Any tips for brushing bottom molars?

rosegold

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My cats are very well-behaved for their daily teeth brushing, but I’m finding it hard to reach the back teeth on the bottom. When their jaws are closed, I can reach the top teeth easily, but then they’re covering the bottom ones completely. Trying to have the cats just slightly open their mouth to reach those teeth isn’t working because they obviously won’t stay in that position and keep chewing/swallowing/grinding if I try to hold them there. I’m thinking I might try to get a finger toothbrush to see if I can reach more easily with that... but their mouths are so tiny (especially Clove) that even the tiniest baby toothbrush feels clunky and hard to use. Any tips?
 

solomonar

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In the eyes of a cat, forcefully opening his mouth is a blasphemy.
I won't play this game, unless wearing gloves.

Bear in mind that bacteria from a cat bite can send you to ER in no time. Such bite is life threatening, not a joke. Infection advances very rapidly and in 12 hours rises from a finger to the arm. My experience. Dont expect something spectacular, it would be just one or two tine wholes in the epiderm, maybe not more than 2-3 drops of blood. But bacteria get trapped underneath the skin and there is no sufficient vascularisation downthere.

Dont even assume that a kitty is not powerful enough to bite and infect you. It is, believe me. Cats are terrible predators and they bite using many muscles of their body, not only the mouth ones. I saw how it work on my own skin, when a 4 month kitty send me to ER (fortunately ER doctors know me from similar experience and I got treated rapidly- but still, predating is not a game, cats are killers by nature, age does not matter much).

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A nail brush? You can trim it short to make a tiny tootbrush. Maybe one dollar stores have them?
 

druvendra

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I'd have someone else do the holding while I do the brushing!
 
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rosegold

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The CET mini cat toothbrush easily fits into a cat's mouth. It's sold only as part of a kit. I posted a link to one kit here:

Advice for preventing tartar buildup?

Picture of the toothbrush:

Oh, this looks helpful! I think the pointed tip might do the trick. Thank you!

In the eyes of a cat, forcefully opening his mouth is a blasphemy.
I won't play this game, unless wearing gloves.

Bear in mind that bacteria from a cat bite can send you to ER in no time. Such bite is life threatening, not a joke. Infection advances very rapidly and in 12 hours rises from a finger to the arm. My experience. Dont expect something spectacular, it would be just one or two tine wholes in the epiderm, maybe not more than 2-3 drops of blood. But bacteria get trapped underneath the skin and there is no sufficient vascularisation downthere.

Dont even assume that a kitty is not powerful enough to bite and infect you. It is, believe me. Cats are terrible predators and they bite using many muscles of their body, not only the mouth ones. I saw how it work on my own skin, when a 4 month kitty send me to ER (fortunately ER doctors know me from similar experience and I got treated rapidly- but still, predating is not a game, cats are killers by nature, age does not matter much).

===

A nail brush? You can trim it short to make a tiny tootbrush. Maybe one dollar stores have them?
Yeah, I have had 3 different cat bites before (not my cats) and had to be put on immediate antibiotics for them, so I know they can be dangerous. Luckily my cats are extremely accepting of teeth brushing (and nail trimming, pills, grooming—everything) and just sit there calmly. I’ve been doing it to them for over a year so they are very used to it and aren’t going to bite me. It’s more just tricky to fit the brush correctly to reach the back molars.
 

solomonar

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rosegold rosegold
Mouth Bacteria may vary from cat to cat.
I got DTP and rabia vaccines and I keep one bottle of Betadine and one pill of Augumentin at hand.
 
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