teeth cleaning

[stephjk]

Does anyone attempt to clean their cat's teeth? If so, how do you go about it? Fluff has lovely clean teeth but Puss's teeth leave a lot to be desired, despite them both eating exactly the same food and Puss preferring biscuits to meat.

[lilynmitz]

If your puss has tooth problems, she really needs to see the vet for a full dental clean to avoid decay and abscesses, which are as painful for them as they are for us. The vet can then advise on post op dental hygiene. Just starting a cleaning regime at this stage won't be enough.

[Diana]

Does your vet do free dental checks by a nurse? Ours do and usually a apt with a nurse at the vets is free. I would take Puss in and get a nurse to have a look at her teeth. If there is any plaque or tarter...this can get worse.

Also look into Plauque Off for cats.

[stephjk]

Thanks for the advice, we know a trip to the vet is inevitable but as we are currently travelling it's not so easy at the moment and I was hoping some cleaning advice might hold things until we can get her seen to.

[stephjk]

Does your vet do free dental checks by a nurse? Ours do and usually a apt with a nurse at the vets is free. I would take Puss in and get a nurse to have a look at her teeth. If there is any plaque or tarter...this can get worse.

Also look into Plauque Off for cats.

Unfortunately we don't have our own vet, we go to whichever one is near us when we need one and I'm pretty sure that Greek vets won't give anything away for free!

We'll have a look online for 'plaque off'. Thanks

[Crewella]

I don't so much now, as we've moved to a house with a big garden and lots of wildlife so they're all hunting and keeping their teeth a lot cleaner on meeces, but I used to give mine raw chicken wings every now and again to keep their teeth in order. It's the chewing on bone and gristle that helps keep the plaque off. Some cats won't go for the raw, but it's worth a try.

I probably don't need to say this, but it has to be raw - cooked bones go brittle and can be dangerous.

[stephjk]

I don't so much now, as we've moved to a house with a big garden and lots of wildlife so they're all hunting and keeping their teeth a lot cleaner on meeces, but I used to give mine raw chicken wings every now and again to keep their teeth in order. It's the chewing on bone and gristle that helps keep the plaque off. Some cats won't go for the raw, but it's worth a try.

I probably don't need to say this, but it has to be raw - cooked bones go brittle and can be dangerous.

Puss and Fluff don't get much opportunity to hunt although Puss did catch a bird the other day, the poor thing was asleep on our guard rail and never knew what hit it! Maybe I'll give the chicken wings a try.

[stephjk]

Well, we tried the raw chicken wings, they both looked at me as if I was mad, why would they eat that! Will try again in a few days.

[MarkB]

One of my vets scraped some plaque off my Kylie's teeth with his thumb nail. He told me to keep an eye on her back teeth and do it myself if needed. She is very good at being handled, but not sure if even I could get away with that (we know how well behaved cats can be with vets! )

[Crewella]

My vet does that too, and I didn't fancy it either!

[Moo Bear]

I use plaque off with Midge and she doesn't even notice when I put it in her food every morning, which I was surprised about as she's the fussiest cat ever!

I have tried her on raw duck wings before (she is on a raw diet anyway so thought she would love them) but she looked at me like I was mad haha! Someone said to me to try cutting into the flesh a bit to try and get her started as this can help apparently. Not tried it yet, but it seems to make sense!

[Podsy]

Personally I would NOT try to clean my cats teeth, I can't see it ending happily! You can get biscuits/snacks that are supposed to help 'clean' their teeth from places like Pets at Home.

[stephjk]

We now have the 'plaque off' and have been using it for a few days, we'll see how it goes and report back in a week or so.

Thanks for all the advice.

[stephjk]

We've been using the Plaque Off for a month now and there is a marked improvement in the state of Puss' teeth. Thanks for all the advice.