Does anyone ACTUALLY brush their cat's teeth?

[JoZ]

Just back from a vet appointment with my little foundling kitten. Considering her origins, I’m not surprised that she is not of perfect genetic stock. She has a slight heart murmur, and apparently bad teeth. Actually it’s not her teeth, it’s her little gums which are visibly inflamed. I’m not used to worrying about cat dental issues until they are older, and will admit I have never done anything to treat or prevent problems. I’ve been pretty lucky until now.

This kitten is a bit of a hellion when it comes to things like clipping her claws. I can’t imagine easily handling her teeth, but I will try. Would like to hear what, if anything, you folks do for cat dental care. I figured I would start by rubbing her gums with a gauze pad. Is there a real advantage to adding some sort of toothpaste or other product? Does anyone use T/D cat food, either as a regular food or as a treat? Any other ideas?

[Coyoteco]

As has been discussed in other threads, lysine is a great supplement for cats/kittens with herpes virus. The gums sound like herpes virus to me and I’d add lysine. You may also ask your vet about vaccinating the kitten for herpes.

[jen-s]

I’d use toothpaste specific to cats. Many human versions have artificial sweeteners and those are very toxic to cats!

[JoZ]

[QUOTE=Coyoteco;7419129]
As has been discussed in other threads, lysine is a great supplement for cats/kittens with herpes virus. The gums sound like herpes virus to me and I’d add lysine. You may also ask your vet about vaccinating the kitten for herpes.[/QUOTE]

Ah, good info. I’m surprised my vet didn’t mention that. I’m all over the lysine for my older cat with upper respiratory symptoms, but did not know that herpes would have anything to do with the inflamed gums.

@jen-s;7419140

I’d use toothpaste specific to cats. Many human versions have artificial sweeteners and those are very toxic to cats!

Yikes, I meant cat toothpaste! I never would’ve considered using a human product! I just wondered about the advantages over a dry gauze pad.

[Jhein12]

I don’t need to. Prey model raw feeding over here- the raw bones they crunch on keep their teeth nice. But if I was going to brush, I would use the gel made by Petzlife. It gets wonderful reviews.

[BigHorseLittleHorse]

One of my cats has congenitally bad teeth. When I got him at age 1.5, he had horrible plaque and gingivitis. I brush his teeth every night using a gauze pad and Enzadent toothpaste. He loves the taste of the toothpaste so much, he gets all excited when I get it out, and he’ll lick it right out of the tube.

My vet says it’s the combination of the enzymatic toothpaste and the friction on the teeth/gums that is what helps. He also said you don’t have to brush very long or hard – just a few rubs back and forth on each side and across the front, to break up the plaque. He did say doing it every day is best.

[ASBJumper]

[QUOTE=JoZ;7419018]
Just back from a vet appointment with my little foundling kitten. Considering her origins, I’m not surprised that she is not of perfect genetic stock. She has a slight heart murmur, and apparently bad teeth. Actually it’s not her teeth, it’s her little gums which are visibly inflamed. I’m not used to worrying about cat dental issues until they are older, and will admit I have never done anything to treat or prevent problems. I’ve been pretty lucky until now.

This kitten is a bit of a hellion when it comes to things like clipping her claws. I can’t imagine easily handling her teeth, but I will try. Would like to hear what, if anything, you folks do for cat dental care. I figured I would start by rubbing her gums with a gauze pad. Is there a real advantage to adding some sort of toothpaste or other product? Does anyone use T/D cat food, either as a regular food or as a treat? Any other ideas?[/QUOTE]

Yes, I brush my cat’s teeth, with a small, kid-size tooth brush and cat toothpaste i got from the vet. I’ve taught my cats to tolerate whatever I throw at them, that includes bathing (when i’ve very occasionally had to do it), teeth brushing, nail clipping.

I also feed them raw meat/bones to supplement their grain-free wet food, that helps too - but my one cat has chronically bad teeth, despite him going to town on bones and meat on a daily basis.

If you need to, wrap kitty in a towel and gently get her used to brushing. She will never like it, but she will learn it won’t kill her.

[Puglet]

My British Shorthair loves pet toothpaste! I put some of the toothpaste on a child toothbrush and he chews it all on his own. He’s kind of a pig though.

My other cat tolerated the brushing, but I had to stop due to his gums bleeding. He has some stomatitis, which is a whole other dental issue.

[JoZ]

THAT is the word the vet used. Stomatitis. It went in one ear and out the other. But I recognized it when I saw it in Puglet’s post. I have now googled it, and looked at images, and I am scared and worried. I don’t know why my vet made that assumption, unless it is common with feral cats. She commended me for the kitten’s health and care, so I didn’t get the sense that she is being treated as an invalid of any sort.

Puglet, if you have more info on stomatitis having lived with a cat that has it, would you please share it? Either here or in PM? I would greatly appreciate it. Mostly I would like to know how it was diagnosed, and what other symptoms your kitty has. Thank you.

[Coyoteco]

stomatitis is the symptom. It just means inflammation of the stoma. You have to find the underlying cause to treat it. My first guess is herpes virus as I mentioned above. It could be a different virus, of course. http://www.felinewellness.com/?articles=feline-stomatitis

[Blondie22]

I feed T/D food and my middle aged cat is obsessed with it. He LOVES it and it’s lower calories than the Wellness I was feeding before. This is important for his little middle aged swinging belly. He’s been on it for almost a year and the one tooth that the vet was concerned about looks a lot better.

He recommend that I brush kitty’s teeth. Knowing that he had 2 cats personally, I asked if he brushed their teeth. The answer was no

[VaqueroToro]

I haven’t ever “officially” brushed either cat’s teeth. One cat won’t even let me near her mouth without prying my hand away with her paw. The other cat will allow me to put a finger under and around his lips, so I occasionally “brush” his teeth with my fingertip.

Of course usually when he lets me do this, he’s half unconscious on my lap, and if I got up to get the cat toothbrush and paste (which I have, but yet to use), the moment would be gone never to return until the next time he’s half unconscious.

So, he gets brushed by the roughness of fingerprint.

[stargzng386]

kinda sorta. our cat has red gums too and at less than 2 years old had to have them professionally cleaned and one removed. Since the cleaning her gums are much less irritated. Our vet just said it’s bad genetics. He told us to use a q-tip with a chicken pet flavored toothpaste. She doesn’t love it but we are able to get a little done each day.

[Shiaway]

I brush my two cats’ teeth every night. They are wedge head siamese and thus prone to teeth issues. Mostly it’s gingevites and one of them has FORLs. They’ve been on raw but it didn’t make any difference for them. Then again, it was the ground up kind because they won’t touch whole stuff. I tried to give them a small piece of chicken neck once and they licked it around for a while sigh.

Here is the toothbrush and paste I use. Only brush that will fit in their little mouths:

http://www.amazon.com/CET-Toothbrush-12gm-Poultry-Toothpaste/dp/B007GB9WKK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1392327468&sr=8-6&keywords=CET+cat+toothpaste

[Jhein12]

[QUOTE=Shiaway;7429677]
I brush my two cats’ teeth every night. They are wedge head siamese and thus prone to teeth issues. Mostly it’s gingevites and one of them has FORLs. They’ve been on raw but it didn’t make any difference for them. Then again, it was the ground up kind because they won’t touch whole stuff. I tried to give them a small piece of chicken neck once and they licked it around for a while sigh.

Here is the toothbrush and paste I use. Only brush that will fit in their little mouths:

http://www.amazon.com/CET-Toothbrush-12gm-Poultry-Toothpaste/dp/B007GB9WKK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1392327468&sr=8-6&keywords=CET+cat+toothpaste[/QUOTE]

Here is some advice on getting them to eat a chicken neck (or anything else that is new to them):
Smear it with something they absolutely love- butter, cream cheese, that toothpaste if they really like it
Crumble treats or cheese they like on it
Put tuna fish juice on it

These are things I did when transitioning my cats to a prey model raw diet, and they worked. Once I got them eating the meat with the goodies on it I just weaned them off of the goodies. Even if you are doing kibble or canned food now you can still offer chicken necks for recreational chewing. On the plus side they are very cheap.

[shayaalliard]

I miss my dear departed muffin. He brushed his own teeth. Every night I called him in, he grabbed his toothbrush and chewed on it for a couple minutes then took a drink from his dixie cup.

Current cats are not impressed. We are trying prodent powder, which was recommended to me on a poodle forum.