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Can I use Tom's toothepaste on my cats?

post #1 of 13
Thread Starter 
My cats' breath REALLY is vile. I plan on upgrading their diet (to something of higher quality) and getting proper feline toothpaste, but in the meantime, can I use Tom's (all natural) toothepaste a few times on them? I read human toothepaste is not ideal for cats but wondered if tha twould be okay.

cheers.
post #2 of 13
No. For one, the flavor of the minty varieties is really very strong, and your cats wouldn't like it at all. You'd have quite a fight on your hands. Secondly, even if it's flouride-free (flouride is toxic when taken internally, and cats don't spit it out!), there are other ingredients that aren't good for cats (or anyone) to swallow. Stick with a cat toothpaste and everything will work out much better.

If their breath is really horrible, have the vet take a look. They may have some decay going on.
post #3 of 13
I agree, cat's breath should not stink, except of the food they just recently ate.

Buddy of mine had a kitty w/ bad breath, who then stopped closing her mouth fully, but he never really checked her mouth because she does NOT tolerate handling. Well, vet got her and popped open the mouth... yup the two back teeth FELL out. Just a lifted right out with a paper towel. And only eight years old.

I'm not sure diet makes a big difference in dental health though, aside from perhaps giving a bit of kibble if you're doing 100% wet... but even then most cats won't chew most of it cuz its so small. Greenies treats they definitely chew. Otherwise the dental kibble varieties have a coating that dissolves in saliva and cleans the teeth amongst other things.

If your cat is a few years old, ask the vet if they recommend a proper vet teeth cleaning. They'll do a polish and the works, but it usually requires anesthesia so is a somewhat big deal. That's the only way to remove existing calculus though, and then after you can go on to regular maintenance.
post #4 of 13
I have a question about the Greenie treats; I found a free sample in a pet-store somewhere and gave a few pieces to each of my cats. Within fifteen minutes, two of the three cats threw it all up. I know that when changing food, I must gradually change it so as not to upset the cats' stomachs - but how do I introduce cat treats to them??

Sorry for hijacking your thread (I think that is how you say it )
post #5 of 13
I've never heard of having to introduce treats, was it on an already full stomach? I don't usually give them more than three each at a time though, as otherwise that's practically a meal IMO cuz they are big pieces. Not sure if it matters, but I also give them a pause before tossing the next... usually I'll toss one up high on the cat shelves, then another to the other cat across the room, then another up high, so they have to chase after and work for it. It seems very exciting for them that way, like chasing their bouncy ball but with a tasty reward.
post #6 of 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
I've never heard of having to introduce treats, was it on an already full stomach? I don't usually give them more than three each at a time though, as otherwise that's practically a meal IMO cuz they are big pieces. Not sure if it matters, but I also give them a pause before tossing the next... usually I'll toss one up high on the cat shelves, then another to the other cat across the room, then another up high, so they have to chase after and work for it. It seems very exciting for them that way, like chasing their bouncy ball but with a tasty reward.
I'll try the treats again, this time in between feeding times and it will be a "catch the treat" game
Thank you!!
post #7 of 13
It sounds like your cat needs to have a dental done.

My Chynna had seriously raunchy breath. After her dental and several extractions, her breath didn't smell at all except for right after she ate but it went away quickly.

Your cat may have some rotting teeth causing it pain. Cat's don't show their pain until it is very advanced.

Please. Take your cat to the vet and have its mouth checked.
post #8 of 13
I would also urge you to get the cat's teeth checked. My Holland had HORRENDOUS breath from the day I adopted her. I didn't know at the time that it was unusual (I grew up with dogs). One day, I found a tooth on my carpet - long after she'd lost all her baby teeth. Long story short, she had stomatitis, severe gingivitis, and lesions and had to have ALL her teeth pulled. No teeth now, but no stinky breath either.

The bad breath is very likely indicative of a dental problem. If that's the case, the sooner you catch it, the better. Good luck!
post #9 of 13
No, never use human toothpaste on a cat.

I would definitely have a vet visit as really bad breath is a sign of other health problems or bad teeth. If you want to brush your cats' teeth you can ask your vet for a pet toothbrush and toothpaste made for cats (it's made to taste good to them and to be safe to eat.) Another option would be Petzlife or Vetzlife oral gel which you may also be able to get from your vet (or pet store), but again I'd get an exam first.
post #10 of 13
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natalie_ca View Post
It sounds like your cat needs to have a dental done.

My Chynna had seriously raunchy breath. After her dental and several extractions, her breath didn't smell at all except for right after she ate but it went away quickly.

Your cat may have some rotting teeth causing it pain. Cat's don't show their pain until it is very advanced.

Please. Take your cat to the vet and have its mouth checked.
Cat's breath is fine.

I can't stand people who always say (like it's some brilliantly astute advice) please take cat to vet. Sometimes I dont' bother even posting when that's the only response I get.

I DID change diet and diet DID have impact on cat breath. Also, my cats are <1year. They don't hve rotting teeth. PRactically all your diagnoses were completely innaccurate, irrelevant, and incorrect. I think what happened was less high quality cat food + getting some kind of cat-burp or indigestion.

The only I think I learned from this thread was that fluoride is poisionous to felines. Thanks for that bit at least.

Other than that, I think a lot of cat-owners need to stop advertising veterinarian checkouts (well I'm a bit of a doctor/med myself so maybe that's my my situation with my cats is different) as frequently. You'd think vets paid a lot of you people to post "Go see vet" to forums like this.

As to the person who posted "i don't see how diet could effect breath?" poor diet of low quality food means more odd unnatural ingredients ---> worse breath. pretty obvious. and a failure to see that correlation is decidedly disconcerting for your sake, but I don't care. I upgraded food quality and that helped considerably (in breath, and behaviour).
IN any any event. Bad kitty breath is solved.
post #11 of 13
Wow, so you come asking for advice and then turn around and complain about the advice you got? You mentioned nothing about vet visits in your OP, and FYI - my cat wasn't even two years old when she had to have all her teeth pulled due to genetic stomatitis. She was barely a baby, and YES her teeth were rotting! Her breath was horrid and the bad breath went away when the bad teeth did. If I were like you I could have just figured she's too young to have dental problems and let her live in excruciating pain for months and months on end.

Besides, you DID get the answer that you were looking for - Tom's is not OK to give to your cat. Sorry you were bothered with other people sharing their bad breath experiences...
post #12 of 13
Another thing I forgot to mention earlier (and I didn't want to drag up a dead thread) is that xylitol (a sweetener found in many toothpastes) is toxic to animals.

I would think that a "bit of a doctor/med" (?) would know that fluoride is toxic to everybody, not just cats. . .that's why the label says to call poison control if you ingest more than a pea-sized amount. . .

I would also think that a medical professional would appreciate the importance of consulting with medical professionals about health issues. Just sayin'.
post #13 of 13
Um, yea, kinda rude of you to reply like that. :/

The reason we advise to go to a vet is because vet's are professionals. In the same way you would hope someone would recommend someone to you if they were having symptoms that could potentially be something serious, we recommend seeing a vet when symptoms could mean something serious. It's not that we are getting paid (seriously?) its that we know enough to know that a vet will know better than we will.
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