Much Ado About Cat Teeth

Well, Nikki went back to the vet Wednesday for what was hopefully her last visit for a good long while.

(The picture below really has nothing to do with the rest of this post; it was taken last week when she was sleeping in my bathrobe on the couch, and I just thought it was very cute.)



Anyhow, this vet visit was to get her dental stuff dealt with...Nikki needed a cleaning, x-rays, and close examination of her broken tooth. This meant she needed general anaesthesia, which always scares me (I have a possibly-irrational phobia about people not waking up from it) but according to the vet she "bounced back" really quickly after the procedure.

(This doesn't surprise me. Nikki has Constitution +5, at least. It also didn't surprise me when the tech informed me, after the fact, that until the sedation had kicked in, Nikki had given them quite a heck of a difficult time...she is nothing if not assertive!)

They also did a urine test, as they'd not been able to do that when Nikki had been in last time because she had just used the litterbox before that appointment and didn't have any pee in there for them to take!

Anyway, the urine test came back totally normal, so between that and her recent blood test values it looks like she's quite thoroughly healthy from a systemic standpoint. No sign of anything pointing to diabetes or kidney disease or any of the other maladies cats become more prone to as they get older.

As for her teeth...they're clean and polished now, which is definitely a good thing. Poor tooth and gum condition can lead to all kinds of other health problems in cats, not to mention mouth pain. I've actually been wondering for a while if some of Nikki's extremely finicky and fickle eating habits have been due to some issue with her teeth, so while I'm not holding my breath, it will be interesting to see if she eats more consistently now.

Nikki's broken fang-tooth is also gone now...I'm sorry she had to lose it, but the detailed exam revealed that the root was basically gone, meaning the tooth was "dead". It's not healthy to keep a dead tooth in one's mouth as it can result in buildup of anaerobic bacteria where the pulp used to be, in addition to the fact that dead teeth are more likely to become brittle and crack and hurt and have to be taken out later on anyway. So I am at least glad we got that taken care of now rather than later.

Also...when I went to pick up Nikki in the afternoon, once she'd recovered enough from the sedation (Matt's mom, who is awesome, provided transportation for my non-driving self), the vet tech asked me if I wanted to see the tooth they'd removed. Of course I said yes...I was really curious!

They handed me the tooth in a test tube labeled with Nikki's name (see photos below).






It's huge! Even with the tip broken off the whole thing is nearly an inch long. It's hard to believe more than half of a tooth that size actually fit in Nikki's jaw...she isn't a big cat, and (despite the noises she's capable of generating) doesn't have a very big mouth.

I am not sure what I will do with the tooth other than keep it as a weird random thing to look at, but (as I mentioned to the vet tech), wouldn't it be kind of cool to drill a hole in it and make it into a collar charm for Nikki to wear? I could just see her trotting along her patrol routes being all "I BROKE THIS TOOTH IN A FIGHT. YOU DO NOT WANT TO F&$# WITH ME!"

But I don't know if I'll actually do that. It would definitely suit her, though!

They also shaved part of one of her front legs to put the IV in, so she'll have another area of hypercolor fur in a while.

The bad part of having had the tooth removed (even though ultimately I agree with the vet it was for the best, given it was dead and hence a health risk for Nikki) is that now she has to take antibiotics for a while. For her abscessed side wound (which is actually totally healed now, thank goodness) they were able to inject a single dose of some really powerful germkiller, but apparently that sort of thing isn't given for the purpose of warding off post-tooth-extraction infections.

Hence, she is on an oral suspension of Clavamox which has to be stored in the refrigerator and shaken well prior to administration. The main annoying thing about this is that it obviously has a flavor (one that Nikki, predictably, hates) and must be given in 1 mL doses. I've ended up having to wrap her in a towel with just her head poking out in order to actually get the syringe anywhere near her mouth. Which I hate doing because she seems very obviously insulted by the whole ordeal, but I really don't want her getting another infection, least of all right in her mouth.

[I do have to wonder what those pharmaceutical people are thinking making a medication for cats in what (judging by the smell) seems to be "Banana Creme" flavor. Nikki, I'd wager, would much prefer something more along the lines of "Poached Salmon in Cheese Sauce"!]

Raw and Whole Prey Feeding: A Trial Run

...is something I've actually gotten up the nerve to try recently. There will probably be several lengthy posts about this, but for now here is a picture of Cora polishing off a quail:



I should also note that I am not doing 100% raw for the moment...I am still learning about and evaluating what research there is regarding this sort of thing. But the younger cats have been getting around 50-60% of their daily diet in the form of raw meat, bones, organs, etc., for nearly two weeks now. (Nikki won't touch the stuff but that's no surprise -- for the moment I am just glad she is back to liking grain-free wet food.)

Briefly I will also say that:

- Nobody has gotten sick
- Poop output and stink seems to have been reduced by at least half
- Coats are getting softer and shinier
- Brodie seems to have a lot more energy (which makes me wonder if he is just really, really bad, even for a cat, at getting any benefit whatsoever from carbohydrates, which even grain-free commercial cat foods generally have some of)

Hence, so far I would say things look very promising!

(And yes, I am supplementing with extra taurine -- technically cats "should" be able to get all the taurine they need from raw prey or prey-model food containing enough heart and dark muscle meat and such, but I don't want to take ANY chances with that particular amino acid.

One study in which two groups of cats were fed, respectively, a commercial diet and a diet of whole ground rabbit, resulted in one cat in the raw group suddenly dying of cardiomyopathy due to severe taurine deficiency. When examined, other cats in that group were also found to have signs of deficiency, so their diet was supplemented with taurine for the remainder of the study. So while I would guess tentatively that the process of grinding the rabbit was responsible for the loss of taurine, again, not taking any chances here.)

I also tried (in addition to the chicken, turkey, quail, and beef that the trio have been quite happy with so far) getting some frozen feeder mice at one of those pet stores that caters to reptiles. Yes, I know, kind of gross (and the mice were so cute despite being dead!), but in a way I sort of feel like feeding whole prey is a way for me to really come to terms with what a carnivore is. Store-bought kibble may come in cute little shapes reminiscent of children's cereal, but it still (if it's of any quality) contains dead animal bits and something in me finds it a bit unnerving to be so disconnected from the "source" of said animals. If that makes any sense at all to anyone.

In any case, so far only Brodie seems willing to actually eat the mice. Cora and Shadow played with them a bit, but didn't seem to recognize them as food. (Which I am sure Brodie is just fine with...he got what they didn't eat!).

Picky Cat Is Picky, But She Still Needs To Eat!

Well, it appears I spoke too soon regarding Nikki's acceptance of the new-ish EVO dry food (the weight-management stuff). She WAS eating it just fine until earlier this week, but she's been turning her nose up at it for the past few days. She is also still rejecting the Fancy Feast, and hasn't liked any of the other wet foods I've offered recently. I still haven't tried the Whole Foods brand she seemed to like a few weeks back so hopefully I can get some of that soon, though I have a feeling she's just "off" wet food completely right now.

Anyway, the past few days have involved a fair bit of worry on my part, because I know cats who go on hunger strike for whatever reason are at risk of hepatic lipidosis if they go more than 24-48 hours without food. Nikki isn't fat (she weighs about 8 pounds) so she's less likely to develop liver problems than a larger cat would, but obviously it's still not good for her to not be eating.

She had a full workup at the vet's a few months back (they did a comprehensive "senior wellness" checkup, which is standard for cats over seven years old) and all her results were very good (vets often comment that Nikki, who will be nine in October of this year, seems "unusually healthy for her age") so it's doubtful she has any chronic or serious illnesses. And while certainly I would call the vet if she wasn't eating anything, or if she couldn't seem to keep anything down, or if she was having elimination issues, none of those things are true at this time, so I don't figure it's worth stressing her further with a trip to the clinic just yet.

For now I am watching her closely to note any changes in her behavior that might indicate either illness or that she's feeling better. I do suspect she's had a bit of a stomach ache this week, as she's spent more time than usual in the "hoverloaf" position (sort of an elevated kittyloaf, which cats will sometimes sit in when they feel fine, but which is also commonly engaged in by cats who don't feel well as it lets them partially lie down without their abdomen touching the ground)and has gagged even when offered some things she usually likes (such as the chicken-and-fish flavored hairball remedy gel I give all the kitties occasionally).

My tentative theory is that (due, possibly, to a recent ingredient alteration/less tasty batch of byproducts in her Fancy Feast) she went a bit too long without eating, which irritated her stomach, which led to barfing the next time she tried to eat, which led to further aversion to her usual food, which led to low blood sugar, which led to even less of an inclination to eat.

Last night I tried giving her a little bit of honey to address the possible blood sugar issue -- I put a tiny bit on her lips and paws and while she didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about this, she didn't gag and licked it all off. She seemed a bit sprightlier after that so I suspect she probably was getting a bit crashy (something I've experienced myself -- as a kid I would often refuse food to the point of hypoglycemia, and my parents would have to coax me for hours into nibbling on a piece of cheese, etc.).

This morning I offered her:

- Fancy Feast salmon again (she didn't gag, but ignored it)
- Wellness Core Chicken and Turkey wet food (she ignored this too)
- EVO dry food (sniffed it warily, picked up one piece in her mouth but spat it out)
- Purina Indoor Formula dry food (her "old" food, which my parents left when they brought her over in January -- she ate some of this, albeit without enthusiasm)
- Whipped light cream (she ran up to me meowing when I got the container out to put some in my coffee, and happily licked some off my finger)
- Shredded cheese (she ate this enthusiastically)
- Plain yogurt (I tried to trick her into eating this by putting some cheese in it but she just ate the cheese and ignored the yogurt, though she did lick off what I put on her paws -- I figured the "good bacteria" might help her stomach)

Given that litany of responses, I've concluded that she DOES have an appetite -- which is a relief. Not having any appetite at all is pretty bad for a cat, but being extremely picky is, well, par for the course for Nikki. She seems to have an extremely sensitive sense of taste and smell even for a cat, and goes "off" things very easily, so I expect this won't be the last time I'm dealing with a mass trial-and-error session. Of course she is completely worth the effort -- it's not even something I would consider NOT doing...she NEEDS to eat, and it's not like she's rejecting stuff on purpose. It's not a power struggle -- her sensory system is just set up in a way that means, sometimes, there's only a very limited selection of foods that won't trigger a nausea response. And she can't help that, so there's no sense in my getting upset or frustrated with her.

So, for the moment she's going to be getting occasional bits of cheese and whipped light cream, along with as much dry food as she wants (which isn't a lot right now, but at least it's something). I've been mixing the EVO with the Purina Indoor and while she's mostly eating "around" the EVO, she's at least not being so turned off by the smell that she doesn't eat the other stuff. I may try getting some more Innova Cat & Kitten (dry) food again since she seemed to like that a lot and it's far healthier than the Purina -- I've already had to feed her the Purina separately from the other cats so Brodie won't get into it, and that hasn't been a major hassle, so perhaps I should just accept that and not be so concerned about finding a food I can give to everyone here all at once.

Further Feline Food Follies

DISCLAIMER: I am not connected with any pet food industry companies, receive no compensation for writing about a given food, and will not ever exclusively promote any particular brand as the One True Nutritional Answer for All Cats. In my household I purposely try and rotate brands and flavors and I have no "brand loyalty" other than in the practical sense of continuing to buy what my cats eat, enjoy, and do well on. Hence all opinions and impressions stated herein should be considered the observations of one individual, not the party line of either a company or a group with the aim of discrediting a company.

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I've offered the resident felines many, many different brands and flavors of food (wet and dry) and the younger cats have mostly been happy with whatever they've got in front of them. Coraline is somewhat pickier than her brothers and has stronger preferences (i.e., she is a fish fiend!) but she's not nearly as finicky as Nikki.

That said, I am pleased to have finally found a dry food that everyone likes and that doesn't trigger any of Brodie's food intolerances (he reacts to corn the way a human with severe lactose intolerance reacts to milk -- gas, bloating, and a nasty case of the runs). Oddly enough it's a "weight management" formula (specifically, EVO Weight Management), but you can feed it either in a weight loss amount or in a weight maintenance amount because it's very nutrient-dense.

The younger cats all liked the "regular" EVO (both the chicken and fish flavors) just fine, but Nikki wouldn't touch it for some reason. She did, however, like the Innova Cat & Kitten Formula, so for a while I tried feeding that to everyone -- until it became evident Brodie couldn't tolerate it. Innova doesn't contain corn but it does contain barley, and I am beginning to suspect Brodie is one of those cats that has worse-than-average problems with grains, period. Anyway, to make a long story short, on a whim I picked up a bag of Evo Weight Management one day a few weeks ago and it ended up being a huge hit with everyone -- including Nikki! So I am definitely planning on sticking with it as their "primary" dry food (while continuing to mix in other grain-free varieties -- right now they're trying Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon).

And then there is the matter of wet food. Everyone here gets about 3 oz. of wet food daily, divided into two portions. I figure that way they can get some of the benefits of the generally higher protein content of wet food in addition to increased hydration. The younger cats have usually been willing to at least try any wet food I give them (especially the boys...Cora sometimes waits to see if her brothers will eat something before trying it herself!) but again, Nikki...not so much.

This has caused me some amount of angst because she has outright rejected EVERY "high quality" wet food I've offered her. Wellness, Evo canned, Tiki Cat, Natural Balance, Felidae...essentially Nikki's reaction to these sorts of foods is either to sniff them and literally gag, or run away from them making grumbly "harumphing" noises.

She liked a particular supermarket brand for a while (Paws Premium, purchased at Lucky's grocery) but then both she and Shadow suffered a full day of vigorous vomiting after eating what I suspect was part of a "bad batch", so I don't feed that brand anymore at all.*

What Nikki does like, however, is Fancy Feast, otherwise known as Kitty Crack. I couldn't believe her reaction to it the first time I offered it to her. She inhaled it, then proceeded to lick the plate absolutely clean! Needless to say, I was ever so slightly shocked. So since then I've been getting her the "Classic" (pate') varieties of that, as despite not being anywhere near "human grade", it's at least a way to get some extra protein and water into her diet. Her favorites so far have been the Savory Salmon Feast and the Ocean Whitefish & Tuna Feast.

Seeing as she's going to be nine this year I know I have to start watching out for (and taking measures to prevent) issues like diabetes, kidney problems, and the like, and everything I've read recently suggests wet food is a step in the right direction as far as that sort of thing goes.

And aside from the issues of dubious manufacturing quality/evasiveness on Purina's part about the source of their ingredients (these are major, non-trivial issues, just not the main subject of this post), some varieties of Fancy Feast are actually pretty darn good for cats from a nutritional standpoint. Some varieties are awful -- basically bits of textured wheat gluten in "gravy" made from who-knows-what, and I've noticed that the "fancier" and "cuter" the graphics on the cans are, the worse the ingredients tend to be. E.g., the "Elegant Medleys" line would be right out in my household, seeing as everything in it contains corn starch.

So, somewhat contrary to what the marketing might suggest, the FF types best for cats are the most unassuming-looking ones, in particular the "Classic pate" varieties. These tend to be pretty much all animal parts and water, with some vitamin supplements added in (always necessary when serving cooked meat to cats).

Yes, some of the animal parts are described in slightly worrisome terms like "meat" and "meat by-products" (no indication of what KIND of meat -- pork? beef? hamster? wildebeest? emu? soylent green?) but seeing as cats in the wild aren't THAT picky about their protein sources, I figure they might be better off with a few mysterious byproducts here and there than with some kind of "oatmeal, blueberry, sweet potato, thyme, and acai berry" concoction as one might find in a Premium Natural brand ("Premium natural" brands can be awesome, or they can be...not so much better for cats than supermarket stuff as designed to appeal to Hippie Human Sensibilities. References to "healthy complex carbohydrates for energy" are a warning sign in this regard, as cats have practically no need for carbs, period).

What I would consider an "ideal" cat food (aside from the obvious primary criterion of "something the cat likes, eats, and doesn't get sick from") would be very basic, consisting of mainly muscle meat from poultry and/or rabbit mixed with an appropriate amount of organ meats, with any necessary supplements (such as calcium) added in appropriate amounts. Some foods do approximate or even exactly match this but they tend to be pricey and definitely inaccessible to a lot of people as they are only available at specialty pet food stores, or (in the case of raw feeding) logistically difficult to prepare on a regular basis. Short version: if at any point you're stuck with "grocery store" cat food, Fancy Feast Classic varieties are definitely not the worst you could do, nutrition-wise.

BUT: all that said, lately I've been wondering if Purina did something to change the Fancy Feast formula. I'm not the only one wondering this. Because for the past week, ever since I got the most recent package of the stuff (a 24-pack of the Classic Seafood varieties), Nikki has been...less than enthused. I know sometimes picky cats like her sometimes just get tired of their former "favorites" (makes sense...I was a picky kid growing up and I remember occasionally getting worn out on any one of my "staples") so I suppose that could be all that's going on, but the fact that other people have been reporting similar reactions from their cats makes me suspicious.

Moreover, the younger cats seem to be eating their FF (or FF-mixed-with-other-stuff blends) with considerably less gusto than before. I am not so concerned about this in their case seeing as they all actually eat plenty of other brands, but I will certainly be plenty annoyed on Nikki's behalf if Purina DID change the formula/flavoring in one of the only wet foods that doesn't disgust her.

And I will also be beyond irritated on behalf of the many cats struggling with health problems like diabetes and chronic renal failure, who have up until now done very well on the all-meat varieties of FF. It is not absolutely clear that a significant change has occurred, but still, I think pet food manufacturers need to be VERY cognizant of just how sensitive cats' sense of taste is. A change that seems "insignificant" to a human might make the difference between a given cat loving a food and deciding it's fit for litter-box burial.

So, as I continue to await further news of what the F is going on with the Fancy Feast Formula, I will certainly continue to experiment with other food brands and flavors. I got a somewhat promising result with the Whole Foods 360 store brand of cat food (ocean fish and tuna flavor) -- Nikki has eaten nearly two cans of this with reasonable enthusiasm, so I may get some more of that to make sure it wasn't just a fluke!

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* Yes, I did contact the manufacturer of this supermarket brand, describe the symptoms, and give them the batch number, etc. I was told several weeks later via a letter they had "tested the batch and found no evidence the food was responsible for [my] pets' illness". But who knows what exactly they tested FOR. In any case, I figured that it made the most sense to just not feed that brand anymore, so I don't. One midnight trip to the emergency vet was enough!

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