Alternatives to brushing teeth

Hi, I have a 11 month old male kitten, Elvis and I've just had him for a bit over 2 months after I adopted him from the shelter. Starting from last week, I started to brush his teeth and find it's quite difficult to effectively brush his inner teeth from the side because he tends to feel bothered and move away. What do you guys usually do for your cat's dental health?

As a temporary solution, because he chews on the toothbrush, I just let him chew into the bristles so they can abrade the teeth and hopefully brush away leftover food.

If you've gotten that far, good job. I've heard you don't need to brush the inside of the teeth if that's what you mean. Their tongues do a good job of that. You just need to get the outside of the teeth where their tongues can't reach. Does that make sense?

My vet taught me about gauze pads! They really, really work and are gentle yet effective. Those little square pads have just enough abrasion to them when you apply pressure to help clean the teeth. A gentle rub on the outside of the teeth. I am bad though.... I don't clean my kitties teeth on a regular basis.

OK, I haven't tried this myself. But someone on my dog forum (who works at a vet's office) says that they regularly sell Hills Prescription T/D to their clients for use as a "treat". She says that feeding just 3-4 pieces every day really makes a difference. Now, obviously, I wouldn't recommend feeding it as a regular diet, but 3-4 pieces a day seems unobjectionable (unless the cat is particularly sensitive), and it would be nice if it's as effective as she says it is. Maybe worth a try :dk:.

I've always figured that chewing on the toothbrush is good enough :lol3:.

Thanks for your replies everyone! I'm going to look into all of the options.

Welcome to TCS!

Just wanted to add this link -

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/what-tcs-members-use-cat-dental-health-care

It's based on a thread we had on the subject last month.