I have something very serious to discuss with you today — feline dental health! As most of you know, February is Pet Dental Health Month, and I bet a few of you out there are a bit lax about making sure your kitties’ teeth are in good shape! Maybe even more than a few of you. But the truth is that the healthier your cats’ teeth and gums are, the healthier they will be overall. The inflammation caused by poor dental health can lead to kidney, heart or liver disease. That’s true for both kitties and humans!
Because we cats can’t perform our own dental routines, it is up to you humans to help. Ideally you should check our gums every couple of weeks, if not more frequently. Check for gum redness (inflammation) around the teeth, see if there are any sores on the gums, and check for tartar on the teeth. Also check your cat’s breath. Admittedly, we don’t have the sweetest breath in the world, but if it gets worse than normal cat breath, there could be something going on in there. And when you check, you should pull our lips back all the way so you can see our molars, not just the fangs, like my human is doing here. Although I am very cooperative, she had trouble doing it and taking the photo at the same time.
You should also brush your cat’s teeth. Most vets recommend this be done at least twice a week, and if you and your cat can handle it, daily. Cat toothbrushes often come as a set with toothpaste at the pet store — or you can use a human baby toothbrush. You can also use a piece of gauze wrapped around your finger — but if you try that, be careful you don’t accidentally get bit! When it comes to toothpaste, only ever use toothpaste specifically for cats. Human toothpaste can be toxic for kitties. Besides, cat toothpaste comes in better flavors than human toothpaste, like poultry or beef.
I think teeth brushing time is treat time! Actually, we kitties are not supposed to lick the toothpaste off the brush. We are supposed to let our humans brush our teeth with it. The small size of the toothbrush helps humans reach to those important back molars, and also get those tiny little teeth in front.
I admit, not every cat is like me and will accept toothbrushing easily! But if you persist and make it a routine, many cats will surprise you and allow you to do it eventually. It’s best if you start your cat on a dental routine from kittenhood, but anytime is a good time to start. There are other dental health enhancers you can use too, like additives to drinking water, dental treats, or buying chunks of raw meat or chicken hearts for your cats to chew on (I love the latter, and the fact that it exercises my gums and helps keep my teeth clean is a plus). But none of these replace tooth brushing, just the same way, chewing on apples and using mouthwash doesn’t replace tooth brushing for humans!
I hope you humans take my words to heart and pay closer attention to your cats’ dental health! It will save you money in the long run, because a cat with a healthy mouth won’t need as many teeth cleaning procedures at the vet, and will be healthier overall.
We like dental treats. We would run from a brush!
We agree that dental health is important.
Mum is trying to get us used to the idea 😉
Purrs Georgia and Julie,
Treasure and JJ
Mum check our mouth regularly. She doesn’t brush our teeth, but we use dental treats. Purrs
mom is fairly certain none of us would put up with a toothbrush….
We haven’t ever had our teeth cleaned with a brush – Mum would never be allowed in our mouths without us giving her the bitey first.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
excellent information.
Oh, dental stuff – we’re not a big fan of it. Mom really agrees that this should be started in kitten hood if at all possible.
We use dental treats but that’s about it, unfortunately. I’ve never brushed a cat’s teeth because I’ve never had a kitty as cooperative as you!
You can also use a finger toothbrush, much easier than the kind with a long handle. Despite brushing just about every day BB had most of his teeth pulled anyway. He just had bad teeth…
Summer you for sure have a million dollar smile now we know why.
Hugs madi your bfff
Great info, Summer! A great reminder to us to be more diligent about our dental health!!
Summer, you are very co-operative with that tooth brush! We use dental treats 🙂
the critters in the cottage xo
Great post Summer. I noticed Binga didn’t want to be near this photo shoot.
Dental health shouldn’t be ignored, just ask my Sister Zoe! Great post pretty Summer!
Great tips Summer!My grandmas cat suffers from tooth resorption,but there is no way she would let you brush her teeth,xx Speedy
Oh Summer how incredible you are. As much as dental health is very important, it’s going to be risking the human’s fingers if they try to brush our teefs.
Summer that was a super shout out for more dental care.
Simon needs a dentist – he has bad breath!! As soon as mom’s pocketbook allows it he’s going to have his teeth done!!
Look at that pink nose in the picture where pretty Summer is licking the pink toothbrush! They say that a cat with a pink nose, is a healthy cat!
Heh heh, TW wouldn’t DREAM of pushing my lips back OR brushing my teeth. She gets to see my gums when my teeth are dug into her leg. I do get dental treats but when TW tried the stuff in my water, I refused to drink water. Only recently I started occasionally drinking from the fountain.
I have had my teeth cleaned ever since I got my adult teeth. My mum uses an old head from an electric toothbrush and started doing it when I was losing my baby teeth. She used to tell me and Eric we looked like little sharks with 2 rows of teeth.
Thanks for this impawtant post, Summer. The mom has tried to brush our teef with no success. We do get dental treats and the mom makes sure the vet checks out our teefs whenever we are there.
Does your human brush Binga’s and Boodie’s teeth too?
Mommy doesn’t brush our teeth… let’s just say it doesn’t go well. But the vet said our teeth look good!
This is excellent information. Thank you so much for your research and insight into feline oral care. Awesome and educational. Purrs
Alas, we must admit… we do not brush regularly. Glogirly says that needs to change though. She keeps telling us the chicken flavored toothpaste will be tasty. The big question is, how does she know that???
…one thing we’ve heard though is that raw and whole food feeding is good for our teeth.
We agree with Glogirly on raw and whole foods. And we WHOLEHEARTEDLY endorse good dental health! You know how we’ve been battling it – for yeas.
We’re trying something new, adding it on to our existing routine. It’s called Perio, and it’s a sprinkle-on additive to food. It’s be Vetri-Sicence and is supposed to help keep the tartar from building up as plaque. Of course, since Maxie’s gums are so inflamed from the stomatitis, brushing would actually aggravate that. But he is the VERY rare exception.
We’d hope that every kitty would get used to having teeth brushed!
No tortie photo-bombs ?
Minchie is going to the vet on Monday to be checked out to be sure he’s okay for his dental cleaning on March 8. Mom is already freaking out because he’s never been “under” and he’s going on 12.
Meowmy *used* to be purrty religious about getting out teeth brushed…now she has gotten rather lax about it…even with dog-guy…but sometimes is better than no times, MOL!
I do like to get my toothies brushed , it´s just that my human is a bit hopeless on remembering it 🙂
Thay have bought a tooth brush and tooth paste to Conrad too and our mom-person say´s that it´s much easier to brush mine 😀
XOXO
I brush Thunder’s teeth every day, and unfortunately he still had to get 6 teeth removed last year. The vet says that some cats just have bad teeth. I like to think it would have been much worse if I hadn’t been brushing his teeth. He doesn’t really like it, but he doesn’t fight it, either. He is just such a good-natured little guy.