Have you had your cat's teeth cleaned?

[Canadianbonnie]

Hi everyone:

I am a new member seeking advice for my 5-year-old tabby Leo. We visit the vet once a year for shots. Last year the vet said Leo should have his teeth cleaned due to tartar and plaque build-up, which would require him to go under anaesthesia. Leo is a cat who really doesn't like to be out of the house, never mind at the vet's!!!

Does anyone have any experience having their cat's teeth cleaned by the vet; is it absolutely necessary in your experience?

Opinions and suggestions are very welcome!

[Violet]

I am a new member seeking advice for my 5-year-old tabby Leo. We visit the vet once a year for shots. Last year the vet said Leo should have his teeth cleaned due to tartar and plaque build-up, which would require him to go under anaesthesia. Leo is a cat who really doesn't like to be out of the house, never mind at the vet's!!!

Does anyone have any experience having their cat's teeth cleaned by the vet; is it absolutely necessary in your experience?

Opinions and suggestions are very welcome!

Hi Canadianbonnie!

Are you still here, reading messages? I hope you are because I would like to reassure you that a professional cleaning is all right, safe, and every so often very necessary to prevent bigger problems down the road. Our boy just had his teeth cleaned yesterday. One of the girls had a cleaning earlier this year, and we are planning a cleaning for another girl for sometime early next year.

By doing the kind of cleaning only your vet can do you not only prevent tooth loss and serious gum disease, but also bacteria getting into the bloodstream and reaching vital organs (kidneys, liver and heart) and causing disease and damage there.

If you have any questions for me go ahead and ask, I'd be to happy to tell you anything you would find helpful and reassuring.

Purrs,

Violet

[samaria]

Dental health is every bit as important to cats as it is to humans. A regular program of teeth cleaning will ensure your cat will enjoy his senior years with all his teeth intact.
You might want to experiment with flavored toothpaste for cats. There is a fish-flavored one that is quite tasty.
If you start practicing examining your cats teeth at a very young age, this process will be much easier. See 'How To Gentle a Kitten' for suggestions.
Bleeding of the gums is a sign your cat needs professional dental scaling by your veterinarian, so attend to that as soon as possible.

[asindera]

I haven't really had the vet do the dental cleaning for my cat. I try to do it myself to avoid getting her stressed out by the vet.

[LeonilCraig]

The best would be to brush your pet's teeth everyday. A lot of cats will actually allow this if you train them slowly with a flavored pet toothpaste. Cleaning will keep the teeth healthy.

[Enzo]

My cat will not let me get close to her mouth so I feed her a Veterinary Dental Diet. I also give her CET cat dental chews as treats. I adopted Bella when she was around 1 year old. When I took her in for her first check up the Veterinarian said she had very mild tartar and graded her dental score as 1 ranging from 0-4. She was at the stage where it was reversible without requiring a Dental so she recommended the food to me. At her annual this year the Vet was impressed with the condition of her teeth and said she didn't require any dental work. I think very highly of this food and she loves it! I would check with your Vet to see if a dental diet would be appropriate for your little one. Most Veterinary diets are guaranteed so if you have a finicky eater, you can likely exchange it for a different brand of dental food, or get a refund. Your clinic may even have little sample baggies.
I agree with everything Violet and Samaria wrote. Also, if you do decide to start brushing your cat's teeth start out slow. You do not want to rush in there and try to start brushing right away. You can purchase flavour toothpaste at your Veterinary Hospital. There are a range of different flavours and if you are lucky, they may even have a small sample tube to give you to try out. Some Veterinary clinics here will offer free consults with their technicians who will show you step by step on how to build up to brushing your cat’s teeth. If they do not offer that, they may have some literature on it that they can give you. Here is a handy dandy site that shows the step by step process: https://www.veritasdvm.com/veritas/c...eeth/index.htm
click the “4 week training program” on the left hand side. Hope this helps. :)

[Tobi]

Thanks for this, Enzo. I would not have the faintest clue how to set about cleaning a cat's teeth! Dogs don't much like "having things done to them" (including teeth cleaning...my dog used to look very sad when I said "Let's clean your teeth" However she would sit still when I did it.) -But cats are even worse. The cat I look after doesn't even like me drying her off with a towel when she's been in the rain! and backs away from it.
What is it with cats? They can squeeze themselves backwards through the smallest gaps, and they seem to be made of rubber!