Thread: teething and tooth brushing

I brush Finn's teeth most days - his gums are often a bit red ... Marco and Tess don't seem to have any problems with theirs. Archie & Lily have slightly red gums as, like Ginger, they are both teething. so I usually brush their teeth every other day. I started off using my finger whicih worked out OK, but wasn't really abrasive enough, so tried the toothbrush ... more toothpaste got stuck at the bottom of the brush than went on their teeth! A sort of stippled lightweight rubber finger 'thimble' came with the toothpaste as well as the brush, this is much much better and stimulates the gums whilst brushing - and more importantly they don't seem to mind it anywhere near as much as the brush! Very good idea to get her used to it whilst she's young - she may even come to enjoy it!!

Originally Posted by Puzzles

I brush Finn's teeth most days - his gums are often a bit red ... Marco and Tess don't seem to have any problems with theirs. Archie & Lily have slightly red gums as, like Ginger, they are both teething. so I usually brush their teeth every other day. I started off using my finger whicih worked out OK, but wasn't really abrasive enough, so tried the toothbrush ... more toothpaste got stuck at the bottom of the brush than went on their teeth! A sort of stippled lightweight rubber finger 'thimble' came with the toothpaste as well as the brush, this is much much better and stimulates the gums whilst brushing - and more importantly they don't seem to mind it anywhere near as much as the brush! Very good idea to get her used to it whilst she's young - she may even come to enjoy it!!

Puzzles, Thanks for the tip! I will shop for cat tooth paste, I was hoping that it would take care of itself. The teeth not the cat! Anyways Miss Ginger lets me rub her gums with my finger so it may work out fine! I was checking out the chews for teeth cleaning on amazon, but they are kind of expensive. My vet gave her one at her last visit, I should check with her. The vet also had tooth wipes but those are prescription only.

Ginger is going to be the most civilized Monster Cat in history! Manucured, potty trained and fresh breath!

I dont know about the fresh bresh, currently it smells like something crawled in there and died! yikes, stinky kitty

Buzz and Baxter aren't really into grooming but they can turn on the bath and sink faucets for paw washing. Thankfully they have not succeeded in flushing the potty yet. Their paws still slip off the lever at the last second. Perhaps Ginger will master the flush and hand washing to complete her potty training.

Originally Posted by KimAZ

Buzz and Baxter aren't really into grooming but they can turn on the bath and sink faucets for paw washing. Thankfully they have not succeeded in flushing the potty yet. Their paws still slip off the lever at the last second. Perhaps Ginger will master the flush and hand washing to complete her potty training.

KimAZ,
Hi, I have seen videos of people teaching their cats to flush and the cats like flushing so much they do it all the time! I am afraid my little monster would love to flush the toilet. She is a little devil. She spends the entire day getting into mischief. On a side note, she is doing well on her potty training and she is going to get a new set of soft nails applied because she loves to climb up my legs onto my lap, my gasping in pain does not deter her from using her nails! soft kitty, has claws!

I don't know if you've found anything that works for you yet, but here's what I'm using:
Virbac Toothpaste Kit Cats Fish Flavour: Amazon.co.uk: Garden & Outdoors
It looks like this is its counterpart in the UK
Amazon.com: CET Toothbrush for Cats: Pet Supplies

My cat hates people dealing with his mouth, but he tolerates me brushing his teeth if I do it within a small window of time and respect him when he's definitely DONE. We both got the hang of it in about two weeks. The instructions are helpful. Oliver's reaction to the flavor seems to be neutral, although according to the reviews a lot of cats like the taste. The finger brush seemed awkward and I think his gums were too sensitive for it, so we quickly switched to using the small brush, with much more success. There's also quite a bit of toothpaste in the tube, so it should last ages.

I've been brushing his teeth at approximately the same time every evening, when he's a bit on the sleepy side. I always let him smell the brush first so he knows what's going on. Learning how to hold the head is a bit tricky, but with practice it should get much easier. I always rattle his treat jar as soon as I'm done and then reward him.

Since he likes things that are small and plastic, he's taken the brush and God only knows where he's hidden it. We've switched to a baby "milk-teeth" brush which works alright, but the smaller one that came with the pack was easier for his back teeth.

It's a hassle at first, but in the short term his breath is much better; if I neglect it for a couple of days I notice the difference right away. In the long term, it avoids a lot of problems. My friend has just had to extract eight teeth out of her two year old Burmese's little mouth.

Good luck!

yeah - my other baby (Charlotte RIP) - had lots of teeth problems! she ended up at 15 with just her front teeth, though it didn't really stop her.... I wish I had brushed her teeth from a young age!

I bought the CET dental treats and she seems to like them. She plays with them a bit and then finally eats them, that is id the Beagles don't get them first. I usually wait until they are sleeping cause they are very tricky!