Toothpaste

[Eratosthenes]

I have a cat that loves toothpaste. Not from the tube! Not even actual globs of toothpaste from a tube. She hates all that.

What she likes is licking your hand after you have brushed your teeth and washed your hands. It doesn't seem like there should even be any left on there, but she can smell it, and she will persistently lick that hand for 5 minutes no matter what I do to dissuade her.

I have tried to "secretly" brush my teeth when she is not around so we don't have to go through this tedious ritual every day, but she appears out of nowhere, 5 minutes after I have finished, and she will not let up or be distracted. She insists and will bother me for an hour until I just give her the 5 minutes licking my hand.

So I just relectantly comply. The little weirdo. Then I go wash all her slobber off my hand and go about the rest of my day.

She is 13 years old and the vet said that she has the nicest teeth she has ever seen in a cat that age.

I said, "it must be the dry cat food," and then winked at my cat.

Her weird toothpaste fetish will be our little secret.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Are you sure it's the toothpaste, or is it the ingredients/fragrance in your handsoap?

If you aren't already, be sure and rinse your hands REALLY well so she's not ingesting handsoap. And then try giving her a cat treat without allowing her to lick your hand, consistently, and over time she won't try any longer .

 

[Eratosthenes]

Thanks. It is the toothpaste. I don't use handsoap afterward because I know she will do this.

 

[Eratosthenes]

Thanks. It is the toothpaste. I don't use handsoap afterward because I know she will do this.

Also note that I have 4 other cats who eat the same food their teeth are not "the best she's ever seen" hence I am pretty confident it is the fluoride. Fluoride works exactly the same way in cats as it does in humans.