Cat Teeth!

Firenza had 4 teeth out at the vets last Friday. I thought it might be one, two at the most.

But 4?? And one of those was a fang.

This is in addition to the fact that the nurse told me she already had several missing.

I can't imagine the discomfort she must have been in. Poor baby.

Anyway - I have been instructed that I now have to brush her teeth daily. I have tried this in the past and my mild mannered, dainty pretty kitty turns into a spitting ball of furry fury.

I have persevered - believe me. We're going for a toothbrushing lesson on Saturday at the vets as I am adamant that this time is I succeed (I don't want a toothless kitty nor do I want to inflict further pain on her).

I'd really welcome any experiences good, bad or otherwise on getting a cat used to having teeth brushed. We tried (well, I tried) easing her into it by using my finger rather than a brush, but to no avail.

HELP!

All suggestions welcome.

There is a good link for this already on the cat site. I have never had this type of problem with any of my cats for as long as I have had them. Once a week, regular as clockwork, my cats get one raw chicken bone to gnaw on. Works great! Anyway, here is the link for the article. I am sorry about your kitty and the loss of her teeth.

Teeth Brushing

Thanks for the link Hissy - that's great. Also the anecdotal stuff like your chicken bone solution is useful.

I've always been wary of bones, as I'm concerned they will splinter and lodge in their throats or do internal damamge. Maybe I'm being over-sensitive?

I just wanted to mention that here in the U.S. it's possible to buy toothpaste for pets in tuna or chicken flavors. I would think these flavors would help make brushing an animals teeth a little easier. Maybe these special flavors aren't available in the U.K.??

I should of clarified. The information came from my vet, and the only raw chicken bones he says to give a cat are chicken wings. I should of said that in my initial post but it was b.c. (before coffee!) And only one wing per cat.

here is another link of interest:Dental Care

I've just done a search following Lorie's suggestions of chicken and Tuna toothpaste and the best I could come up with was Malt flavour - I'm sure my kitties will be falling over themselves to get their teeth cleaned with that . . . .

HOWEVER, I did come across a product called Tea Tree Toothpaste available mail order or via pet shops.

YIKES! Remembering the really sad posts from last week about someone having their cats shampooed with Tea Tree Shampoo and one of their cats dying as a result, I'm sure ingesting the stuff via toothpaste would be just as poisonous if not worse (hope that's in no way contentious).

If I hadn't read the posts last week, I might have been tempted by this, as it sounds really healthy. Just shows how misleading things can be.

Yola, I found the specially flavored pet toothpaste at my local vet clinic. I don't know if this is available online.

Hissy, I have a question for you. A few years ago, I didn't realize the importance of brushing an animals teeth, I thought giving them dry food was enough. So far, Snowball has only had to have tartar removed from his teeth, and my vet clinic agrees with me that he would never tolerate it if I started trying to brush his teeth now. Occasionally, I give him a larger bone to chew on. Will this help keep the tartar from building up on his teeth again?

A large bone is a good idea Lorie. Anything hard that causes the cat to work on and scrape the gums and teeth will work to their advantage. I personally couldn't guarantee the safety of my fingers if I decided to brush the teeth of 12 feral cats!

Here is a link I found that might help you as well

Dental Care

I just started brushing the teeth on my two cats about a month ago. One is very docile and lets me lay her on her back across my lap and brush with no fuss. The other one wiggles and wiggles. With this one I made it a game, I waved it around like a toy till she is so interested she can't help it. She paws at it then bites the brush. When she bites I twist the brush around so it feels a bit like brushing. I mostly am doing that, but she is putting up with her front teeth getting brushed now so we are making progress. I also started using fish flavored Kittydent. It seems to make no difference at all with either cat. But its good for their teeth.