Just a Reminder - Check those Teeth

Since it had been over 3 months since kitty's last visit to the vet, it occurred to me that I should check his teeth. The cat eats hard food so I thought that might be good enough to keep his teeth in fairly good shape. And, I had read that you can clean a cat's teeth with just a cloth.

To my surprise, kitty's back teeth were full of plaque - yuck. I went straight to the store to get a kitty toothbrush and paste! Luckily, the cat is very agreeable when it comes to grooming matters.

Previously, the cat had been to the vet's numerous times for a regular check-up, neutering, vaccinations, to check on a lump that I found on him, and to get a health certificate for travel. I know I saw the vet look into the cat's mouth at least once...but I'm wondering if the vet really took a good look at the cat's teeth.

I thought I'd pass my story on so that if you don't check your cat's teeth all that often, and you think your vet is doing the checking (I'm sure there are plenty of vet's out there who do a fine job), you might be more vigilant in checking your purrballs teeth.

Vikki, I'm glad you posted this because all too often cat owners don't think about their cat's teeth. Although some cats can go years and years without any help from us with their teeth there's a bunch more who need some sort of dental care.

A few months back we had a beautiful Siamese come in who was only 8 years old. He was dehydrated and hadn't been eating. He was pretty much skin and bones and he was very disorientated.The doctor looked at his teeth and they were green!!

We took blood from him and it showed that he was in kidney failure. It was due to his teeth being so rotten and letting it go on for a long time. It could have been prevented if his teeth were taken care of. The next day he was put to sleep.

Remember check those teeth!!