Super Clean Teeth
One of the wonderful benefits of my raw diet is my super clean teeth. Chomping, tearing and crunching through chunks of raw meat and bone-in meat helps to keep the my teeth really really clean. Also, what I eat is healthy, natural raw food…not processed junk.
Mummy is always amazed by how clean my teeth look and feel…the last time I went to see Dr Tham (about a year ago), Mummy asked him to check if my teeth needed cleaning and he said nope. All good!
Ok here are some photo proofs…
This was taken at 10 months old by Furry Photos. Super close up of my teeth..please excuse the scary alien eyes. Look at how white and clean my teeth are! Pristine!
This was taken at 2.5 years old. The photo quality is awful compared to the photo by Furry Photos. Our camera just isn’t as powerful as Uncle Nic’s and also this photo was taken indoor in the kitchen under not so good orangey lighting. I know my teeth look kinda yellow in this photo but I promise you they are not so yellow in real life. So try not to focus on that but look again at how clean my teeth are. No plaque or tartar build up.
I will try to get a better picture of my teeth and also post updates on the condition of my teeth over time so everyone can see the benefits of raw diet for my dental health. Sigh putting the 2 photos side by side now makes me think even our Shiro Clicko the Olympus Pen sux….look at the huge difference in the photos! 
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All humans know that it is important to brush their teeth and have good oral hygiene. But many forget that it is just as important for furkids to have clean teeth and healthy gums. Sometimes people complain about their furkids having bad breath and don’t realise that it’s caused by dirty teeth and unhealthy gums. People will remember to trim nails and bathe their furkids but skip on teeth cleaning.
I guess it’s understandable because it’s not easy to brush a furkid’s teeth (Mummy didn’t even want to try explaining teeth brushing to me) but when you feed them commercial pet food of wet canned food and kibble you have to pay attention to their dental health as well. Because rotting teeth and gum disease can lead to overall health issues. And commercial pet food don’t help with teeth cleaning at all and Mummy believes they make teeth problems worse. Like if a human ate junk food all the time..and didn’t brush their teeth..they’d probably have a very gross mouth. Mummy has seen some doggies with massive massive plaque build up on their teeth that can only be removed by going to the vet for a massive scrubbing.
Remember that it’s not just for the good of your furkid to take care of their oral health. Good oral health means less health problems, no stinky breath and drooly mouth which means less time consuming and expensive visits to the vet, assaults on your noses and dirty sticky floors.
This is one huge problem I am facing…. i actually noticed Mr Fox having bad breath esp so after raw….Which is strange as its supposed to eliminate the problem. His teeth is still very yellow…. I am actually not feeding him 100% raw, I still do add in 1/2 spoonful of wet food to entice him to eat…also feeding him commercial barf so he doesnt exactly allow him to chop or tear…….
Commercial barf patties won’t help a whole lot with teeth cleaning because there isn’t a lot of chewing involved. Maybe try giving Mr Fox a few pieces of bone-in meat (like chicken wing or neck) every now and then so he can get some cleaning action going.
That being said…the commercial barf shouldn’t be giving him worse teeth or gums so it seems a little strange.
actually some of my friends dogs were on commercial raw or from DIY raw switched to commercial raw. their teeth actually worsened, more tartar build-up. seen it myself for those from DIY to commercial. which is why commercial raw foods will still encourage you to feed more bone-in meats or recreational chewing of raw bones.
commercial raw foods will never help in teeth cleaning at all because its all mushy. so it would be good if you could brush your cat’s or dog’s teeth daily or alternate days. no need toothpaste at all, just a baby toothbrush or a cloth, wet it with water and rub the teeth. it is the rubbing action that cleans it. tartar builds up within 3 days so its good to do this. i do that too even tho’ my dogs and cat are all on raw and there has been very minimal yellow stains (not build-up tartar, just color stains which is considered normal) on my dogs (11, 7 and 6) and no stains at all on my 2yo cat because she chews alot of bones and very thoroughly too compared to the dogs.
forgot to add, tartar build-up for animals is actually caused by carbo foods. so would be best if u could 100% eliminate canned foods (as they contain carbo to keep them fuller) other than the fact that its a big no-no to be giving two different forms of food. stick to only 1 so that it doesn’t confuse their system and increase the toxic load because of the different digestion rate. the longer the food stays in the system (processed food), the more toxins will be released. so if they’ve 2 forms of food within them, it’s going to be very confusing for their system and does no good in the long run at all.
Thanks so much for the tips, I just got raw chicken wings into the mix for his food, will slowly transit to DIY raw…just need to drag myself down to the butcher one day!
Did Mr Fox eat the chicken wing?? I always love to hear when other kitties start crunching bone…Mummy is also always fascinated when she watches and hears me crunch bones.
Yes he did but I chop the wing bit into 3 and it took him awhile of food playing before he finally chomp it up
Do u have it whole?
No I dun..Mummy n Daddy cut into a few parts too. I should (and can) eat it whole..but I is lazy. Also I am a lady. : p
Oh no, Mr Fox vomited yesterday after I fed him raw x a chicken… I thought he didnt digest his bone well but he vomited again this morning…. :X
oh no..is he ok otherwise? does he seem lethargic or in pain?
how much chicken did you give him?
I bought him to the vet, I think I wasnt doing his meals properly. I have been giving him some chicken wings after each meal..(how much bones is too much?) .Perhaps I over did it? Doc pointed out some things I missed out
1. I am supposed to freeze meat i bought before feeding.
I didnt for the very first time I obtained the meat but subsequently I did when I kept it
2. And he might not be used to this new protein
but that is unlikely cos commercial barf has chicken but perhaps its too much of it?
She also cautioned me about feeding bones, there is a chance of it to splinter in the esophagus or stomach. She took a sniff of Mr Fox’s breath and said its from the raw meat and its q. normal kitty breath. She is an advocate for raw, just advised me to stick to commercial barf since its working ok for me and if I wanna DIY….to really read up well and make sure it is sufficient in nutrients. So no food for Mr Fox today and Ive to moniter him closely…hope he doesnt puke agian!
Freezing meat before feeding is meant to kill off parasites in the meat. It’s not really necessary..sometimes I don’t freeze if I am feeding the next day. Mr Fox might not be used to eating raw chicken in chunks…sometimes they have diarrhea when they get a new protein but I am not sure about the puking.
Bones splintering is a problem if the bones are cooked. Not if raw. You should never feed cooked bones but raw is ok.
They only need 10% of bone in their diet. I normally get 1/2 a chicken wing (just the wing part, not the drumlet or the wing tip) every day and some days 1/2 a chicken wing and the wing tip.
I am not sure what is the cause… but he is back to normal now! will slowly introduce back and monitor his conditions
hi mr. fox. off-topic. just curious is miss black eye pea adopted already? any updated pix of her now? i like her so much & really had to resist adopting her when i first saw her up on CWS’ page. =(
thanks!
Hihi just to wonder.. how do your brush their teeth? won’t they struggle or bite???
You will need a small tooth brush. If you plan to use toothpaste you must use cat toothpaste n NOT human toothpaste. Whether you can brush your kitty’s teeth or not will really depend on your kitty! My fwen Chewy from naturalpawpals is super cooperative n let’s get Mummy brush. I am not cooperative at all n it takes 2 humans to brush my teeth. One to hold on to me and the other to brush. I imagine most kitties will struggle. Whether kitty will bite will depend on the kitty’s personality, whether you are too rough when brushing n end up hurting kitty etc. If you keep doing it regularly n try to make it as pleasant an experience as possible your kitty may tolerate it more n more over time. Good Luck!