- Joined
- Dec 10, 2015
- Messages
- 46
- Purraise
- 8
Does anyone know any dental treats for kittens (under a year old)? my baby kittens breath smells really bad .. I thought it was because of her food but even when she doesn't eat it smells.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Dental Treats
- Thread starter yasmincittaa
- Start Date
- Joined
- May 28, 2017
- Messages
- 67
- Purraise
- 200
I'm not sure of any kitten specific dental treats, but if her breath smells that bad, it might be a good idea to get it checked out by a vet. If her teeth look okay, I would suggest brushing her teeth. There are cat specific "toothpastes" and little brushes.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2015
- Messages
- 46
- Purraise
- 8
She still has all of her baby teeth, she hasn't lost any of them yet so I don't think there's anything wrong there. She is getting spayed tomorrow so I'll ask the doctor to check her mouth out while we're there.
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2015
- Messages
- 1,954
- Purraise
- 3,150
You ought to get her used to brushing. I've brushed my cats' teeth since they were six weeks old and they're quite good about it now. My vet absolutely flips out over their teeth every time she sees them. She claims that brushing is one of the very best things you can do for your cat.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2015
- Messages
- 46
- Purraise
- 8
Do you have an recommendation one what toothpastes/toothbrushes are the best?
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2015
- Messages
- 1,954
- Purraise
- 3,150
Are her gums red and inflamed? So you see abrasions or sores in her mouth? If so, you should really take her to the vet. I would regardless, just to be certain.
There are special made toothbrushes for cats; however, I just use the smallest child's brush I can find. As for toothpaste, I use Virbac C.E.T. Enzymatic Cat Poultry Flavor Toothpaste. Amazon and Chewy both carry it.
Keep in mind your cat isn't going to love having her teeth brushed, but she WILL get used to it and learn to tolerate it. My vet claims that this is on par with the type of food you feed in terms of prophylactic prevention of illness. Good luck and Welcome to the Cat Site!!!
There are special made toothbrushes for cats; however, I just use the smallest child's brush I can find. As for toothpaste, I use Virbac C.E.T. Enzymatic Cat Poultry Flavor Toothpaste. Amazon and Chewy both carry it.
Keep in mind your cat isn't going to love having her teeth brushed, but she WILL get used to it and learn to tolerate it. My vet claims that this is on par with the type of food you feed in terms of prophylactic prevention of illness. Good luck and Welcome to the Cat Site!!!
Your kitten is most likely teething. Gizmo had weird fishy breath for a little while which confused me as he didn't eat fish. After he was done teething, it went away and his breath is fine. I suppose if you're worried, a trip to your vet could put you at ease but in my experience it's just kitten teething!
CET toothpaste and a micro toothbrush like this
i only listen to what the VOHC has to say on dental treat effectiveness, i think it's voluntary but the closest we have to any sort of standard. here's their list on recommended dental products, i personally use the Purina Dentalife treats and at the very least it is keeping their breath tolerable in between brushes
i only listen to what the VOHC has to say on dental treat effectiveness, i think it's voluntary but the closest we have to any sort of standard. here's their list on recommended dental products, i personally use the Purina Dentalife treats and at the very least it is keeping their breath tolerable in between brushes
I agree with all of this... except that one of our cats really does love having her teeth brushed!
She loves the toothpaste -- we also use CET, either seafood or poultry flavor -- so having her teeth brushed is like a treat. Her sister's pretty good about it, too. Our vet is also big on tooth brushing and recommended watching the Cornell vet school's videos about getting a cat started on brushing. (link here!) I used this basic method but the cats were so interested in the brush that I was able to skip ahead and get them to real brushing faster. I use CET toothbrushes like the ones in the video.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #10
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2015
- Messages
- 46
- Purraise
- 8
We took her to the vet for her spay today, by 11am I got a call from the vet saying that they need to postponed the surgery be she had lost some weight. But also because it looks like she has some gingivitis, they gave me some antibiotics, I'm guessing this might be a reason for her smelly mouth.
Yes, the gingivitis and the smelly mouth could be connected, particularly in a cat so young. You might ask the vet about the bartonella bacterium, which is the same bacterium that causes cat scratch fever. Some vets believe it can cause mouth issues like gingivitis: our cats were tested for it then treated with azithromycin, which, along with daily brushing, has made a huge difference for them. (This all happened when they weren't even yet two years old. Our vet has also told us mouth issues are more common in certain types of cats, like Siamese and mixes, which is what our two are.) Not all vets buy into the bartonella theory but our vet's a cat specialist who says she sees improvement in lots of cats she treats for bartonella... and it sure seemed to help ours. Here's an article from Dr. Becker about bartonella. There are some other good ones, just ask if you want me to dig those up, too! Bartonella testing and treatment aren't super-cheap but they're definitely a lot cheaper and less nerve-wracking than annual tooth cleanings. Bonus for humans: no worrying about cat scratch fever.
I'm sorry to hear about the delayed spay but hope things improve for your cat!
