Brushing teeth?

Does anyone brush their cats teeth? I've never done it but curious to hear of everyone else's experiences and what you specifically use ...and wondering if its worth it to try it... my previous cat only had to have his teeth cleaned once in his 11 years.

Thanks in advance all!

Yes, we do! We use CET toothpaste and one of their little toothbrushes on our two cats: they love the toothpaste so much that brushing is a treat for them. (Unfortunately, CET toothpaste is hard to find right now, though we've been buying it on Amazon. It's primarily available from vets.)

We do think brushing has helped our cats' dental issues. They're Siamese mixes--our vet says Siamese are prone to dental problems--and their mouths have improved a lot after a cleaning, treatment for the bartonella bacterium (which our vet believes can be a factor in gingivitis), and daily brushing. (Our cats had to have full cleanings at the tender age of two: their mouths got bad very fast so it's a relief that something--be it the brushing, eradicating bartonella, or both things--is helping!)

Our vet recommended a set of videos that has a method for "training" the cats on brushing. (link here!) There's also a past thread here (link!) with more ideas and links.

Good luck!

A lot of people brush their cat's teeth on TCS.   I'm just starting with Paul and Chula so will just offer some helpful threads and articles:  
[thread="278813"]Brushing Teeth  [/thread][thread="304129"]Brush Cats Teeth C E T Option  [/thread][article="0"]Brushing Your Cats Teeth  [/article][article="30206"]What Tcs Members Use Cat Dental Health Care  [/article]
You can also search youtube for videos on "brushing cat's teeth" for ideas.

BTW:  We are using C.E.T. poultry flavored toothpaste and Paul and Chula LOVE it!

 

The other day (Thursday I think) I ordered toothbrushes and toothpaste for my kitties. The CET was seriously backordered so decided to try the Drs Foster and Smith brand of enzymatic toothpaste for cats. They also had a sale going on so... yeah, took advantage of it! Once it gets here, I think I'll try with Penelopy first. Because I think she'll be the most difficult one.

I'm not sure I should brush Sara's because of her CKD (I've heard it can cause problems sometimes, but will ask the vet). And Maple has that gnarly painful looking fang up front. Not to mention she's skittish as all get-out. But want to try with the three younger ones.

Lots of threads here on TCS about brushing cat's teeth

http://www.thecatsite.com/newsearch?search=dental+care

http://www.thecatsite.com/newsearch...itleonly=0&byuser=&output=all&containingforum[]=6&replycompare=gt&numupdates=&sdate=0&newer=1&sort=relevance&order=descending&Search=SEARCH&Search=SEARCH

Here are videos of how to brush a cat's teeth:

http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet-owners/cat-teeth

http://s1255.photobucket.com/user/kelly8-69/media/VID_20150718_224856090_zpscs92np6e.mp4.html (by TCS member Angels Mommy)

You can probably find similar videos on YouTube.

I brush my Aby's teeth daily because his breed is prone to gingivitis. My DMH only tolerates toothbrushing every other day. Both cats started toothbrushing as kittens. They're 5 now and their teeth look great I use the CET poultry flavored toothpaste for my Aby and the seafood flavored one for my DMH. My Aby apparently is allergic to the seafood one (he gets bald spots on head ). Each cat has his and her own toothbrush, the mini CET cat one which is only sold as part of a kit (better picture here). I buy the toothpaste from either a independent pet store or a pet grooming place. If I need a toothbrush, I have to buy a kit from Amazon.

Brushing is best since food particles and gunk are scraped off the teeth by the action of the brush. Short of brushing, large dental chews help. The only ones I recommend are the CET ones. They're really large pices so a cat has to chew and gnaw on it to breakit up into small pieces to swallow. Feline Greenies and other similar treats are too small to do anything, IMO. Dental rinses and swabs can be used but really don't remove food particles from teeth, especially those that may be stuck between teeth. Water additives are a waste of money, IMO. A cat isn't going to drink enough water from a bowl for an additive to have an effect, especially not if the cat eats a canned food only diet and gets most of his water needs directly from the food.

Nope, never have. My csts all had great teeth and gum health, and had a lot of bones. (Cat appropriate

I know you can add special drops to their water or food if your cat is tricky to brush!

Yay, the toothbrushes and toothpaste for the kitties arrived today! The toothpaste is absolutely frozen so don't see using it until maybe later tonight. Pea-Pea is going first! She'll be soooo happy, I'm sure :lol3:

LTS3 , how long does it typically take you to brush a cat's teeth? Most videos I see are half-explanation and half actual brushing, so hard to gauge the amount of time actually spent. I am guessing not a whole lot of time (and probably less than it takes to clip their nails - hopefully anyway).

Edit: I was looking at that first "dental care" thread that came up in the search, and someone was saying the price was too much for a dental. It's about what I was quoted, but granted, the thread is 9 years old. However, hearing someone say they paid $90 for a dental made me think they were nowhere near a major city.

Hmmm I think a "slow introduction" to brushing might not work. I tried putting the toothpaste on my finger for the kitties to smell and lick, and all my cats just sniffed it and looked at me like I was crazy.

I have two cats and brush both of their sets of teeth daily. I adopted both of them as adults. One of them was 14 when I adopted him!

I never gave them any slow or gradual introduction to tooth brushing. I started cold turkey and they have done fine with it. I use malt flavored cat toothpaste and they enjoy the flavor.

My younger cat (approximately age 3) really is docile. He usually lays back in my lap with his paws limp and is very relaxed.

Crazy4Strays said:

I have two cats and brush both of their sets of teeth daily. I adopted both of them as adults. One of them was 14 when I adopted him!

I never gave them any slow or gradual introduction to tooth brushing. I started cold turkey and they have done fine with it. I use malt flavored cat toothpaste and they enjoy the flavor.

My younger cat (approximately age 3) really is docile. He usually lays back in my lap with his paws limp and is very relaxed.

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I don't see mine being docile at all :lol3: Probably closer to what it's like when they get their nails clipped. Oliver will probably run and hide. Penelopy and Oscar will probably struggle quite a bit, and they are both pretty strong!

Penelopy tonight though. Just gonna two brushings a week per cat to start (which leaves me with one day a week free, woot!). I want to talk with the vet before brushing with Sara and Maple. Sara's got a lot of issues (I've heard brushing cats with CKD can make things worse sometimes) and Maple has a bad tooth right now (not sure how bad but it's pretty gnarly). But the three younger ones I can start with.

I can't even imagine brushing Maple's teeth. She's a huge cat and impossible to hold onto.

Ok, I brushed all their teeth tonight. Penelopy wasn't so bad. Oliver was traumatized (as expected) and Oscar struggles like you wouldn't believe. I resorted to towel-wrapping for this one. I really felt like I didn't know what I was doing. I was like, where the heck are all their teeth? They are so hard to see! And getting the bottom ones was a lot harder than I expected.

Oh, and trying to open Oscar's mouth so I could see those bottom toofies... omg! He's got a REALLY strong jaw! And THAT is why I don't want a finger brush.

Donutte said:

@LTS3, how long does it typically take you to brush a cat's teeth? Most videos I see are half-explanation and half actual brushing, so hard to gauge the amount of time actually spent. I am guessing not a whole lot of time (and probably less than it takes to clip their nails - hopefully anyway).
 

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10 seconds max for each cat

One of my cats will tolerate up to 1-1 1/2 minutes of oral care per day. I suspect that he's the exception rather than the rule though. He will lay there relaxed while I wipe his teeth with a tooth wipe and brush them meticulously and thoroughly with a normal cat toothbrush. He doesn't care for the dental spray at the end as much though, but I use it as a supplement to brushing because my vet said that it's very helpful stuff.

My other cat (senior and I started brushing his teeth at age 14) is slightly less cooperative with toothbrushing, so I use a finger brush and don't try to brush his teeth as perfectly. I do use dental spray for him every day.

My vet tech claims that I just got lucky, in that I have two cats who tolerate tooth brushing easily, but my guess is that lots more cats would tolerate tooth brushing, if people tried it.

Donutte said:

Ok, I brushed all their teeth tonight. Penelopy wasn't so bad. Oliver was traumatized (as expected) and Oscar struggles like you wouldn't believe. I resorted to towel-wrapping for this one. I really felt like I didn't know what I was doing. I was like, where the heck are all their teeth? They are so hard to see! And getting the bottom ones was a lot harder than I expected.

Oh, and trying to open Oscar's mouth so I could see those bottom toofies... omg! He's got a REALLY strong jaw! And THAT is why I don't want a finger brush.

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You are amazing. Most people with 5 cats wouldn't even consider trying to brush all of their teeth. Good job!

Crazy4Strays said:

You are amazing. Most people with 5 cats wouldn't even consider trying to brush all of their teeth. Good job!

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Ha, thanks, hardly amazing though. I'm only doing the younger three right now.

I need to talk to the vet about Maple and especially Sara before doing that. Maple probably will be going in for a full dental in the not-too-distant future (with at least one extraction - at least one very gnarly tooth there). Sara has a tooth resorption plus CKD. The CKD is early so don't think that would impact it as much, but don't want to hurt her with the tooth resorption. And they collectively decided it would be best to not do a dental on her because of her multiple health issues.

Brushing 3 cats' teeth is great too. It gets easier over time! If they let you near your mouths on the first try, then you had a great first session. 

After consistently brushing their teeth over a period of time, they'll get used to it and you'll get used to it. It should get much easier with practice.

LTS3 said:

10 seconds max for each cat

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Not counting the prep work (yes, there was prep work, lol), it took about a minute per cat. I think most of that was me trying to just find all their dang teeth and pry open their little mouths.

Crazy4Strays said:

Brushing 3 cats' teeth is great too. It gets easier over time! If they let you near your mouths on the first try, then you had a great first session. 

After consistently brushing their teeth over a period of time, they'll get used to it and you'll get used to it. It should get much easier with practice.

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They were wrapped up in a towel :lol3: so they didn't have much choice in the matter. I really have forgotten though how strong young boy cats are. It's been so long since I had such young boys. I had Lucky but he was 9 when he became the man of the house (after Ali Cat died). So not so young. In fact, Lucky was probably the last boy kitten we had!

Anyway, yeah, they are quite strong. Penelopy took to it pretty well though. I was a bit afraid at first that I was hurting them sometimes when trying to get to their teeth.

LTS3 said:

10 seconds max for each cat

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Ha ha, 10-15 seconds per cat is about what I get in for actual brushing, too, though they love the toothpaste so much that I give them extra little dabs of it as a treat.

Our cats both hate the finger brush and I guess I do, too: I feel like I can get much further back in their mouths with the bristle brush and get the top and bottom teeth all in quick swipes. But our vet says a lot of people love the finger brushes.

I think it also helps to give the cats a treat of some sort (treats, a little favorite food, or some catnip) after brushing.

From what I've read, the bristle brushes produce more abrasive action to eliminate plaque than the finger brushes do. 

The bristles on a finger brush are usually soft rubber so there's not a lot of removal of food and plaque. It's gentler on a cat's teeth and gums, though.

Donutte, do the cats face away from you while you brush? Sometimes that helps. I do this with my DMH. I sit her in front of me and reach around the back of her heard with my left hand to pull back the right corner of her mouth so I can get the brush in. I reverse it to do the left side of the mouth. My Aby just stands sideways and lets me poke the toothbrush around.