Brushing your cat's teeth (video)

[Djamila]

My cat had a dental cleaning and extractions at the beginning of August, and at his vet visit this week (scarcely three months later) it turns out he's already having some tartar build up. The vet suggested I start training him to get his teeth brushed to try to slow it down.

As unlikely as that seems (that he'd let me brush his teeth), it wasn't that long ago that I swore he'd never let me stab his ear multiple times per day either. And clearly we've both adjusted to that little routine, so why not tooth brushing?

I looked up some videos on how to do it, and this one stood out. It is realistic, and it talks about not just how to do it, but also the process of getting an adult cat trained. Plus, it's hilarious. Just thought I'd share if anyone else is interested.

Also, if any of you have stories about teaching your adult cats to tolerate this, I'd love to hear your tips and tricks!

 

[Squalliesmom]

Great video! And I love Cole and Marmalade, such awesome kittehs!

I tried brushing Squallie's teeth once...only once.........

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

It's a whole lot easier to use the "natural" method of teeth cleaning....cats in the wild don't have toothbrushes, but since they eat raw meat, scrape their teeth against bone and chew through sinew, their teeth are kept in good shape.

You can use something like chicken gizzards (very fibrous so do a good job of "scraping" the teeth) or even chicken wings or turkey necks.....another option is just plain "chunks" of meat of any kind....but they have to be big enough chunks that the cat has to work and chew.....not just pick up and swallow

 

[Djamila]

@Chris & China I tried wings, necks, and gizzards, but neither of my cats would even try to chew on them. They sniffed, licked briefly, and then walked away. Do you have any ideas on how to get them started? Both cats eat raw food as part of their diet, but that’s pretty ground up already. It’s kind of like they just didn’t know what to do with it, and I’m at a loss for how to get them started.

 

[Djamila]

Well, if there's one thing I've learned around here, it's if there's a will, there's a way. I picked up some wings (they didn't have necks or gizzards) to try again. This time I took a big knife and cut them into their three parts, and loosened the meat a little, and sprinkled some fortiflora on it. I dont' know if that negates any of the positive effects, but it definitely got Sam to gnaw for a little bit. Atty is still looking at it sideways which is funny considering he's the one on 100% raw food at this point. I figured he'd be the first to give it a go. I'm going to leave it out for him for a little while and see if curiosity gets the better of him.