do you brush your kitty's teeth?

[bluedawg]

finley had his annual checkup today. every time i'm there, i am always told that avery and finley both have really good teeth, but then she asks, "are you brushing them?" and i have to sheepishly say, "no."

does anyone have good ideas about how to go about this? do you brush your cat's teeth? do you have good/bad luck with it? what is your routine?

i know i should probably start slow and just use the naked toothbrush to brush their face/lips and slowly get them used to the idea of going into their mouths... but beyond that i'm pretty clueless.

and is there such a thing as vegan toothpaste for them? the one time i looked it was all meaty. my cats aren't vegan (yet?) but i'm just wondering about this anyway.

thanks for any help you can offer!

i know many of us are in multi-cat households and the poll kind of sucks, but please bear with me.

[quagga]

I don't think any of my cats would take to having their teeth brushed. I used to flick tartar buildup from the base of the molars and carnassials with my thumbnail (a la Anitra Frazier from her book The Natural Cat), which seemed to work okay. I stopped doing that b/c I felt that they deserved a real teeth cleaning instead of my poking around at their gumline. I'd be interested in someone else's take on this practice.

[jenzie]

I voted "Other" because I don't have a cat, but I wanted to be able to view the poll.

For what it's worth, I used to brush my all of dogs' teeth weekly. Now I brush Choco's teeth about once every three months.

[bird]

Originally Posted by jenzie I voted "Other" because I don't have a cat, but I wanted to be able to view the poll.

Just a general heads-up in case anyone didn't realize: you can click the "View Poll Results" link on the bottom righthand corner of the box with the poll questions anytime you want to see the results of a poll that you haven't voted in.

[quagga]

Originally Posted by cymraegrrl Just a general heads-up in case anyone didn't realize: you can click the "View Poll Results" link on the bottom righthand corner of the box with the poll questions anytime you want to see the results of a poll that you haven't voted in.

Yes, but what do you think about the topic? Do you think it's even possible to brush a cat's teeth? We want to know your opinion! Like, I don't live with cats, but if I did....

[jenzie]

Originally Posted by cymraegrrl Just a general heads-up in case anyone didn't realize: you can click the "View Poll Results" link on the bottom righthand corner of the box with the poll questions anytime you want to see the results of a poll that you haven't voted in.

Oooh! D'oh! Thanks, cym!

[lex_talionis]

We, and by that I mean, "My wife", brush the cats teeth regularly, but not frequently. WE currently have 16, and I believe she brushes one group of four daily. But four of them are very plaque prone, and they get an extra spot in the rotation. So where P = the plaquey group, and the others are A,B, and C, the schedule goes P, A, P, B, P, C, P, A...

ETA: I am supposed to brush the dog's teeth and do so infrequently, but have resolved to do it daily.

AETA: I don't know about the vegan status of the toothpaste. I will check.

FETA: Enzadent toothpaste, Malt flavor -
Malt Flavor: Triple Enzyme System contains Glucose Oxidase, Lactoperoxidase, Lysozyme and Lactoferrin. Also contains: Sorbitol Hydrated Silica, Calcium Pyrophosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Purified Water, Flavor, Gycerin, Pectin, Calcium Lactate, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Thiocyanate, Zinc Gluconate, Tocopheryl Acetate.

I think Lactoferrin is from cow's milk.