Did you know that 85% of home-bound cats have dental disease? Since bacteria from diseased gums and teeth can enter our bloodstream and give us bodily infections, it is important to employ regular dental care by cleaning our teeth. As a side effect, we will have shiny white teeth and fresher breath. At the Catnabbit! house, we use the Petrodex Dental Kit for Cats because human toothpastes are not good for cats. It comes with a tube of delicious toothpaste, a toothbrush (for cats) and a rubber thimble (for kittens).
On your first day, just try tasting the toothpaste. Put the thimble on your human’s finger, then put a little of the toothpaste on the thimble. Eat the toothpaste and savor it!
For the second day, start again with the thimble and toothpaste, but instead of simply eating the toothpaste, wipe your teeth and gums in a circular motion against the thimble to massage the toothpaste into your front teeth and gums. It might be too uncomfortable to have a human finger or thimble on your back teeth today, but you’re just starting out. The front teeth are the most important, so just keep up with that for now.
One day when you are ready to move on, you can start putting the toothpaste on the toothbrush. You’ll do the same thing with the toothbrush that you did with the thimble. Rub the toothpaste with a circular motion against your teeth and gums.
If you begin to feel more comfortable with that, then you might be ready to start brushing your back teeth. Gently work your way back, starting at the front making small circles against the toothbrush. You don’t have to do the entire mouth in one day, but the more the better. Remember, you only have to do as much as you are comfortable with.
Some cats simply cant stand having a finger or toothbrush in their mouths. If you’re one of those, then you might be better off with an enzymatic toothpaste that you can just eat and it will clean your teeth. These are not as good at cleaning the gums as brushing your teeth, so it is more important to try to brush your teeth whenever you can. Dental treats and other dental foods are great for times in between brushings. Try to aim for brushing your teeth 2-3 times a week, or more frequently if you can stand it.
Even if you brush your teeth every day, there will still be some buildup over time and you will eventually need to visit your veterinarian for a dental cleaning. Your human goes to the dentist every 6 months for the same thing, even though he brushes three times a day! Unlike your human, you get to be under general anesthesia during the cleaning. That means you won’t feel a thing while the veterinarian does his work! We cats have it really great.