how do i clean my cats teeth

[rosydreams]

He will bite if i try to mess with his mouth,i also tried adding a teeth cleaning additive to his water but he wont touch it.His breath reeks but cant get a tooth brush near him =/

We use Beaphar - Advanced-Enzyme Toothgel- and they will sometimes lick of fingers as flavoured as liver but often still need to go near the month and smear round teeth.

We tried a food sprinkle additive - they didn't eat the food.

I've seen toys - and silver vine sticks - and towel style ones but not sure I'd want to rely on them. Has the vet offered any suggestions?

Under anesthetic at the vets if our cats are anything to go by.

Does he have a rotten tooth? Cat breath isn't usually thaaaat bad?

Assume you have tried all the crunchy nibbles designed for teeth cleaning?

Never cleaned a cats teeth tbh. Always had outdoors cats though, so they do crunchy a lot of mice, and that is supposed to help.

thats what i am worried about ,rotten teeth.Want to clean them so can gauge if if its time for a vet check up

will look into teeth gel maybe if i smear it into his fur he will be compelled to lick it off

It is probably worth getting his teeth checked by a vet, as the bad breath might be caused by dental trouble. An ear infection can make a cat stink too, so a once-over would be your first call.

I've had cats all my life and have never considered even attempting to clean their teeth - I want to keep my fingers as they are, thanks.😂

Honestly, don't bother. You will not make any appreciable difference. Take him to the vet who can decide what needs to be done. I've had a lot of cats, and as a previous poster said, teeth cleaning takes place under anaesthetic at the vet!

never cleaned my other cats teeth but his breath so bad like badddddd .Wish i could get him to a vet strait away but just spend hundreds on replacing car tires so a bit tight .

If he's insured, check the paperwork as he could well be insured for dental work.

I’d only consider it with sedation! I leave it to the vet, as even they said to me

”Can you imagine going in there with dental implements?”

And in a word, no!

We have Siamese who are notorious for dental problems , earlier this year they had swabs and antibiotics for some type of infection and at their last check up the teeth were fine in both of them . They have plaque off treats and I buy dental sticks on Amazon that one of them in particular likes to chew . That said I would think if the cat has bad breath it will need some kind of veterinary care to get back to a point where you can start keeping them clean moving forward .

I will take him after christmas to the vets ,just tight at mo.I will ring and see how much teeth cleaning is so i know how much to start putting aside

i bought some tooth gel for now

We use this on her food in the AM

And she has dental biscuits in the evening.

No dental work needed yet 🤞

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I give mine James Wellbeloved oral health biscuits mixed in with smaller kibble. One of my cats was borderline needing a dental but didn't after a couple of months on dental food.
Bad breath might indicate decay already.

If his breath smells he has decay and needs an urgent dental from the vet. Might be a clean or very likely teeth removed.
Cleaning at home (if a cat will allow it) can help prevent plaque build up but is not going to have much effect in your cat’s current situation.
Dental disease like this can cause cats heart problems as well as serious pain and infection. If the mouth pain stops them eating and drinking it can lead to kidney disease.
This is not something to be put off. I worked for Cats Protection for many years so speak from experience. I hope you can get your cat treated promptly.

If his breath smells bad, he's probably got some tooth deacy and/or gum disease. The best thing would be to take him to the vet. Cats are very good at masking pain, but if he's got bad teeth, he'll be in pain. I took in a stray a few weeks ago, took him to the vet (neutering and chipping) and he had to have NINE teeth out, poor boy.

My cat would eat me if I tried to clean her teeth, she gets dental cat food and I have her teeth done at the vets once a year under sedation.
Shes 15 now and her teeth are in very good condition.

My cats get a vet cleaning around age 10 unless there are obvious problems. Otherwise their teeth get checked once a year at their annual health checkup.

If you can't afford the vet's, could you go to PDSA? Look at their eligibility checker online.

Having a few teeth out is likely to cost a couple of hundred. Please DON'T leave it until after Christmas!

No-brush paste is considered a delicious treat here - despite trying from kittenhood, they’ll let me brush a wee bit (& don’t bite/scratch me) but get quite grumpy about it (not unreasonable). They don’t mind supplemented water (I use the Petkin one, perhaps brand makes a difference); they happily chew silver vine sticks, cardboard & dental toys; & their vet says the most important thing is the plaque-removing removing powder they have once a day (on their wet food). The big-name one is plaque-off, but they’re on Bugalugs Plaque Remover (which I get from Amazon): much cheaper & works just as well.

As the others have said though, that level of funk sounds like a serious problem - have you any low-cost vet clinics you could get to?

I have a rescue cat who has pretty bad teeth. At first I thought it was because she was a rescue, but the vet explained that for some cats it's just the genetic luck of the draw, and there isn't really much you can do to prevent deterioration as most cats won't tolerate brushing. I smear some veterinary toothpaste on her fur and she will immediately start licking it off, which I hope is better than nothing - at least it's going in her mouth! You could try that. Make sure she's eating the best-quality diet you can afford too. Some online pet supply stores have regular special offers if you buy in bulk, and it can work out cheaper than getting food in the supermarket every week. I do a bulk order every three months. I've got two cats, so it might not be as cost effective if you only have the one, but it's saved me quite a bit of money on food and litter since I started.

Is your cat insured? For mine the vet recommended cleaning under sedation every two years or so. Annoyingly my pet insurance policy excludes all non-emergency dental work, so it might be worth upgrading yours to include dentals if possible. I'd also get him a checkup as soon as you can, as if he ends up needing extractions or he develops a dental abscess it will be much more expensive than just a basic clean.

Please go to vet as soon as possible. Your cat might be in agony for more weeks otherwise. You might be able to pay later? They allow that for the cat rescues.

i dont have insurance we dont have pdsa near us and the rspca vet we had within driving distance went private .All i can do is get a quote and start saving

I use Royal Canin dental kibble and stopped wet food which has really helped my cats teeth - if they have sore teeth they won't eat much.

I agree the cat should see the vet asap. Cats are very stoic and will try to conceal being in pain, and particularly with dental problems they can be in a pretty bad way by the time you notice something is wrong.

Insurance companies didn't pay for routine dentals in the past, but they often do so now because they realise how important it is to the cat's overall health. PetPlan includes it as standard.

https://www.petplan.co.uk/pet-insurance/insurance-advice/pet-dental-insurance/