Hooray! ET lets me brush his teeth!

snowy · 12-31-2012, 08:27 PM

I am really so excited! I bought a baby toothbrush yesterday, just to see if ET will tolerate something in his mouth. I let him sniff it last night and let him chew it yesterday.

This morning he came to me for a chin rub on my desktop again. I thought I'll try this time to actually use the brush and do a mock brushing without toothpaste. To my surprise! he actually showed me his teeth and let me brush both sides of his teeth. Come to think of it, I realised I didn't know how to do it properly, I only managed to brush his front top teeth, but I am really excited enough. I wanna go buy toothpaste, but then again ET almost always tolerated anything dry, if I were to add toothpaste, he may resist. Whatever the case, I'm gonna try.

It just makes me wonder if ET was an abandoned cat and not a total stray. He knew "sit" right from the start. He knew how to use the litter box right from the start. Now, he tolerated teeth brushing without an issue. Though at other times, he didn't tolerate many other handlings. I am really beginning to think he was once a house pet.

snowy · 12-31-2012, 09:00 PM

Can anyone link me to some kinda home video on cat brushing? What came up when googling are those videos by vet.

tigre86 · 12-31-2012, 09:48 PM

That's great! You're lucky he's so tolerant to a toothbrush already. Tucker still doesn't care for it, I can only get to his front teeth too. I give Tucker treats before and after I brush his teeth to help him associate good things with the act. Maybe you could try this with ET too? I also started the process slowly. I let him lick the toothpaste off my finger for about a week before I ever tried to brush his teeth. Then I used my finger to rub it on his teeth for about a week. After that I used a finger brush and he's pretty tolerant about it...he just doesn't stay still long enough for me to brush the back teeth. ET might not need all those steps since he already likes the toothbrush.

I'll have to check out the tips I found in this video on youtube, very informative. I hope it's what you were looking for.

How-to Brush Cat's Teeth

snowy · 12-31-2012, 10:17 PM

Thank you soooo much for the tips and video, just what I am looking for. I will try the toothpaste licking 1st then add onto the brush later. Will go slow. So I did everything the other way round, lol... I just wanted to see if he can tolerate anything I get into his mouth, before I buy the toothpaste, cos its expensive, didn't wanna waste it. I was really very excited! when he let me actually use the brush up and down his front teeth. I will probably also buy the finger brush too.

I did search Youtube but didn't see this video. Maybe too many I missed this.

RockyandLily · 01-01-2013, 12:23 AM

Congrats

, I have to brush Rocky and Lily's teeth, especially Lily's since her gums were irritated in the back at her last trip to the vet. I use a q-tip and biotene cat toothpaste using the antispeptic one on Lily in the morning and the maintenance gel at night and on Rocky I do the maintenance gel once a day.
The q-tip is the only thing that they have accepted. Some people even dip the q-tip in tuna juice to make it more appetizing to the cat, but I don't. I could never use a finger brush since Lily actually bit through my nail when I was first learning how, the nail grew in dented xD

Good luck with kitties brushing

snowy · 01-01-2013, 01:44 AM

Thanks for the tip. Q-tip is a good idea if ever I need to apply colloidal silver on his gums. Wow! that's really great. Did you use the Q-tip with a long stick? the one used by the vet. What I can usually find at stores are the short Q-tip, wonder if the long ones are easily available, haven't seen any though.

Pursestan · 01-01-2013, 08:57 AM

This is great info!
I never really thought about toothbrushing with my last cat since I fell for the "dry food keeps their teeth clean" line.
My new kitty will be a Burmese and I've heard that they can have gingivitis issues, so I definitely want to keep on top of tooth health. I plan to wet feed with some raw if I can so hopefully the raw will help.

snowy · 01-01-2013, 05:18 PM

ET is FIV+, understand they are very prone to gingivitis too, so have to be vigilant in helping him prevent it.

snowy · 01-02-2013, 02:01 AM

Got the C.E.T Enzymatic toothpast, poultry flavour. Let ET licked it off my finger, he loved it, whew! Hrs later, I thought I'll try it with the toothbrush. I didn't manage to brush him though, he kept licking off the paste from the brush instead, and still looking around for more, lol. Anyway, its a good start, at least he like the taste of the toothpaste. I still haven't got the hang of doing it right, practice makes perfect, will have to try many times.

tigre86 · 01-02-2013, 06:23 AM

^ lol, maybe he likes the toothpaste a little too much! You'll get better at brushing his teeth the more you do it. Like the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. Glad ET is doing well so far.

12-31-2012, 08:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
snowy Cool Cat Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,006	Hooray! ET lets me brush his teeth! I am really so excited! I bought a baby toothbrush yesterday, just to see if ET will tolerate something in his mouth. I let him sniff it last night and let him chew it yesterday. This morning he came to me for a chin rub on my desktop again. I thought I'll try this time to actually use the brush and do a mock brushing without toothpaste. To my surprise! he actually showed me his teeth and let me brush both sides of his teeth. Come to think of it, I realised I didn't know how to do it properly, I only managed to brush his front top teeth, but I am really excited enough. I wanna go buy toothpaste, but then again ET almost always tolerated anything dry, if I were to add toothpaste, he may resist. Whatever the case, I'm gonna try. It just makes me wonder if ET was an abandoned cat and not a total stray. He knew "sit" right from the start. He knew how to use the litter box right from the start. Now, he tolerated teeth brushing without an issue. Though at other times, he didn't tolerate many other handlings. I am really beginning to think he was once a house pet.

01-01-2013, 12:23 AM	#5 (permalink)
RockyandLily Cat Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Haverhill, Massachusetts Posts: 105	Congrats , I have to brush Rocky and Lily's teeth, especially Lily's since her gums were irritated in the back at her last trip to the vet. I use a q-tip and biotene cat toothpaste using the antispeptic one on Lily in the morning and the maintenance gel at night and on Rocky I do the maintenance gel once a day. The q-tip is the only thing that they have accepted. Some people even dip the q-tip in tuna juice to make it more appetizing to the cat, but I don't. I could never use a finger brush since Lily actually bit through my nail when I was first learning how, the nail grew in dented xD Good luck with kitties brushing __________________ Rocky born April 29th, 2011, Lily born June 5th, 2011 R.I.P Baxter August 21st, 1998-November 1st, 2011. Barnaby July ?, 1998-January 15th, 2012

01-01-2013, 01:44 AM	#6 (permalink)
snowy Cool Cat Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,006	Thanks for the tip. Q-tip is a good idea if ever I need to apply colloidal silver on his gums. Wow! that's really great. Did you use the Q-tip with a long stick? the one used by the vet. What I can usually find at stores are the short Q-tip, wonder if the long ones are easily available, haven't seen any though. Last edited by marie73; 01-06-2013 at 08:24 PM.

01-01-2013, 05:18 PM	#8 (permalink)
snowy Cool Cat Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,006	ET is FIV+, understand they are very prone to gingivitis too, so have to be vigilant in helping him prevent it. Last edited by marie73; 01-06-2013 at 08:23 PM.

12-31-2012, 09:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
snowy Cool Cat Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,006	Can anyone link me to some kinda home video on cat brushing? What came up when googling are those videos by vet.

12-31-2012, 10:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
snowy Cool Cat Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,006	Thank you soooo much for the tips and video, just what I am looking for. I will try the toothpaste licking 1st then add onto the brush later. Will go slow. So I did everything the other way round, lol... I just wanted to see if he can tolerate anything I get into his mouth, before I buy the toothpaste, cos its expensive, didn't wanna waste it. I was really very excited! when he let me actually use the brush up and down his front teeth. I will probably also buy the finger brush too. I did search Youtube but didn't see this video. Maybe too many I missed this.

01-01-2013, 08:57 AM	#7 (permalink)
Pursestan Jr. Cat Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 69	This is great info! I never really thought about toothbrushing with my last cat since I fell for the "dry food keeps their teeth clean" line. My new kitty will be a Burmese and I've heard that they can have gingivitis issues, so I definitely want to keep on top of tooth health. I plan to wet feed with some raw if I can so hopefully the raw will help.

01-02-2013, 02:01 AM	#9 (permalink)
snowy Cool Cat Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 1,006	Got the C.E.T Enzymatic toothpast, poultry flavour. Let ET licked it off my finger, he loved it, whew! Hrs later, I thought I'll try it with the toothbrush. I didn't manage to brush him though, he kept licking off the paste from the brush instead, and still looking around for more, lol. Anyway, its a good start, at least he like the taste of the toothpaste. I still haven't got the hang of doing it right, practice makes perfect, will have to try many times.

01-02-2013, 06:23 AM	#10 (permalink)
tigre86 Cat Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 104	^ lol, maybe he likes the toothpaste a little too much! You'll get better at brushing his teeth the more you do it. Like the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. Glad ET is doing well so far.

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