Feeding your cat after oral surgery.

Some guidelines and suggestions for feeding your cat in the healing period following oral surgery.

This is NOT a telemedicine service and I cannot offer any specific advice an any animal that is not currently under my direct care. If you have concerns, contact your primary care veterinarian.

[mariarivero]

More than two years after posting this video, you are still helping! Thank you so much for your suggestions on feeding life-long-kibble-fed cats recovering from jaw surgery. A big help for me and my kitty Cinnie! 😺

[writerinrwanda]

Thank you so much. My cat just underwent major tooth extraction in Rwanda and I wasn't really given much information about what to expect afterwards or how to care for her. I've resorted to YouTube to learn more and this was really helpful. 🙏

[hball]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Our Tuxedo Boy had 6 teeth pulled 3 days ago and wasn't really eating wet food or the kibble we had soaked. Never thought of breaking the kibble down with a rolling pin but when I ground some up and spooned it onto wet food he ate it with relish (so to speak). I'm so glad I saw this video and our Boy is eating again! Thanks again, Fraser Hale!

[belle]

My cat, Charlie Brown, has had 5 teeth out; we are 12 days post surgery. He only wants to eat kibble so for a week before surgery I introduced some wet food so he would get used to seeing and smelling it at his feeding spot. Around day 4 he started eating a small portion of the wet food; he will only eat it when I first put it down for him. Once he is done with it he will not go back to what is left in his dish; he only wants it when it's straight from the can to his dish. I also provide him with crushed kibble and lots of water. He is doing very well. Thanks very much for your calm tone and quiet demeanour in this viedo. I'm glad I found your site.

[futuremechanic]

This video is really informative and straight to the point thank you although the video was uploaded last 3yr

[I-AgreeWithYou]

Thank you so much for this video.. I’m going to be all alone with a VERY sick kitty for a few days after her surgery & her vet will not be around so it’s scary.. God Bless you for helping animals

[yooperlooper]

Our kitty had major dental work - older cat with bad teeth when we got him. Many extractions, almost no teeth now. He barely will eat at all after a week. It's like he forgot how. We'll open canned food (which he's used to eating along with dry) and water it down like usual but he won't touch it. We've spent over a hundred dollars just getting medication for pain and for increasing his appetite but he won't eat it and it's going to waste. Now we'll have to try to squirt it in his mouth which will be a catastrophy I'm sure. I think it hurts him to open his mouth. I tasted it and I wouldn't want it either. You'd think drug companies would make products for cats with a flavor they might actually eat knowing how finicky they are! He eats just a tiny bit of liquid food each day.

[princessthehamster]

My furbaby is in surgery right now getting everything ready for when shes ready to come home thankyou x

[harryblackmon]

Very informative, thank you. 39 yrs DMD

[judypredmore]

Thank you, you gave me more suggestions than several articles combined!

[christinashanklin]

I just want to say thank you very much. I brought in a mama stray 3 years ago and she never did allow me to get too close to her mouth so I never knew there was anything wrong. Until today when she was eating her kibble. And she ran from her Bowl crying using her paw to rub her mouth. This poor baby is missing a lot of teeth one of her molars broke. 😭While she was eating. I just found out at the vet today that she will probably have to get that old and I don't know how in your world I am going to feed a cat that has almost no teeth. But I have more of an idea now. So for that. Thank you.

[fraserhale]

This is NOT a telemedicine service and I cannot offer any specific advice an any animal that is not currently under my direct care. If you have concerns, contact your primary care veterinarian.

[manablooded]

Thank you for this vid! My cat is coming out of surgery soon, getting 1 or 2 teeth extracted depending on the severity. I always feed them canned anyways so sounds like I'm good to go :)

[peacequeen]

My cat just had a deep scale cleaning and hes not back on his food. Has had some soft treats and i syringe wet food. Wish i never has this done to him.

[imfunny]

thank you so much for this!! i feel terrible i didn't take care of my cats teeth whenever she was younger and she's having all her teeth removed this april 26th :(, I'm so afraid, though she can say canned food and loves it. will she be in any pain after surgery? im worried this will delay her eating or just cause discomfort. thank you for this video!

[luvely]

Both my cats will have some teeth pulled (one has 3, the other one), they eat wet so I wanted to be sure.

[hunibunibrown]

My cat will only eat wet food anyway but wont eat if its from a can. Only if from pouches

[gentleyogaforanybody]

Thanks a lot! My cat tends to be dehydrated, had all her teeth pulled Weds (6/10/21) and is very swollen and red. She had sublingual pain med for 5 days, was still miserable, so I took her to vet again, he gave her a two day pain med injection. Today is the last of 7 days w/ pain med. Q''s. What to do if she becomes miserable again tomorrow when it wears off, is there a way to ice pack her jaw? Also I've been giving her extra water 25 ml cuz she's not drinking much...I haven't seen her drink any since surgery. Is this enough/or ok? I've been wrapping her in a towel and giving a little at a time with a syringe.

[smittylikesto]

my cat had a lot of teeth taken out about a week and a half ago. about 3 or 4 days after the surgery she basically stopped eating. i think a couple days after surgery she broke one of her stitches and was bleeding while i was trying to give her her antibiotic. she is in a lot of pain, she shakes her head and open and closes her mouth. she ate more when she had the infected teeth.

[MsSahara]

my cat is 13 years old and lost a molar and a canine. he had surgery on tuesday and today is thursday. everything has been very difficult. i finally caught him drinking water last night, wednesday. he keeps coming into the feeding area but walks away from all of my offerings. i have tried water mixed with food like a gruel, 'lil soups, which i have had some success with but he only eats about half a have tried force feeding him and i WILL not do that again. he comes in for his treats but cannot eat them even though i cut them up into tiny pieces. the one thing he will consume a small amount of is "cat sip" a milk product for cats. but he does not drink much of that. he is on buprenex twice a day for pain and mirataz once a day to stimulate his appetite. i do not want to put him down but having him starve to death i cannot do.

anything you suggest would be very helpful. thank you.