How to care for kitty teeth?

[frankiesinatra]

Hi there, 

Growing up, none of the family cats really had any specific tooth care and one elderly cat had to get almost all his teeth removed eventually, and another one has really nasty breath and his teeth look awful. I don't really have any experience with specific care related to feline dentation...is there any??

My two young boys have nice teeth an I'd love to keep them that way for as long as possible. What do you guys do to keep your cats' teeth healthy?

 

[donutte]

Same here! I'm trying to be as good about home care as much as possible now, wasn't very good about it before. Don't have a clue about dental care though.

 

[sivyaleah]

I just went through 3 bouts of dental work for 2 cats costing well over $2500 in total.

Until I came to this site I had no idea that tooth decay was so prevalent in cats (and dogs).  I'd imagine this would explain a lot of very unhappy kitties that people have lived with through the years.  They may be good at hiding pain but that doesn't mean they aren't experiencing it.

Both of mine are adults - one is a senior.  We adopted them when fully grown and their dental woes were already in progress, unbeknownst to us until it became critical.  

Starting from kittenhood by brushing teeth is the best way to ward off future problems.  If you can do this for your adult cats, it will have an impact on their health for the better also but most cats I know won't tolerate this if they haven't grown up having a toothbrush on them LOL.  

There are various medications, rinses and treats which can help but they are best used after a cleaning as they won't repair damage already done.  Once I'm home tonight I can post exactly what we are using.  One is a rinse - I think it's about 1 tablespoon mixed into a quart of liquid and you give this in the water bowl.  Pretty sure it's flouride.  The other, is a pill which we couldn't get them to eat but, it can be opened (it's a gel inside) and either applied directly to the cats gums (it gets into the blood system faster this way) but my cats won't allow this either so I put it on their paw and they lick it off.  Last, there are various treats which claim to help dental health but I'm not so sure about those. Perhaps someone else may be able to chime in if it worked or not.

Keeping an eye on their gums so you know the difference between healthy and unhealthy is important but keep in mind some cats have dark colored gums.  Our Tortie is one, her gums are mostly brown colored so we had no idea they were inflamed until the vet showed us.  

FYI, there are signs that they are having dental discomfort.  If they are drooling, pawing at their faces/mouth area, refusing kibble if you feed it - all can be tell tale that something is amiss.  It's important to mention this to your vet on a wellness exam or bring them in if it is concerning you between visits.  A lot of people let this slide.  Please don't.  It is ridiculously expensive to have a dental done let alone if teeth need to be pulled.  Plus, who wants to put their pet through anesthesia and all that?  Costs of each were $850 for the first one (2 teeth pulled); about the same for the second procedure on same cat (another 2 down) and now, our other cat had 6 teeth pulled yesterday which was over $1000.  

Having pets can be costly and it's your duty to ensure they get the best medical care possible!

 

[frankiesinatra]

@sivyaleah  Thanks so much for that-- yeah both my kitties are adults, so I don't know how much they'll accept tooth brushing though I'd be willing to try conditioning them to it! 

I want them to have healthy mouths but I realized the other day I'm absolutely ignorant to what you can do to help them stay healthy. I'd definitely be interested in the rinses.