Crazy4-- that is GREAT news! I'd bet that as soon as the initial woozy feeling and (unavoidable) inflammation from the actual work wears off, he'll be a whole new cat-- even happier than he was before this whole thing started. Dental issues usually develop over a LONG period of time, and cats are so stoic when something hurts and they don't feel well. Cats aren't very amenable to letting us open their mouths to look very far back in there of a regular basis. My boy is a really good boy about letting me work with his mouth in ordinary times, but even he will only allow so much-- and I did this every day as part of my job. I got to be pretty good at examining cat and d*g mouths. Nobody should ever feel "inadequate" or "neglectful" for being unable to check their kitty's mouth or physically handle it. There are many reasons why a cat can be mouth-shy: previous dental or other disease that painfully affects the mouth; a natural hesitancy about such close contact (space and trust issues); unfamiliarity with being handled that way; etc.
In a perfect world, we would all be able to brush our cats' teeth with a pet-safe toothpaste like those made by C.E.T. (Virbac), never human toothpaste, every day. We could open the mouth and look all around, and even floss. But in the real world, this isn't always possible (flossing is NEVER possible, and dental floss should never come anywhere near a cat. So we do the best we can with things that the cat allows. Schrodie allowed tooth brushing since he was little. He ate a dental diet until it became apparent that he loved it a little TOO much. So we rolled it back to a few dental "treats" (same stuff but a lot less of it!) before he developed "rolls" himself, LOL! He is a best-case scenario. But even he developed stomatitis and we stopped the brush and the dental treats because it all hurts too much now.
When we are able to brush his teeth (clean his mouth), we use a specially formulated cat toothpaste called Petrodex.
It is a toothpaste made specially for pets. It's safe for them to swallow, and contains enzymes that kill mouth bacteria and help loosen plaque and biofilm. It also comes in a few flavors that are really appealing to pets.
This is similar to the one we use, and we use the long handled toothbrush on the small end for brushing. There is a fingerbrush, but I've always had better luck with the long brush. I started off by letting Schrodie taste the toothpaste. It's very palatable and there are several flavors. Some flavors are just labeled with a d*g, but the ingredients are fine for cats-- and cats might find some of those flavors just as tasty. A lot of work must have gone into coming up with a really tasty product, because it has a pretty good acceptance rate in my experience when offered directly from the tube or your finger, without the brush. The way the stuff is designed, even just getting the paste into the mouth will offer some benefit through enzymatic antibacterial and anti-plaque activity. Every little bit helps. So if all your cat does is eat the paste-- he is getting SOME benefit from it. You're doing well.
Next step is to offer the paste (just a little) on the tip on the brush. Let him lick the paste off the bristles and end of the brush.. Move slowly, step by step and slowly introduce the brush a little more. Once he licks the paste from the bristles, try touching the brush to his lips and the side of his mouth on the outside. Don't actively try to brush ir insert the toothbrush into his mouth just yet. Let him investigate the feel of the brush on his lips for a few days. If he chews the brush... that's fine. He's getting a little mechanical action to remove plaque-- more than from simply eating the paste. If you did well getting him to eat the paste-- you are now doing VERY well getting this far. Pat yourself on the back and give kitty lots of kisses! His breath should smell better by now.
Next, while he's chewing on the brush or lip-rubbing it, see if you can put a little gentle wiggle action on it around his whole mouth, whatever you can hit to jiggle even more plaque loose. This part might seem a little weird to your kitty, so just move at his pace. If you are only able to move the brush around for a couple of seconds... great! It's a start. Don't force anything, and if all he wants it to chew the brush or lick the paste-- that's okay. Whatever you can do will definitely help. Purraise yourself and your kitty for doing it.
It's often very HARD to know when Kitty has a dental or mouth problem.So Spottie's mouth will probably soon feel better than it has in years! He will love you for it, Crazy4... at any rate, he'll be a whole lot more loving, because he'll feel better.
Here is a photo of one of my canine dentals. Yes, that is me with a really sweet Dachshund sound asleep under anesthesia-- cleaning with an ultrasonic scaler. That black cord attached to the blue fitting on the air tube is going to an anesthesia (breathing and O2 saturation) monitor. I had already done the gross (coarse) scaling and probing, and all the stuff was charted on the dental chart. Doc had done his exam, and now I was getting the last few teeny picky bits of calculus/tartar before moving on to the antimicrobial treatment and fluoride. Details, details-- but they matter!
I wish I still had the BEFORE photo... this poor kid's mouth was a mess. HEAVY, heavy tartar and general yuk. He was lethargic and not feeling playful, and was not eating really well. We cleaned off the tartar above and below the gum line and probed every corner of every tooth. He did have some moderate recession in some teeth, but it wasn't to the point of being irreversible. The gingiva would come back down over time now that the teeth were clean, and that's exactly what happened over the next few weeks and months. Amazingly, though, the teeth themselves were okay, no caries so no extractions were needed. But he did have some significant gingivitis, as you can see by the somewhat swollen gums and areas of recession. We used an antimicrobial to treat bacterial infection in the "pockets" and sent home clindamycin to give for about a week. The kiddo was already on an NSAID for arthritis, so that would help with the post-dental ache. Usually we would send home a little something.
Then we applied a pet safe fluoride foam treatment to help reduce sensitivity and strengthen enamel-- like the foam fluoride your dentist uses. Finally, we applied a wax-like sealer to form a barrier for the gums, to slow the re-entry of bacteria into the clean subgingival region.
But now, the teeth just really LOOK better, in addition to being really clean, and they were smooth-- a clean slate to start a good home regimen. The contrast between the BEFORE and the AFTER was incredible! We showed the client, who was somewhat skeptical about the whole deal, but reluctantly agreed. When she saw the side by side comparison-- she was hooked. She wanted to keep that "fresh from the dentist" clean mouth for as long as possible. She did the tooth brushing and dental diet, the water additives... even the OraVet wax sealant. Her baby became the clinic "poster child" for dental health!
This is SUCH happy news!
In a perfect world, we would all be able to brush our cats' teeth with a pet-safe toothpaste like those made by C.E.T. (Virbac), never human toothpaste, every day. We could open the mouth and look all around, and even floss. But in the real world, this isn't always possible (flossing is NEVER possible, and dental floss should never come anywhere near a cat. So we do the best we can with things that the cat allows. Schrodie allowed tooth brushing since he was little. He ate a dental diet until it became apparent that he loved it a little TOO much. So we rolled it back to a few dental "treats" (same stuff but a lot less of it!) before he developed "rolls" himself, LOL! He is a best-case scenario. But even he developed stomatitis and we stopped the brush and the dental treats because it all hurts too much now.
When we are able to brush his teeth (clean his mouth), we use a specially formulated cat toothpaste called Petrodex.
It is a toothpaste made specially for pets. It's safe for them to swallow, and contains enzymes that kill mouth bacteria and help loosen plaque and biofilm. It also comes in a few flavors that are really appealing to pets.
This is similar to the one we use, and we use the long handled toothbrush on the small end for brushing. There is a fingerbrush, but I've always had better luck with the long brush. I started off by letting Schrodie taste the toothpaste. It's very palatable and there are several flavors. Some flavors are just labeled with a d*g, but the ingredients are fine for cats-- and cats might find some of those flavors just as tasty. A lot of work must have gone into coming up with a really tasty product, because it has a pretty good acceptance rate in my experience when offered directly from the tube or your finger, without the brush. The way the stuff is designed, even just getting the paste into the mouth will offer some benefit through enzymatic antibacterial and anti-plaque activity. Every little bit helps. So if all your cat does is eat the paste-- he is getting SOME benefit from it. You're doing well.
Next step is to offer the paste (just a little) on the tip on the brush. Let him lick the paste off the bristles and end of the brush.. Move slowly, step by step and slowly introduce the brush a little more. Once he licks the paste from the bristles, try touching the brush to his lips and the side of his mouth on the outside. Don't actively try to brush ir insert the toothbrush into his mouth just yet. Let him investigate the feel of the brush on his lips for a few days. If he chews the brush... that's fine. He's getting a little mechanical action to remove plaque-- more than from simply eating the paste. If you did well getting him to eat the paste-- you are now doing VERY well getting this far. Pat yourself on the back and give kitty lots of kisses! His breath should smell better by now.
Next, while he's chewing on the brush or lip-rubbing it, see if you can put a little gentle wiggle action on it around his whole mouth, whatever you can hit to jiggle even more plaque loose. This part might seem a little weird to your kitty, so just move at his pace. If you are only able to move the brush around for a couple of seconds... great! It's a start. Don't force anything, and if all he wants it to chew the brush or lick the paste-- that's okay. Whatever you can do will definitely help. Purraise yourself and your kitty for doing it.
It's often very HARD to know when Kitty has a dental or mouth problem.So Spottie's mouth will probably soon feel better than it has in years! He will love you for it, Crazy4... at any rate, he'll be a whole lot more loving, because he'll feel better.
Here is a photo of one of my canine dentals. Yes, that is me with a really sweet Dachshund sound asleep under anesthesia-- cleaning with an ultrasonic scaler. That black cord attached to the blue fitting on the air tube is going to an anesthesia (breathing and O2 saturation) monitor. I had already done the gross (coarse) scaling and probing, and all the stuff was charted on the dental chart. Doc had done his exam, and now I was getting the last few teeny picky bits of calculus/tartar before moving on to the antimicrobial treatment and fluoride. Details, details-- but they matter!
I wish I still had the BEFORE photo... this poor kid's mouth was a mess. HEAVY, heavy tartar and general yuk. He was lethargic and not feeling playful, and was not eating really well. We cleaned off the tartar above and below the gum line and probed every corner of every tooth. He did have some moderate recession in some teeth, but it wasn't to the point of being irreversible. The gingiva would come back down over time now that the teeth were clean, and that's exactly what happened over the next few weeks and months. Amazingly, though, the teeth themselves were okay, no caries so no extractions were needed. But he did have some significant gingivitis, as you can see by the somewhat swollen gums and areas of recession. We used an antimicrobial to treat bacterial infection in the "pockets" and sent home clindamycin to give for about a week. The kiddo was already on an NSAID for arthritis, so that would help with the post-dental ache. Usually we would send home a little something.
Then we applied a pet safe fluoride foam treatment to help reduce sensitivity and strengthen enamel-- like the foam fluoride your dentist uses. Finally, we applied a wax-like sealer to form a barrier for the gums, to slow the re-entry of bacteria into the clean subgingival region.
But now, the teeth just really LOOK better, in addition to being really clean, and they were smooth-- a clean slate to start a good home regimen. The contrast between the BEFORE and the AFTER was incredible! We showed the client, who was somewhat skeptical about the whole deal, but reluctantly agreed. When she saw the side by side comparison-- she was hooked. She wanted to keep that "fresh from the dentist" clean mouth for as long as possible. She did the tooth brushing and dental diet, the water additives... even the OraVet wax sealant. Her baby became the clinic "poster child" for dental health!
This is SUCH happy news!
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