Teeth Cleaning?

Hi, I am new to this site.  I have been reading and learning, learning all the time about Cat health and nutrition.  I am kind of on my own when it comes to nutrition, because my vet is a traditional vet when it comes to food for cats like Hills or science diet, etc., the kind of food including dry that is bad for them.  They were "grazers" and I was having a weight issue with 3 out of 6 of them.  I finally have them transitioned to 2X's daily feeding.  Dry in the morning, wet in the evening.  I want them on wet only preferably raw, haven't been able to make that happen yet, I am grateful they are on wet.  That took awhile to accomplish, they are very finicky.  They would go all wet but I haven't done it because I am concerned with their teeth so my question is:  What do you do to clean their teeth when they are on all wet?

Welcome!

Raw gizzards are a great teeth cleaning treat and cheap. My understanding about tartar in cats is the same as with humans: a dental is needed to scrape tartar away. Brushing and feeding species appropriate chewy foods like raw meat and bones will help reduce the build up of tartar.

Thanks...What if they won't eat the raw gizzards, does that call for a dental or can I use something else?   I have tried to transition to raw, with no success yet.  I did the same thing that I did when transitioning them to canned.  They snub their noses and walk away with the raw.   I thought maybe they just needed more time on canned but I will keep trying raw.  Also, how long does it take for tartar to build up?  Days, Months, Years?  And, how many gizzards to they get?  Once/day, Once/week?

Dry food does not actually do anything to help their teeth. Here's a good article written by a vet on it. http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/does-dry-food-clean-the-teeth/   So feel free to transition them to all wet because they are no more likely to develop teeth problems on wet than on dry. Here are some transition tips if you haven't seen them. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

Good teeth in cats is a matter of genetics and regular care, just like for humans. Tartar build-up can be prevented with regular brushing at home. Once it has built up on the teeth however, it only be removed with a professional dental cleaning. Whether they need a cleaning or not can be determined by your vet at their next check-up.

There is some evidence that chewing gizzards and raw meaty bones will also help keep teeth cleaner, but my personal opinion is that it doesn't beat brushing. Here's a good video on how to get your cats to accept brushing at home. http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet-owners/cat-teeth/entire-video

Thanks vball91...the video really helps.  I have read cat info before and that is what I used to get them on canned food.  I had to put a small drop in the dish then sprinkle the dry over it.  I just keep putting more and more wet and eventually they quit eating the dry and started eating the wet.  I tried that with the raw after a few weeks of eating canned, they snub it and looked at me like "what are you doing to me"  This is crap!!  I will try raw later again and again until they get it.  The parm. Cheese, flortiflora, and tuna  didn't work.  They didn't get the memo about cats liking tuna!!

I agree with vball91 -- brushing is important. That said, if you do eventually transition them and want to give them gizzards, meaty bones, meat chunks, etc., those might be a good supplement to the brushing. I know that's what I'm doing (in stages), since my cat has gingivitis. I don't replace the brushing with those things, but I add them in along with the brushing. You also might look into dental chews and dental treats as a supplement to brushing as well. I've been lax in giving them to my cat because I'm so focused on whole, raw, fresh foods, and the dental treats are still highly processed, but they still might help. Also, I have added a supplement called PlaqueOff to my cat's last meal: it's essentially a type of dried seaweed. One of the nutritionist vets (I *think* it was Dr. Becker, but I'm not positive) recommended it somewhere. I did notice some improvement when I first started using it, but then it disappeared.

My cat had her first dental last week, and the vet gave me some antiseptic cream that has made a HUGE difference. Her gums are now more pink than bright red. The vet said she had mild tartar and moderate gingivitis.

wet food, canned , it better than any dry, even the canned grocery store canned(garbage) is better than the best dry....i like, and my cats like, earthborn chicken, though expensive...so i decided to make raw...they still get the earthborn , 1 5.5oz can a day,,,and the 2 cats get raw for the remainder of the day.;when it comes to raw, my cats don,t like dark meat much(chicken)....i add turkey to the receipe from catinfo.org to add flavor sometime...i add a 1lb of fish to it occasionally ....

Thanks for all the replies,  I have read that garbage canned food is better then dry....but, boy is hard to think that way because I had them on top of the line dry-Orijen and now they are onto canned.  Garbage canned Meow Mix and I really hate feeding them that garbage...makes me cringe every time I feed them.  I Still want them on raw in the long run...baby steps, baby steps.  I am having a harder time getting them on a good canned then it was getting them to canned, they are very fussy little turds!!!  They do not like Merrick canned.  One likes Tiki cat but it is mostly fishy typed canned foods and fish is not that good for them all the time.  I will keep trying!

From a moisture standpoint, any wet food is better than dry, but I still look at ingredients. You want to avoid all grains, vegetables and fish as they are species-inappropriate ingredients that often cause issues for cats. On the less expensive end, the Fancy Feast and Friskies classic pates mostly fit that bill and are generally well-received by most cats (even finicky ones).

CatMomof6 said:

Thanks...What if they won't eat the raw gizzards, does that call for a dental or can I use something else?   I have tried to transition to raw, with no success yet.  I did the same thing that I did when transitioning them to canned.  They snub their noses and walk away with the raw.   I thought maybe they just needed more time on canned but I will keep trying raw.  Also, how long does it take for tartar to build up?  Days, Months, Years?  And, how many gizzards to they get?  Once/day, Once/week?

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You can feed about 15% of their diet as raw without supplementing it. If they don't like gizzards, try any raw meat. Just cut into thin strips and see what they do. Mine were never crazy about canned (they were fed kibble at the shelter), but they went crazy over raw.

Tartar/plaque with cats is the same as with humans. Some of us are lucky (genetics?) and some aren't.

Update:  I have been trying to get my cats switched to Fancy Feast canned instead of Meow Mix canned and no can do.  They do not  want anything to do with it.  One won't eat anything but raw chicken.  Oh wait, I have to correct myself he likes seafood canned cat food.  What is up with these cats??????  They are crazy finicky!!  I am ready to pull my hair out or start drinking.