Brushing Your Cat’s Teeth
Sitting with your beloved cat on your lap is probably one of the most soothing and enjoyable moments you can share. Trying to give that same placid cat some medicine or to clean their teeth is another matter altogether.
Cats, even the most calm and rational among them, can often overreact badly to any situations in which they lose control over what enters their mouths. Simply trying to hold your cat steady in order to gain access to their mouth can lead to some disastrous results.
This is often the reason that a cat owner will avoid many beneficial activities such as regular tooth brushing and dental care. This is unfortunate because gum and dental disease are actually a leading cause of pet death, and cats are so good at hiding pain that most owners do not realize there is some sort of problem until things have gotten well out of hand.
It isn’t really that difficult to implement a regular plan for dental care; particularly if a cat comes into the home as a kitten. Even the most difficult adult cats can be helped through the use of some inexpensive modern equipment as well.
We’ll look first at the toothbrush and the ways that it can be put to use to benefit the cat’s teeth. If you have a kitten in the house, you are going to have to acquire a toothbrush that is appropriately sized for its tiny little mouth. You will then have to decide if you will begin the process with an over the counter cat toothpaste or if you will make the brush taste a bit more savory. For instance, many owners introduce their cat to the teeth cleaning process by soaking the bristles in tuna “juice”, which might be either the oil or the water from a can of tuna.
The brush will have an interesting and appealing aroma that will make the cat want to sniff and lick it. When it is the first time the cat has seen the brush it is a good idea to just try to clean a single tooth or area of the mouth rather than struggling to tackle the entire assortment of teeth. As time passes the cat is going to look forward to the daily or twice-weekly treat, and may want to “hold” the brush too. This is a great way to have them do some of the work because their gnawing and chewing on the bristles is going to help cleanse their teeth.
If a cat is older when it begins a dental care plan the only safe alternative might be the self-administered approach, but even then most cats will eventually allow the owner to have some control of the toothbrush as well.
Allowing a cat to have rope-based chew toys is another way to keep up the condition of their teeth and gums, and strands of rope can often work in the same way as human dental floss.
