OK, my third cat has had to have massive dental work/cleaning, and I want to prevent it from happening to the others. My vet says I should start brushing my cats’ teeth. My first reaction was to laugh at the thought that they would allow such a thing, but… hey, maybe someone it able to do it and can affirm that it can, in fact, happen, and offer techniques and product recommendations.
Have you ever seen those thick leather gloves that go up to your elbows that foundry workers use? Come to think of if you should go ahead and get the matching apron and faceshield.
Oh, and toothpaste.
My thoughts exactly. My cats are mostly nice, not bitey or scratchy, but two of them are reformed barn cats, so they’re not really into being picked up. And even under the best of circumstances, who would want to have their teeth forcibly brushed by someone else? But apparently it can be done… right? Or is this just a scam to sell me cat toothpaste and a cat toothbrush?
I chose to get my kitty’s teeth scaled earlier; as sweet as Chloe is, she would never allow me to brush her teeth.
Yes, there is kitty toothpaste. Comes in flavors like “fish” and “chicken.”
Monsterkitty would purr while I brushed his teeth with the fuzzy fingercot looking thing. He liked kids (low foaming) bubblegum flavor better than the chicken flavor. Cats is weird, and he was extra weird.
My single attempt to brush Bat’s teeth resulted in blood, pain, antibiotics and scarring for me. She pouted briefly, but was otherwise unharmed by the battle.
Incerta likes it, when she’s in the mood. No bloodshed when she’s not, but I don’t push it. With her, I use the chicken flavor, because she chewed up a fuzzy fingercot trying to get every last bit of the bubblegum flavor.
I started small. I put the fish toothpaste on the brush, and then waggled it around until the cat bit it. Then I acted like I wanted it back, and we had some pushing and pulling. (My cat always does this when I use a pen – wants to play with the end of the pen and tries to bite it, so I was trying to imitate the general concept with the toothbrush.) My cat, at least, thinks the fish flavor is great, so he chews on the brush.
He’s not crazy about the actual brushing motion but he’ll put up with it for short periods of time while he attempts to lick all the fish paste off the brush.
Cat toothpaste works enzymatically, so while the brushing action is good, the toothpaste is still working simply by being in the cat’s mouth. My vet suggested that if my cat never took to brushing, I could gob up his teeth with the toothpaste and let the cat lick it off, and the cat would still get some benefit.
Who knew cats were this into bubblegum? Anybody have kitties who like real bubblegum?
My cat Lady absolutely went APESHIT over mint gum. I’d be chewing it, and she’d get up in my lap, shove her nose in my mouth and steal the damned wad for herself! She’d then attempt to chew it, but seeing as how cats don’t really have much of a chewing response, it never worked out well.
It was still damned funny to see her do it, though. 
Don’t use regular toothpaste, BTW. I tried it years ago on my recently departed Sheba, and she shook me off to sit on the floor chewing and foaming rabidly from the mouth for a minute. So she wasn’t in to that.
Crap! I forgot the nuclear reactor tongs. About the diameter of a cats neck. Shit! Now I need three hands.
Two of my cats could take it, the other two I have to force feed them hairball remedy. Not an easy operation. I would compare it cramming a salami down a mouses throat.
The vet mentioned that cat toothpaste was low foaming. Maybe kid’s toothpaste is too, which is why the bubblegum worked so well?
Some cats do like to eat weird things, often sweet. One of my cats goes crazy for fruit roll-ups. Another (the one who just had oral surgery today) loves maple syrup, which may be why he needs to have dental work… he also likes spicy Thai food, Mexican, Italian, whatever I’m eating. Maybe he’ll go for the tooth brushing too.
Next visit to PetSmart, I’ll get the stuff and try it. Could save me some bucks in the future and the cats some pain.