With February as National Pet Dental Health Month, many cat families are gearing up to brush their cat's teeth. Some cats do handle this well - especially if you use a small toothbrush or a gauze with poultry, seafood or beef flavored pet toothpaste. Other cats are less than thrilled.
How can cat owners deal with toothy issues with their cats? Tom Rothwell, DVM of the Paris Hill Cat Hospital has some tips.
"We start right off by showing people their cat's mouths and how to check and care for them by demonstration and education in our office visits, " says Dr. Rothwell. "Many people have never actually looked in their cat's mouth." With studies showing 75 to 80 percent of all pet cats and dogs having some dental changes by the age of three years, Cats do need attention to their teeth.
Dr. Rothwell does concede that many cats don't handle toothbrushing well. "We encourage people to try the CET dental chews for cats. The Hills diet for tartar control is also good, but it is very calorie dense. To keep cats from becoming obese, we suggest pet owners give their cat one or two pieces of the tartar control diet daily. The crunching will help and cats like the flavor so it can be used as a treat." The clinic has free samples of the chews and diet available for families to try.
Still, many cats need a veterinary dental cleaning at four or five years of age, with that repeated at nine to ten years of age. Doing as much dental care as you can in between will reduce the need for the full dentals and help prevent tooth loss.
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