Dogs are not shy when it comes to enjoying their meals. If anything, they may be a bit too eager to eat because they will take an interest in your food too. That voracious appetite is just another reason why we love dogs.
However, there may come a time when your pet dog will experience difficulty while eating. It may not even be due to some kind of illness. Your dog may still be excited to eat, but they’re having a tough time because they’ve lost their teeth.
What happens if a dog loses their teeth? Can they still eat like normal or will adjustments have to be made? Discover the answers to those important questions by continuing with the rest of this article.
Can Dogs Eat with No Teeth?
Our canine friends have always been famous for having strong teeth. They use those teeth for chewing through the meat, fending off enemies, and scaring away potential intruders. When you see those sharp teeth flashed at you menacingly, you should back away from the dog carefully.
Still, dogs remain susceptible to losing their teeth.
Dogs may lose their teeth due to a traumatic event. Your pet may have gotten into a tussle with another dog or a wild animal. They may have lost some teeth during that violent confrontation.
Some diseases can also cause dogs to lose their teeth. Periodontal disease is specifically known for causing that kind of problem.
No matter what the cause is, the sight of your pet dog losing their teeth is distressing. However, they can eventually adjust to that and still eat their food.
It may take some time for your pet to get used to eating without teeth, but they will be able to pull it off. As their owner, you have to be supportive and try to make eating without teeth as easy as possible for your pet.
Can Dogs Eat with No Canine Teeth?
Canine teeth are easily recognizable. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the canine teeth are often the largest ones inside the mouth.
Those canine teeth also feature some sharp points. They need to be sharp because many animals use their canine teeth to severely wound their enemies during fights.
Aside from being useful fighting tools, many members of the animal kingdom also rely on their canine teeth to eat properly. They use the sharp points of their canine teeth to tear through meat. Those canines come in handy for chewing the meat as well.
Given how important canine teeth are, can your pet dog still eat without them? Yes, they should still be able to eat even without their canine teeth. You will just have to help them out during mealtime.
How Do Dogs Eat with No Teeth?
Even without teeth, your pet will be able to eat. However, they won’t be able to eat in the manner they’re accustomed to because their teeth are missing.
That’s where you can help out as a pet parent. There are certain things you can do to make mealtime easier for your toothless pet. Check out the different ways to feed a toothless dog below.
Change Your Dog’s Food
First off, you should consider changing the food you give to your dog now that they have no teeth.
If you previously fed your dog chunks of cooked meat, you may need to stop that. Your dog may resort to swallowing those chunks whole if they cannot chew them. Certain types of dry food may also be difficult for your dog to eat for the same reasons.
Switch to food that your toothless pet can easily swallow and digest. We’ll detail those new food options you can give to your dog a bit later in this article.
Turn Your Dog’s Food into a Paste
You can also transform your dog’s food into a paste so they can eat it. Even a dog without teeth should be able to safely digest a thick paste.
Process the food whichever way you prefer. One way to do that is by simply adding water to the food and mashing it with a spoon. Alternatively, you can put the food into a food processor together with some water so it turns into a paste.
At first, your dog may be put off by the look of their new food. That will change quickly after they get a sniff of it and realize that they like it.
Can Dogs Eat Dry or Hard Food with No Teeth?
Many pet owners choose to feed their dogs dry food. It’s easy to understand why.
Dry food is convenient. You just have to open the bag, pour the dry food into a bowl, and serve it to your dog.
People also like giving dry food to their pets because it’s nutritious. Pets can stick to a diet primarily composed of dry food and remain healthy.
You also cannot overlook how affordable dry dog food is relative to the other options. Some pet owners may only be able to get dry food for their dogs.
So, should a pet owner stop offering dry food if their dog loses their teeth? That may not be necessary. Instead of ditching dry food altogether, you can switch things up a bit.
Start by looking for dry food that’s processed into small pieces so they won’t cause choking. After that, you need to soak the pieces of dry food in some liquid so your dog can safely eat them. Turning the dry food into a paste by pulverizing or running it through the food processor is also an option.
The bottom line is that you can continue serving dry food to your pet even after they lose their teeth. You just have to prepare it before serving so your dog can eat it without any issue.
What to Feed Dogs with No Teeth?
Picking out food for your toothless dog is not as difficult as you might have assumed. You can still serve delicious treats to your dog even if they have no more teeth.
Soaked Kibble
Soaked kibble or dry food is perfectly fine to serve to your pet. You aren’t losing much in the way of nutrients by serving your dog some soaked kibble.
Of course, your dog may not like the hydrated kibble right away. If that’s the case, try soaking the kibble in a flavorful liquid so it becomes more appealing. A homemade broth can serve as an ideal soaking liquid.
Canned Wet Food
Canned wet food is a good option for toothless dogs. These treats are nutritious and flavorful. Most dogs love canned wet food.
Usually, you can serve wet food right out of the can. If you think it’s a touch on the thick side, you can add some liquid to thin it out.
Choose carefully if you’re shopping for wet dog food. Some of them contain big chunks of meat that a toothless dog will struggle with.
Buying wet food with big chunks of meat is still not that big of a problem. You can just mash the chunks of meat and combine them with the rest of the food.
Homemade Food
Lastly, you can also serve homemade food to your toothless dog.
Start by purchasing some lean meat at the supermarket along with vegetables that are for dogs to eat. You can also get some rice to add bulk to the homemade dog food.
Once you get home, toss the meat into a pot and cook it down. Cook the meat until it starts to get tender then add some vegetables. Continue cooking everything down until they develop a soft texture.
You should also start cooking the rice separately.
When everything is cooked, let them cool down for a while. Throw all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and start transforming them into a paste. You can now serve that homemade food paste to your toothless dog.
To save time, you can also prepare a big batch of the food paste in one go. Keep the leftovers in small containers then throw them into a freezer. Just heat a container of the frozen food when it’s time to feed your pet.