I'm not sure whether to post this here or in supplements, but this is for bone/teeth health so I put it here.
I'm reading about how nutrition impacts dental health. In a nutshell, it occurred to me that it's very likely the reason Pookie's teeth were in such bad condition is because he's not getting the minerals/vitamins in his food, so his body is pulling the minerals from his bones and teeth (the vet said his jaw bone was soft) instead. So I'm planning to add bone broth to his diet so he gets the minerals from the bones, since I've never worked up the nerve to feed raw bones. He may not get the cleaning action of knawing on the bones, but at least he can get the marrow, etc., and what I like about this is everything should be in the right ratio. It seems like it's as close as I can get to giving him raw bones without him actually having the bone itself.
I also wanted to add raw goat's milk, for the nutrients and good fats which he'll need to absorb the minerals, though I'm thinking the broth might be sufficient (he would eat the bones in the wild, but it's less likely he'd have raw milk unless he was a barn cat). I emailed the holistic vet to ask how much broth and milk I should give him, and she advised against the milk, due to concerns about bacteria. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think that would be an issue, though I will wait until he's been off of the antibiotics for at least a week.
She didn't answer my question about how much broth to give, so I sent another email but haven't received a reply yet. I suspect it'll be the same answer as with the milk: just keep feeding the raw balanced diet. But he's not on a balanced diet, because he doesn't get all raw. IMO, if his diet was balanced, he wouldn't have lost his teeth.
I'm thinking of freezing the broth in ice cube trays, that way I can take 1 (or more) out and thaw it for each day. I just wanted to get your opinions/thoughts on how much broth I should give him each day. I won't know if it's helped or not until he goes back for a check-up, probably in 6 months or a year, and I'm concerned I may not give him enough, but I don't want to give him too much, either (if that's possible)
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Thanks, everyone!