cleaning teeth

[kayla]

When I took Momma Cat to the vet he showed me her back teeth and they were absolutely disgusting. I had them cleaned (for $50 yikes) so they are nice and white now but I was wondering how can I keep them this way? I know I can brush her teeth but other than that is there anything I can do? Are there kitty 'milk bones'? Is hard food better for cleaning teeth than canned food? Whitening strips for cats? Also, how often do people brush their cats/dogs teeth? Any advice would be great!

[raingirl]

it takes approx 24 hours for the gunk in your saliva and on your teeth (plaque) to harden on to teeth and cause tarter. Ideally you should brush your animals teeth daily. That's what my vet told me. We try....but it's hard as most dog toothpastes are chicken or beef flavour (which our dog can't have) and the plain ones he doens't like.

there is this stuff called Leba III (http://www.petstep.ca/dogs_fichiers/leba.htm) that can be used to reduce tarter etc on pet teeth. It's supposed to be all natural. http://www.lebalab.com/

[Lucky Rescue]

If you want to try brushing her teeth, take an old pair of pantyhose, cut off a little piece and wrap it around your finger.

Most animals object less to having a finger in their mouths than a toothbrush.

Kayla I'm surprised such a young cat had so much gunk, but it is partly hereditary, so keep an eye on it.

Also, a raw chicken wing to chew on is a good way of cleaning cats' teeth!

[Rita]

Some good crunchy, tartar control treats might also help. Our Boyz love them. We started giving them to our first cat (rip) when she was about 10yo and had to have a couple of teeth removed due to tartar build up. After we started giving her these treats the tartar was kept to a minimum (vet scraped it off) and didn't need to have any more teeth removed
We'll see how the Boyz do with their annual visit this year