflicting advice.

I agree with you - I think dental health is down to genetic factors more than what they eat.  I don't believe dry food per se (as opposed to prescription dental formulas which MAY have some benefit) has any beneficial effect on teeth.  And I would ask any vet who recommended it to show me the studies that back up their claims.

I do the same as others for teeth cleaning - logic gel (they both love it and lick it from the tube), plaque off and chicken wings.  Jaffa loves the chicken wings but Mosi won't entertain the thought.

[Millys Mum]

Oooh chicken fillets, can my lot come for tea? Im slowly building tabitha and milly up to the chewing stage, has taken me about 12 months  they dont understand why they should use their jaw muscles when mother can cut it up for them

[tiga]

I think your Riley and mine must be related!

I have to hold my Riley back while Digby finishes treats, breakfast, dinner - well anything involving food really! He will push Digby out of the way although Digby does sometimes bop him one.

Must be the name - maybe it means 'greedy guts' in another language!

[Tiggy's Mum]

Good luck with the wings, my two weren't interested - they looked at me like I was crazy 

Funny you should say that about Digby not being very good at chewing, Lu takes ages eating one treat and seems to chew forever while Riley swallows things whole with no chewing.  I have to hold Riley back when I'm sharing treats out to give Lu a chance to chew! I wonder if that's related to both Digby and Lu having excess tartar at a relatively young age.

[tiga]

Thanks Gillian

I picked up some chicken wings on the way home and have cut the flesh off. Not sure if they actually chewed it or just swallowed it, but they were only small chunks. I will get some chicken fillets tomorrow and cut them up into chunks.

[Gillian Harvey]

I cut them up into 3 like this to start with - but if he's not used to eating bones then its prob better to start with chunks of boneless meat to begin, then work up to bones. 

[tiga]

Millys mum: I asked about chicken wings as we always gave them to our cats in Australia but she said she didn't recommend them. I will give them a try although Digby is not very good at chewing. I even have to break up prawns for him!! Do you cut up the wings or give them a half of one and let them chew on it?

Dark moon: I know what you mean about the advice on dry vs wet food. My vet doesn't recommend dry food as a rule but gave me some dental dry stuff to try. My lot have a mix of wet (breakfast and dinner) and a small amount of dry food for supper. I don't think they do a lot of chewing though.

I have ordered the things suggested from VetUk and see how it goes.

[Millys Mum]

My lot swallow all dental biscuit, the only stuff they bothered crunching was a sample of RC siamese but im of the belief that dry does diddly for tartar control, shattering on the tip of the teeth doesnt help the gumline area.

The best thing for teeth are raw chicken wings, these really do exercise the jaw, remove tartar and give the cat a satisfying half hour (or 5 mins in simons case  ) chewing on something natural

[Dark Moon]

OK, I have a question.....

I have had one vet tell me that the kitties need to have dry food - for their teeth. Indeed, was told that they should have ONLY dry food.

Had another vet tell me that dry food does not 'work'. The way cat teeth are, the kibbles are shattered and don't do much of anything for tarter, etc.

The only thing I have heard mentioned about size is that kitties tend to gorge on the small kibbles - and then up-chuck them. That's certainly true here.

It doesn't much matter to me any longer since 'we' can only have small kibbles. And then of only 2 brands. And then of only 1 type of 1 brand..... My Winston.....

But I still wonder at the difference in advice.

Based on my experience, I don't know that it much matters. My incredible Hannibal  preferred dry food. Ate it exclusively, even though the moist was available. And he had one of the worst cases of tooth problems.  Same true of many others I have had. I expect that, as with humans, much is genetic. And I DO believe in trying things that should work. But I still wonder about conflicting advice.

[tiga]

Thanks

I saw that Logic gel and plaque off on VetUK so i will get some. Digby does tend to eat anything so he will probably be fine with it. The vet said we will check it again in 6 months and see if we should do a clean.

I will also get some of the Royal Canin Oral.

Cheers

[Gail Bengal Slave]

Get some Royal Canin Oral dried food - the kibbles are bigger than normal so are good for crunching. Zebedee has/ had gingivitus and had 5 teeth removed last year he was 3 - (now 4) I am trying to get him to eat more dried food.

Thai will be 7 in April and her diet is mainly dried - her teeth are beautiful. But any dried food.

[Tiggy's Mum]

I use plaque off (sprinkled onto food - doesn't put them off) and Logic gel, you're supposed to put the logic gel directly onto their gums/teeth but it's Lu that has the problem and he hates having it forced upon him, although he will eat it squirted onto his food.  Riley would lick it straight from the tube but there's nothing wrong with his teeth 

When they went for their first annual booster the vet said that Lu had a lot of tartar for his age (he was one year two months at the time) so I started using the above.  They're not due their next booster til April/May so I can't say how effective they've been but I do look in his mouth when he does a humungous yawn and it looks 'OK' to me.  The way I see it is that they can't do them any harm and they're relatively inexpensive so worth a go.

Having said that I think both plaque off and logic gel are designed to prevent tartar forming so I guess it depends how much has already built up as to how effective it would be.  If it's bad enough for him to have a polish/scale then using the products after the procedure would be be the best route.

[tiga]

My cat Digby has some gingivitis and plaque. He is only 2-3 so I want to see if there is anything I can do to help it. The vet has given me some Dental Hills Science (not sure of the name) and said it was designed to force the cat to chew the biscuits. I think Digby only bites it once and then swallows so not sure how useful that will be. He doesn't chew his normal dry food.

Has anyone got any other advice to help get rid of the plaque? I don't think cleaning his teeth is really an option as I live on my own and am not sure how I would manage. But I could give it a go. I have looked on VetUk and there seem to be quite a few products but not sure which are useful and which are a waste of money.

Any suggestions appreciated. I don't want him to loose his teeth when he's older if I can avoid it.

Thanks
Anne