Thread: teething and tooth brushing

Ginger went to the vet today for her spay follow up visit. It appears my girl is teething, her molars are a little red and the vet mentioned I could maybe brush her teeth? I tryed with my beagles and lets just say that it did not go over too well. I am hoping if I start early with Ginger my luck would be better? Any suggestions or helpful tips in brushing kitties teeth would be greatly appreciated. I give her "Greenies" for her teeth but she swallows them whole! gulp, that does not help too much. She does like me to rub her gums with my finger though, so maybe I will start by putting the pet toothpaste on my finger and see how that goes.

I brush Finn's teeth most days - his gums are often a bit red ... Marco and Tess don't seem to have any problems with theirs. Archie & Lily have slightly red gums as, like Ginger, they are both teething. so I usually brush their teeth every other day. I started off using my finger whicih worked out OK, but wasn't really abrasive enough, so tried the toothbrush ... more toothpaste got stuck at the bottom of the brush than went on their teeth! A sort of stippled lightweight rubber finger 'thimble' came with the toothpaste as well as the brush, this is much much better and stimulates the gums whilst brushing - and more importantly they don't seem to mind it anywhere near as much as the brush! Very good idea to get her used to it whilst she's young - she may even come to enjoy it!!

Originally Posted by Puzzles

I brush Finn's teeth most days - his gums are often a bit red ... Marco and Tess don't seem to have any problems with theirs. Archie & Lily have slightly red gums as, like Ginger, they are both teething. so I usually brush their teeth every other day. I started off using my finger whicih worked out OK, but wasn't really abrasive enough, so tried the toothbrush ... more toothpaste got stuck at the bottom of the brush than went on their teeth! A sort of stippled lightweight rubber finger 'thimble' came with the toothpaste as well as the brush, this is much much better and stimulates the gums whilst brushing - and more importantly they don't seem to mind it anywhere near as much as the brush! Very good idea to get her used to it whilst she's young - she may even come to enjoy it!!

Puzzles, Thanks for the tip! I will shop for cat tooth paste, I was hoping that it would take care of itself. The teeth not the cat! Anyways Miss Ginger lets me rub her gums with my finger so it may work out fine! I was checking out the chews for teeth cleaning on amazon, but they are kind of expensive. My vet gave her one at her last visit, I should check with her. The vet also had tooth wipes but those are prescription only.

Ginger is going to be the most civilized Monster Cat in history! Manucured, potty trained and fresh breath!

I dont know about the fresh bresh, currently it smells like something crawled in there and died! yikes, stinky kitty

Buzz and Baxter aren't really into grooming but they can turn on the bath and sink faucets for paw washing. Thankfully they have not succeeded in flushing the potty yet. Their paws still slip off the lever at the last second. Perhaps Ginger will master the flush and hand washing to complete her potty training.