brushing mochas teeth

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PeterDevonMocha

PeterDevonMocha

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Brushing mochas teeth is turning into a real nightmare. The vet told us if we just simply hold either a toothbrush or a q tip back by her teeth, she will kind of do a gnawing motion that will clean them. Well, I'm sure that would be true if mocha would let us get near her with it. Since mocha LOVES q tips we have been using them. I will hold mocha in my arms, almost like a baby, with her belly exposed and peter stands in front of us and then tries to pry her mouth open which isn't easy. Then when she let's him pry it open just enough, we try to get the q tip back by her teeth and basically end up shoving the q tip inside her mouth because she isn't willing to just let us put it back by her teeth and let her gnaw on it, she has to move her mouth at 100 mphs where we can't control it and it normally ends up being almost jabbed down her throat instead of brushing her teeth. When we are frustrated with this, peter steps away, I put mocha up on my shoulder where she just loves to perch and she purrs like she is the happiest kitty in the world. I don't know if she is purring because it's over and she survived or if she is purring because once again, she got her way and didn't have to have her teeth brushed.

I have watched the videos and we have let mocha sniff the toothpaste and tried to get her used to it, but it just isn't working for us. Is there a better position I should be holding mocha at? Is there an easier way to open her mouth? Any tips/suggestions are appreciated. The vet told us at her dental we need to brush her teeth to help her try to keep them and it just isn't working for us!
 
PeterDevonMocha said:
I don't know if she is purring because it's over and she survived or if she is purring because once again, she got her way and didn't have to have her teeth brushed.
Click to expand...

I wish I could help, but I can't. However, I just love the sentence I quoted. Knowing cats, it's the second part of the sentence. :mrgreen:
 
What toothpaste are you using? My cat *loved* CET poultry flavored toothpaste.

I just sat on the floor in front of my cat and poked the toothpaste covered toothbrush into his open mouth and rubbed it around. Maybe sitting behind your cat and brushing the teeth from that position might work better for you and also lets you control your cat's head and keep her fom moving much.
 
yes, that is the kind of toothpaste we are using. Mocha doesn't seem to mind the flavor or taste of it. She licks all around her face when we are done (where most of it ends up!) she even licked it off the q tip before. She just really fights us on this. From behind her might be a better idea, thanks!
 
I use Q-tips dipped in the CET Oral rinse. I get in front of both of my cats at eye level. One hand on one side of the head very gently brush other side. Repeat process on other side. Did the whole process very slowly. First week was just doing the fang on each side. Lots of encouragement and treats. Worked my way back. Took about 3 weeks. That was almost 2 yrs ago. Now they'll hold their mouths open and only get one treat when they're done with the whole process. Seems a lot like the injection home testing thing. You have to be real Zen about it...if you stay calm, they will too. One of my cats has stomatitis, so it has been a blessing to be able to prevent some vet visits. (she ends up there often enough as it is!)
 
thank you k. Mocha had her upper canine teeth taken out, along with like 5 upper teeth on the right side, 2 on the upper left, and one on the bottom. This was about 4 weeks ago so I don't know if she is still tender in her mouth? She doesn't yelp like she is in pain, she wriggles around like she cant stand confinement, which is true anyways with her. I just hope we can get her used to this, so she doesn't have any more teeth problems!
 
My Sophie is the one with the messy mouth. When we first started this just touching her gums would make them bleed. I'm sure that they were really sore. I just proceeded really really really gently trying to be aware when she wanted to pull away. (I actually just treated her for letting me put the Q-tip even near her mouth the first couple of days) After bunches of antibiotics and a lot of persistance we're doing better. Now we don't have bleeding unless she flares up. Neither of mine like being confined either. They seem much more relaxed if they kind of "know" that they can leave if they want to. I also find it helps if you get them right after their morning meal when they're kind of full and sleepy and ready for some cuddles and messing with.
 
thanks k .. we have been doing this at night because that is the best time for it to work out for us, but by then she is ready for bed and the house is quiet. How often do you brush her teeth? We seem to be hitting her up about every other night, maybe every third night. It depends on the kind of day she had. If she was moody we back off, if she is loving then we try to get it done. We haven't tried giving her any treats for it yet, just lots of loving and extra kisses which she of course is loving.
 
There are a few options, most already mentioned
1. keep trying with the brush
2. use a finger tip brush instead (like a sewing thimble)
3. use CET treats (they help but not as effective)
4. use an oral rinse and use a syringe or qtip to get it on the gums

I doubt her mouth hurts this far after her surgery...

Jen
 
I try for every day for both of them...but I'm the same way. If someone is having a bad mood day I back off. The vet said better to skip a day than to make them freaked out about the brushing.
 
ok, so we have made a recheck appointment with the vet who did mochas extractions. She is going to double check and make sure everything healed up correctly, plus show us a better way to brush her teeth. When she showed us before, she showed us on a fake plastic mold of a cat's mouth. Not real hard to clean those teeth! On mocha, it's a different story!

On another note, mocha had 8 teeth extracted almost 1 month ago. She went to a board certified dentist almost 2 hours away from us. We e mailed the vet SEVERAL times, I'm sure to the point she thought we were insane cat people. The vet was great, the techs were great, but we certainly paid a pretty penny (actually A LOT of pennies!) for their services. When peter called to schedule a recheck, we couldn't believe we are going to be charged again for that! Did any other vet charge you all for a recheck of their own work?
 
no re-check fees for me or my neighbours after our cats' dental appointments. THey were only one week after though...not sure if that makes a difference?

PS: Mocha is such a cutie pie....just love her coloring!
 
thanks dana ... the vet told us on the day we left that normally she does a 1 week recheck, but because we were so far from her, we could wait a month or two and then do the recheck.

I will pass your compliments along to mocha, she just loves them! :-D
 
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