Should I force my cat to have his teeth brushed?

[mxphs]

Hi everyone

I'm having major issues with my cat and teeth brushing. I'm honestly shocked at how some cats here are so chill and will let you guys brush their teeth. My cat becomes super frightened, to the point of panting when I try to hold him down to do it. He will wriggle out with all his power so that you literally cannot hold him down.It's so distressing for me and for him to the point where I dont' even know if it's worth doing anymore. He runs off so quickly, hides and just becomes so frightened.

He has gingivitis and this is the second time he's gotten it so I really wanted to make it a part of his health routine. But nothing is helping. He's not the type of cat that lets you hold him down unless you use brute force which i have issues doing. I just feel so anxious because if i don't start doing something, the gingivitis will literally just get worse. To make it even harder, he locks his jaw shut whenever I have managed to get him down.

Should I just pin him down really hard and make him do it? It doesn't feel right to do that and I could easily hurt him.

 

[verna davies]

I wouldn't force your cat to have his teeth brushed, it will just stress him out more. Enzymatic toothpaste such as Logic or CET claim to work without brushing so you could put a little on his mouth or front of his paw for him to lick. Maybe in the future try using an interdental toothbrush, much smaller than the pet ones, start with a few gentle swipes on his front teeth and gradually build the trust and confidence to brush the back teeth.

 

[mxphs]

I wouldn't force your cat to have his teeth brushed, it will just stress him out more. Enzymatic toothpaste such as Logic or CET claim to work without brushing so you could put a little on his mouth or front of his paw for him to lick. Maybe in the future try using an interdental toothbrush, much smaller than the pet ones, start with a few gentle swipes on his front teeth and gradually build the trust and confidence to brush the back teeth.

I can't get anything near his mouth though! this is the problem,as soon as i come near him with anything other than food he just bolts

 

[verna davies]

Put the toothpaste on your finger then wipe it on the front of his paw for him to lick off, not as good as brushing but still effective.

 

[Kwik]

May I ask how old your cat is. And what is his name?

 

[Kflowers]

gingivitis makes your gums and mouth hurt. It's natural for him to think anything touching his mouth will make it hurt more. He's trying to tell you don't touch, it hurts. Wait until you can get the gingivitis cleared up. For my cat that had it, a very bad case in the late 1980s-90s the vet gave her cortisone injections once a month for life. She managed to eat and seemed comfortable with that but didn't let anyone touch her mouth.

On the gingivitis pain, I'm speaking from personal experience, not what I think the cat is feeling.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. Do not ever try to force your cat to do anything. You can hurt cats very easily. They are more delicate than they seem. Also, it will destroy any trust he has for you.
Who told you to brush his teethe? Because what they told you is wrong.
Gingivitis hurts and a toothbrush will hurt allot. Especially if you are struggling and he is biting it or it hits against his sore gums. Plus it won’t help him, it will make it worse.

If he has gingivitis there is a reason for it. Could be due to getting adult teethe, he could have tarter and cavities under his gum line, viral, or an autoimmune disease. If you can see tarter on his teeth he needs a dental with a vet.

For basic oral hygiene, as in after his teeth have been cleaned by a vet, then you start out with a piece of gauze wrapped around your finger and without holding him down, you swipe once each side and your done. Total time should be 2 seconds. You do that for a week or until he is comfortable with you doing it and then move up to 4 seconds total for a week and continue like that. When he calmly accepts that you can move up to a finger brush but then you go back to one second a side. An actual brush is not a good idea for cats. Also never try to open his mouth to do this. You cannot get the inside of the teeth.

 

[IndyJones]

Hi. Do not ever try to force your cat to do anything. You can hurt cats very easily. They are more delicate than they seem. Also, it will destroy any trust he has for you.
Who told you to brush his teethe? Because what they told you is wrong.
Gingivitis hurts and a toothbrush will hurt allot. Especially if you are struggling and he is biting it or it hits against his sore gums. Plus it won’t help him, it will make it worse.

If he has gingivitis there is a reason for it. Could be due to getting adult teethe, he could have tarter and cavities under his gum line, viral, or an autoimmune disease. If you can see tarter on his teeth he needs a dental with a vet.

For basic oral hygiene, as in after his teeth have been cleaned by a vet, then you start out with a piece of gauze wrapped around your finger and without holding him down, you swipe once each side and your done. Total time should be 2 seconds. You do that for a week or until he is comfortable with you doing it and then move up to 4 seconds total for a week and continue like that. When he calmly accepts that you can move up to a finger brush but then you go back to one second a side. An actual brush is not a good idea for cats. Also never try to open his mouth to do this. You cannot get the inside of the teeth.

Yes please don't force him. Vets are trained to properly restrain a cat and doing it wrong not only stresses them out but can permanently injure kitty or even kill them.

It is not worth it imo. Especialy with a timid animal. Let the vet preform a denatl under anisthetic if they are really horrable.

 

[Alldara]

I wouldn't. I used to use a teeth gel on Nobel because it just wasn't worth the stress on him.

For the young boys I use a q-tip. It's a game at first really and I'm trying to get them to bite it. I don't open their mouth, but slide it under the lip and rub. They associate the qtip with fun so they let me do it.

Then, in the evening, they get some toothpaste. Magnus likes malt and the other two like beef. Just let them lick it off at first.

 

[cmshap]

I can't get anything near his mouth though! this is the problem,as soon as i come near him with anything other than food he just bolts

I agree with everything that's been said about not trying to physically hold him down and brush his teeth again.

It sounds like you have trust issues that may have resulted from your attempts at this process. All it takes is one negative experience for a cat to start avoiding something from then on.

Does he bunt/rub his face on you when he is fully relaxed? I'm asking because years ago, when I first adopted my cat, he was very affectionate, but a little weird about face-touching. He would rub his head and cheeks on me, but if I actively got anywhere near his face with my hands he would recoil. I gradually worked on that by giving him rewards when he would bring his face to my hands.

I didn't really know what I was doing with cats, but noticed they have a tendency to come to you when they want something. So when he was in an affectionate mood and rubbing on me, I'd hold a tasty treat in the palm of my hand and let him swipe his cheek on my arm/hand, then feed him the treat in the same moment. I did that enough with my hands that he eventually didn't mind when I stroke his face.

I'm explaining all this because it might be an avenue to building trust back for you getting near his mouth. Not to brush his teeth like you were trying to do, but maybe to get close enough to allow you to dab a little toothpaste in/near his mouth in the future.

 

[fionasmom]

I agree with everything that has been said about not stressing your cat by trying to proceed with the tooth brushing. An additional point to consider is that even if he is your beloved pet, he may eventually hit his saturation point or experience some pain and bite or scratch you enough to where you will need to seek medical care for yourself. Been there, done that.

 

[BellaBlue82]

I can totally understand wanting to help your kitty have a healthy mouth. I wasn't aware brushing a cats teeth was a thing until later and they were already older. It's really best to start introducing kitties to toothbrush and enzymatic toothpaste when they're young.
I recently adopted Julian who had very bad gingivitis and he's only two. While we did get a professional cleaning done by the vet, he really doesn't like me to try and rub his gums with toothpaste lol. If it helps, there's quite a number of reputable water additives now that you can put in their bowl/ fountain that will help. I have one water bowl specifically with this additive for my fur kids.

 

[Alldara]

 

[IndyJones]

I can totally understand wanting to help your kitty have a healthy mouth. I wasn't aware brushing a cats teeth was a thing until later and they were already older. It's really best to start introducing kitties to toothbrush and enzymatic toothpaste when they're young.
I recently adopted Julian who had very bad gingivitis and he's only two. While we did get a professional cleaning done by the vet, he really doesn't like me to try and rub his gums with toothpaste lol. If it helps, there's quite a number of reputable water additives now that you can put in their bowl/ fountain that will help. I have one water bowl specifically with this additive for my fur kids.

It realy does vary between cats just like people.

Kabuto has had excelent teeth all his life and Indy needed a dental at 1 year old.

I don't add anything to their water because my old cat developed a water adversion from it, plus some of it has glycol in it which just sounds too close to antifreeze for my liking.

 

[mxphs]

Hi everyone, thanks for your suggestions. I actually have no idea how to proceed forward with this. A part of me almost feels like I have no choice but to let him have his way, even if it means the gingivitis will progress further.
This isn't a good feeling, but today when I went to just rub his face (not even his mouth, his cheeks) with the finger gauze, he leapt up and moved away. We've only started the process for like 5 days - he just hates the sensation and is overly dramatic about it, i'm not sure if he's already traumatized but who knows he is a massive drama queen.

The good news is that he's on the Hills T/D dental food, which are big sized kibbles that he crunches on. He has no issues eating these, he really likes them actually. I've also bought a tub of Plaque Off which are these flakes that you sprinkle on wet/dry food which has really good reviews. I guess these are my only options? I still want to keep trying with the finger gauze but so far, he's just not having it.

 

[mxphs]

I didn't really know what I was doing with cats, but noticed they have a tendency to come to you when they want something. So when he was in an affectionate mood and rubbing on me, I'd hold a tasty treat in the palm of my hand and let him swipe his cheek on my arm/hand, then feed him the treat in the same moment. I did that enough with my hands that he eventually didn't mind when I stroke his face.

I'm explaining all this because it might be an avenue to building trust back for you getting near his mouth. Not to brush his teeth like you were trying to do, but maybe to get close enough to allow you to dab a little toothpaste in/near his mouth in the future.

He lets me touch his face and even open his mouth to look inside he just won't have a bar of me coming near him with the finger gauze. He also hates the taste of the tooth paste, Arm amd Hammer. It says its tuna flavoured but there is nothing tuna-ey about it at all, smells and tastes just like mint tooth paste (yes i did taste some, but only because i really needed to know if there was anything tuna flavoured about it which there 100% isn't)

 

[cmshap]

He also hates the taste of the tooth paste, Arm amd Hammer.

Cats are picky about food, and a quote I have been repeating here on this forum in feeding-related threads is one that I heard somewhere on here, but I don't know the original source... "feeding a cat is hard."

So, if feeding a cat is hard, I can imagine that finding a toothpaste a cat actually tolerates is even harder.

Maybe step one is to try several different kinds, and try to find one that he tolerates better or even (if you're lucky) that he likes. Maybe wishful thinking...

I've never had to deal with this, but I have had to give my cat various medicines over the years, and if he doesn't like something, it's always a struggle. I would imagine that if in your cat's mind, the toothpaste is yucky, that is barrier #1 to accomplishing anything.

 

[silent meowlook]

Leave him alone for the next few weeks. The gingivitis will get worse. That is inevitable. It doesn’t matter if you brush or do anything to his teethe they will get worse until he has an actual dental under anesthesia with a vet. But right now he seems to traumatized to do anything.

 

[Meowmee]

Hi everyone

I'm having major issues with my cat and teeth brushing. I'm honestly shocked at how some cats here are so chill and will let you guys brush their teeth. My cat becomes super frightened, to the point of panting when I try to hold him down to do it. He will wriggle out with all his power so that you literally cannot hold him down.It's so distressing for me and for him to the point where I dont' even know if it's worth doing anymore. He runs off so quickly, hides and just becomes so frightened.

He has gingivitis and this is the second time he's gotten it so I really wanted to make it a part of his health routine. But nothing is helping. He's not the type of cat that lets you hold him down unless you use brute force which i have issues doing. I just feel so anxious because if i don't start doing something, the gingivitis will literally just get worse. To make it even harder, he locks his jaw shut whenever I have managed to get him down.

Should I just pin him down really hard and make him do it? It doesn't feel right to do that and I could easily hurt him.

I would never force them to do it. just try first getting a toothpaste he likes to eat and rub it on his gums with your fingers just for a minut and build up to it. My guys loved the malt flavor. I have stopped brushing their teeth for a while due to recovering from an injury and other events. Merlin prefers gauze to a brush, but he will tolerate that now too. I kind of hold the side of their head while I do it. None of them love it but they tolerate it. Angie used to love it, she came running to eat the toothpaste

 

[mxphs]

Hey guys, just an update (I always make myself come back here to update everything because there are so many threads where the conversation just stops and I wonder what happened to the owner and the cat!)

** I got a vet to come over tonight to my apartment to double check his teeth. He saw another vet literally last week but she didn't say anything else besides he had gingivitis and that was that. I really wanted more info and for a pair of vet eyes to look at his teeth more carefully so I did just that.

The vet came over, and we looked at his teeth and his mouth. Never fails to amaze me how they are able to wrangle even the most tricky cats! In short, he has no urgent issues and there is literally nothing I have to do except what I've been doing.
We shone the tartar light onto his teeth and he had NO tartar. Or such a small amount that it wasn't a big deal. Yes he has gingivitis, but the vet said it was so mild and that his actual teeth are really clean.

It was kind of a shock and a relief to me to be honest. She gave him a shot of antibiotics for the gingivitis and said he'd need another one in 2 weeks but it was such a non event that I feel kind of silly to have freaked out that much in the first place. I will still implement the plaque off sprinkles over his food though **