Brushing pet teeth

[Deleted]

I am probably insane for feeling the need to do this, but I've been trying to train my cat to let me brush his teeth. I can wrap a piece of gauze around my finger and put some enzymatic pet toothpaste on it and he's fine with me "brushing" his fangs, but I'm having a tough time getting to his back molars which are, of course, the ones that need it.

He's in love with the taste of the toothpaste and if I let him he would gladly lick it off my finger all day. I've been petting him and just casually playing with pulling his gums up to get him used to the touching and he shakes his head but doesnt' run away. I just feel like we haven't made even the slightest progress on the brushing in almost two weeks now.

Has anyone ever tried to train their cat to accept this? Any tips for getting over that final back tooth hurdle?

[niemand88f]

You're definitely not insane for wanting to brush your cat's teeth! It is actually very important, so keep it up

With my cats I tried to get them used to it gradually but they never became happy with having their back teeth brushed. So I use a cat toothbrush for one cat and a Q-Tip for the less cooperative cat. FI holds the cat and I brush their front teeth, then either I just stick the brush/qtip back between their teeth and gums and brush as best I can, or sometimes I'm able to pull up their lip so I can see what I'm doing while I brush back there.

[mrssavy42112]

I started brushing my cat’s teeth when they were young so that they’d get used to it also. Didn’t exactly work. I just usually wrap them in a blanket & make the cat burrito that I usually do when I need to administer medication. Then they can’t move & are stuck. I actually find that the tiny toothbrush that comes with it works better for me to reach in the back because I don’t need to get their mouth as wide open. It can be barely open & I can reach in there. So you may need to experiment with different options to find what works best for you.

[Deleted]

Jul 16, 2012 13:50:56 GMT -5 niemand88f said:

You're definitely not insane for wanting to brush your cat's teeth! It is actually very important, so keep it up

With my cats I tried to get them used to it gradually but they never became happy with having their back teeth brushed. So I use a cat toothbrush for one cat and a Q-Tip for the less cooperative cat. FI holds the cat and I brush their front teeth, then either I just stick the brush/qtip back between their teeth and gums and brush as best I can, or sometimes I'm able to pull up their lip so I can see what I'm doing while I brush back there.

I tried the Qtip trick to great success. He is obsessed with Qtips and will go in and pick them out of the trash if we don't keep the door closed, so the tasty toothpaste + Qtip had him pretty much ok with life.

I wasn't able to get much "brushing" motion going on, but I was able to touch his molars on each side for a quick swip. Definitely a huge step forward. Thanks!