Dental Care for Cats
Brushing your cats’ teeth can be like…well, pulling teeth! Cats are usually very particular about personal space, and most are not big fans of having their mouths touched, especially as they age. Maintaining good oral health in cats is a consistently troubling yet important issue in overall health. For #WiseWednesday, here are five tips for potentially improving oral health in your cat.
Tip 1: Training can help
Train your cat to accept the touching of mouth and paws as early on as possible. This will also be helpful for trimming claws. You can start by just stroking the fur near these areas, and gradually move towards touching gums and paw pads. If the cat learns to feel comfortable with these actions, this can greatly reduce the stress and negativity of maintenance aspects—from your point of view as well as the cat’s. As always, never use negative reinforcement of any kind while training, and use short cat directed sessions in order to prevent any negative associations with the process.
Tip 2: Provide good nutrition
Many commercial cat foods and treats now either contain loads of carbohydrates, which convert to sugar, or even straight up sugar. This can contribute to tooth decay, and is bad for cats’ health all around. It’s a myth that dry food cleans cats’ teeth because of abrasion from crunching, since cats don’t really eat food by crunching. Stick to foods that are high in animal protein and very low in carbohydrates, feeding high quality wet food as often as possible. Providing raw (not cooked!) bones might also be helpful.
Tip 3: Provide supplements
There are cat formulated enzymatic products available that help to decrease plaque causing bacteria. Be sure to check ingredients in any supplements or treats so that you are not actually increasing sugar content. For example, if the supplement is in powder form, adding that to churu would be counterproductive due to the high sugar content in churu. Most dental treats often unfortunately contain a lot of carbohydrates. Cat grass might be a better alternative to treats. The chlorophyll in cat grass contains antiseptic properties, and the blades of grass will help to clean while rubbing against teeth and gums. It’s also rich in nutrients that your cats might not get in their regular diet. And, it provides enrichment for indoor life.
Tip 4: Try brushing
If your cat can learn to tolerate the brushing of teeth, this can be helpful. Never ever use human toothpaste, which is toxic for cats. Instead, use a cat formulated paste, preferably with enzymatic aspects. Small brushes with long handles usually work best, and if the product includes enzymes, you mostly need to apply it on teeth/gums rather than to use much agitation. There are lots of instructional videos on YouTube with tips and techniques for brushing. The important aspects are to start gradually and to make the process as least negative for the cat as possible.
Tip 5: Get yearly vet cleanings
The truth is that most cats will be uncomfortable with regular brushing, and this can impact your relationship with your cat. It’s important to weigh the risk of overly stressing your cat with your effort to provide optimum health care and longevity. All things considered, it could be most beneficial to schedule yearly dental cleanings at your vet. This will require anesthesia, which might not be recommended under certain cases. But, perhaps in combination with some or all of the above, it can be a less stressful and more valuable method for dental health management.
It’s always important to monitor cats’ health for early warning signs such as bad breath; drooling; bleeding from the mouth; pawing at the face; head shaking; reduced appetite; and/or weight loss. These symptoms can indicate a number of serious health issues, as well as dental issues, and getting your cat to the vet sooner rather than later will improve the prognosis. There are special needs cases, such as Feline gingivitis/stomatitis syndrome (FGS) or acute plaque sensitivity, for which a full mouth extraction can be the most beneficial long term option.
Take a look at more info on improving your cat’s dental hygiene at the following links: