too bad they don't make kitty dentures

January 8, 2008 6:56 PM

help me find soft "dry" cat food for my aged, toothless kitty.

i have a 16 y/o cat who is missing several of her back teeth (but not all). she'd always been able to eat dry food, but she's recently developed an infection in her mouth from trying to gum the stuff, so i think it's time to switch to something softer.

she is accustomed to a small can of wet food once a day, plus a handful of kibble to snack on throughout the day. she's not overweight and is otherwise healthy, so i don't want to change the routine.

what i'm looking for is softer kibble that i can leave out for her. is there such a thing? i don't mind spending a bit for it--she's a sweet old gal, and i want her to be comfortable as long as possible.

thanks! (and kitty says, "mrow!")

posted by thinkingwoman to pets & animals (14 comments total)

I don't know any "soft" dry food, but you can soak the dry food in a little bit of water before giving it to her.
posted by dersins at 7:11 PM on January 8

my 12 yr old cat sometimes noses/carries dry food into his water dish, right next door, and then eats it when it's wet. so obviously the taste isn't destroyed by doing that.
posted by luriete at 7:16 PM on January 8

We had 2 very elderly cats (18 and 20 years old) and used Hill's Science Diet softened with a little warm water to moisten.
posted by RussHy at 7:23 PM on January 8

I got several results from googling "soft kibble" cat food... Hope it helps!
posted by amyms at 7:25 PM on January 8

Yeah, just soak the kibble in hot water for a minute or two before serving it to your cat.
posted by Dasein at 7:41 PM on January 8

great idea! will it keep for most of the day? she likes to come by for a bite or two every hour or so, so the idea is to have something with a manageable texture that will last all day. i'll give this a try tomorrow, but still would love other suggestions. great thoughts so far!

i am now having vague memories of a whiskas or friskies product that was little soft pellets in a pouch. does anyone remember what that is, or if it still exists?
posted by thinkingwoman at 8:17 PM on January 8

I've never given this to my kitties so I can't vouch for it but are you thinking of Whiskas Pouch food?
posted by slmorri at 8:24 PM on January 8

I fed my elderly kitty Royal Canin Mature and she seemed to like it a lot.
posted by mogget at 8:25 PM on January 8

There used to be a brand called Tender Vittles. Is that the kind of thing you want? Looks like that particular brand has been discontinued in the U.S., but is still available in Canada. It may be available by mail order if you can't find anything similar available in the U.S. I found this discussion about possible substitutes. It wasn't very extensive, though.
posted by dilettante at 8:26 PM on January 8

Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to leave out moist food all day because of bacterial growth.

Could you maybe grind up the kibble into smaller pieces? That way she can just swallow the bits without chewing.
posted by phatkitten at 9:10 PM on January 8

We used to feed our cat Tender Vittles, and it should exactly suit your needs, if (as suggested above) you can find it.
posted by Go, now. Go! at 5:37 AM on January 9

Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to leave out moist food all day because of bacterial growth.
posted by phatkitten at 11:10 PM on January 8 [+] [!]

Seconding this. Plus, wouldn't anything that starts out soft get dried up and crusty after a few hours anyway, thus defeating your purpose?

I have a little dog who's missing some teeth. What I do for him is mix his hard kibble with canned wet food. This seems to soften it up enough for him. But, of course, he's a dog and as such, inhales his food immediately.

Another thing I tried for him, which he liked, but was a big pain for me, was mixing his hard kibble with those dog food gravy products. I googled for something for cats and came up with this. I haven't tried these, so it's not a rec.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:11 AM on January 9

I'll probably be wanting to revisit this question in a few years, because our female cat has lost most of her teeth (she had a hard life before we got her); could you please add "catfood" as a tag so it will be easier to find?
posted by languagehat at 7:11 AM on January 9

Thirding Tender Vittles. We found it plenty of places online.

When our cat was a kitten he had a nasty digestive problem. We were at the vet all the time and they would give us suggestions of what kind of food to buy him, but wouldn't recommend a brand (the vet sold cat food). At one visit I got exasperated and asked the vet if she would please just tell me what brand to buy. She literally whispered "tender vittles" and then moved on. Worked like a charm.
posted by muscat at 2:23 PM on January 9