Dental Care for Cats

[wawadoll8]

Good afternoon fellow cat lovers

Recently, I brought my beloved cat Buddy to his annual vet visit and he had a very good clean bill of health except for some dental needs. per the vet, he is starting to develop redness and tartar and she recommended Hills' Prescription Dental Care food to blend with current food or "Intellident." Buddy dislikes both and also dislikes Greenie's dental treats or any chew toys. I have seen him starting to drop food and I suspect these treats are too thick and he is having issues munching on them.

Can anyone recommend any dental care products? I am thinking of sprinkling one of these products into his food...mind you that he only eats dry food:

https://www.chewy.com/proden-plaqueoff-powder-cat/dp/141346

https://www.chewy.com/vetriscience-perio-support-powder/dp/42648

https://www.chewy.com/tartar-shield-sprinkles-human-grade/dp/918750

I was also advised to maybe pour dental liquid in his water, but he is really unpredictable how much water he drinks and so I am afraid I would have the ratio of water to dental liquid incorrect. I am unable to do anything with teeth brushing and it seems like getting dental liquid or toothpaste into his mouth would be very difficult.

Open to any help and advice! Thank you!

With Gratitude,
Mary

 

[Biomehanika]

Did your vet recommend against tooth brushing at this time or is that just something you don’t think you’d be able to do?

I ask because though it seems daunting (it did to me) it is actually a lot easier than it seems IF you build up the positive associations with the brush/toothpaste for some time beforehand. My boy doesn’t like being handled but he now quite happily lets me purrito him like a baby and brush his teeth daily, but we did spend quite a long time building positive associations with the brush and toothpaste before we got to any actual brushing. It’s quite amazing how good he is with it considering how adverse he still is to other simpler things, such as being crated or having his nailed trimmed, or even being brushed! There are a lot of resources on how to get started with that if you’re willing to give it a try. The dental kibbles and additives could help but I’ve never personally used them so I can’t say how well they might work, but brushing with an enzymatic toothpaste like CET is generally a lot more effective than they are.

 

[stephanietx]

A good dental routine is wet food and a good cleaning. You don't need all those other things, in my opinion.

 

[KelWhit]

I’ve been using proden plaque off for my two boys for over a year now, it has the VOHC seal. Frankie had/has neck lesions (tooth resorption) and had 3 teeth pulled prior to using the proden. Even though I’ve been brushing their teeth since I got Frankie at 8 weeks and Bob at 5 months, they were still exhibiting dental issues. I started out with kibble and wet food when I got them, but have since started feeding raw homemade in the last year. Frankie was a bit difficult to brush, but like it was said above, you can try to build trust with them to brush their teeth but you need to take your time. Since your cat is older, I would get the CET toothpaste and just offer a taste off of your finger. I use the poultry.

I can say at this point Frankie’s teeth look great, I can barely see any plaque and his gums are nice and pink, their last dental was June 2023. Bobs teeth have some tartar and redder gums, but I was using a sponge instead of his usual toothbrush for a while and I think that was less effective. I also think toothpaste brands matter. I’ve always used the Vrbac brand but switched to a cheaper brand while using sponge and I noticed his gums got inflamed. I’ve since switched back to the Vrbac and toothbrush and his gums have improved but he’ll need another dental in 6-9 months to “start over”.

If you do the proden, be careful because it is kelp based product which is higher in iodine. They warn if your cat has thyroid issues, don’t use it (or at least talk to your vet prior to use).