OK, shameless plug: I love Oxyfresh’s Fresh Breath Pet Oral Care Solution because it’s powered by their PROVEN ingredient Oxygene® that fights plaque and bacteria. It’s tasteless, odorless and my cat is none the wiser about what I’m doing for his health. I simply put a water additive into his water bowl each day for the same benefits of brushing in way less time. I have no shame in saying it: I opted for the easy, new-school route in caring for my cat’s teeth. Give Your Cat a Plaque-Fighting Water Additive This cat toothpaste is awesome because it’s non-toxic and soothing on inflamed gums. You’ll want to have a special toothpaste just for your feline friend. Ingredients in it, like fluoride, can make your cat sick. Word to the wise: don’t use your own toothpaste. And while cat tooth brushing may seem like it would be Scratch n’ Hiss Fest 2018, when you take it slow, it really can be something your cat gets used to, and even looks forward to! Check out this blog post to get the easy-peasy steps for brushing your cat’s teeth. This is the tried-and-true, old-school way to keep plaque off your cat’s teeth. That’s why periodontal disease is known to decrease a pet’s lifespan by 2–5 years!Ģ Options for Cat Dental Cleaning 1. Shorter Lifespan: Bacteria from periodontal disease can travel from the cat’s mouth to the bloodstream, affecting organs like the heart, liver and kidneys.Cat Teeth Problems: As gum disease progresses, the teeth can actually pull away from the gums, leading to tooth loss.Pain: Inflamed gums hurt! Sadly, it’s a cat’s instinct to hide its pain, so you may not even know if your cat is suffering.Bye-bye, Cat Bad Breath: Bad breath is often the first warning sign of gingivitis in cats.Removing plaque from your cat’s teeth is the KEY to keeping your cat’s teeth and gums in good health, preventing tartar buildup, and avoiding the sting of expensive cleanings. When plaque isn’t removed, it hardens into tartar within a matter of days. Plaque is a sticky, clear substance that naturally forms after your cat eats. That makes the saying “ prevention is the best measure” a literal gem of advice … and it all starts with removing plaque from your cat’s teeth. Not gonna sugarcoat it: cat teeth cleaning isn’t cheap! (The average cost today is $400!). Cat is only chewing on one side of its mouthĬat Dental Care 101: Stop the Plaque Attack.(To learn more about the stages of gum disease, check out this blog post: The 4 Stages of Periodontal Disease in Pets.) Additional signs of gingivitis in cats: Left untreated, gingivitis advances into periodontal disease, which is NOT reversible. Here’s the good news: gingivitis is the first stage of gum disease and it’s easily remedied.
If they’re red and inflamed, that’s gingivitis.ĭid you know? According to the American Veterinary Dental College, most cats (70%) have evidence of gum disease by age 3! Normal cat gums should be a nice healthy pink with no swelling. If you look, you can actually see gingivitis inside your cat’s mouth. The danger with tartar buildup is it causes gingivitis, which is simply a fancy term for gum disease.
Why is that? Tartar is a totally rock-hard substance, so it needs special scaling tools to remove it. It’s when you can’t clean your cat’s teeth at home any longer and you gotta call in the professionals (the vet) to take care of it. Here’s what I discovered right away (through a hefty hit on my wallet): tartar is like the point of no return when it comes to cat dental care. It was that bad cat breath that made me take a closer look at my cat’s smile … and when I did, I was shocked to see how much yellowish-brown tartar buildup was on his teeth.Īnd so just like that, my journey into cat dental cleaning began … The Truth About Tartar Buildup and Cat Dental Care I’ll be honest: I’d never given cat dental care a second thought before then (even as Simon would perch on the edge of the tub and glare at me while I brushed my own teeth). Sure, I had the litter box drill down pat and I was a beast at playing flashlight tag, but I wasn’t prepared when I first smelled my cat’s super-stinky breath. (This didn’t exactly help my “I’m not a crazy cat lady” defense.)īut the biggest surprise was in caring for my cat, Simon. From fridge magnets to fluffy socks, it wasn’t long before my apartment looked like a wall-to-wall cat gift shop. The first was the sheer number of “crazy cat lady” jokes I’d have to endure around my family. When I moved out of my parent’s house, I did what every sensible 19-year-old single lady does: I adopted a cat.Īdmittedly, there were a few things I wasn’t prepared for in my newfound role as cat mom.
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