Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Being a Good Mom--Brushing My Pets' Teeth

The vet told me we should really brush our pets' teeth because it can help them maintain good health and save us money down the road on teeth cleanings and extractions. Okay, so I'm trying. The video below shows how it goes on a good day, well for the cats at least.


So, naturally our pets would like to know who you think did the best.

I use a little brush for the cats that I got from our vet with the special toothpaste for animals. DO NOT USE human toothpaste for them. For Abby though, I use a regular size brush because it's easier to reach back farther and I get to keep all my fingers!

They all like the poultry taste of it but it's hard sometimes to actually get it on their teeth before they lick it off the brush! I introduced it gradually by letting them just lick it at first. Then the next week, I let the cats actually play with the little brush, seeing that it wouldn't hurt them. Finally, I put the brush in their mouth and gave them a treat afterward. Then now we are up to what you see in the video. I actually get to put some toothpaste on their teeth with the brush.

Do you brush your pets' teeth? Some days I try, but don't feel very successful. Last time Manny ran away from me and I had to chase him around. I finally gave up and tried again later which worked somewhat. He's usually the hardest one so that's why I was so surprised in the video when he was actually cooperative.


Joining in with Cats on Tuesday.

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8 comments:

Lin said...

Yeah/no. I can hardly trim Hobbes' nails without losing an eyeball...I'm not gonna be brushing his teeth anytime soon. I know it is good for them--maybe this is something to work on for 2013.

Sandee said...

Yes, hubby brushes Little Bits teeth with the toothpaste and brush that we get from the vets office. When we took Little Bit in for her annual checkup he noticed that he teeth were very clean. That's because we brush them.

Have a terrific day. :)

Gattina said...

I think my vet would think your vet is crazy ! cats are not humans and they clean their teeth with dry food and in nature with what they catch ! I have never heard of anybody who brushes the teeth of a dog or cat, lol ! My cats reached all the age of 20 years without bothering them with a tooth brush ! I think I would have no fingers anymore ! But business is business and that also makes money for the animal product companies !

Sparkle said...

Spunky and Manny are WAY more cooperative than we ever would be! My human has to grab me and gently (in her mind) restrain me if she wants to brush my teeth.

Not a Dog Person said...

I tried brushing my cats' teeth... It didn't work out very well.

Princess and Maxi said...

Hello, greetings from sunny Malaysia and tks for popping over, its so good to connect with cat lovers everywhere. Wow! firstly, beautiful cats..love them. Secondly, i've heard about teeth brushing in cats...just never tried that before. maybe I should one day. Great video :) xoxoxo

The Chair Speaks said...

Thanks for visiting us. Brushing doggie's teeth looks much easier than the kities'. :-) Practice makes perfect!

Karen, author of "My Funny Dad, Harry" said...

Yes, it takes practice, I'm still working on it. This was a good day. The last time I tried brushing Manny's, he made me chase him down, crawling under the desk, under a chair. I forgot the food bribe part.

Gattina: That's wonderful your cats live so long and you don't bother with this teeth brushing. My dad would say I'm foolish, that the vet just want more money. Sometimes I think he's right, but if the workers there do all this for their pets too, I think it must be good to do.

After Spunky's checkup, they analyzed the stool sample and found she has Giardiasis (an intestinal disease) which is highly contagious so all our pets are being treated for it. I just have some powder to mix into their wet food for five days. Hopefully that will get rid of it. I would have never known if I hadn't brought her in for her regular 6-month checkup.

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