[TAsunder]

Well, I can't seem to get my cats into the whole me touching their mouths thing. I've tried many different things. But I have a new theory and was wondering if there is some sort of huge psychological flaw in this.

What I am doing is preparing their canned food, and then using the brush on them, and then immediately after I think they've had enough, I will give them their food. I'm hoping that this will eventually lead them to at least tolerating it. I can manage to expose their teeth for about 5 seconds, and have no idea how to get them to open their mouth entirely.

Will this eventually turn them off of their food? Any real problems with doing it this way?

 

[queen of the nile]

I kind of squat over top of the cat. I kneel on the floor and the cat is between my legs. You can give slight pressure with the knees so that they can't run off. In this position it is quite easy to look in their mouths and brush their teeth. It is also really handy for bum wipes too , except with the other end of the cat poking out from between your knees :lol: .
I don't think that brushing before feeding them will turn them off of the food, but I always brush afterwards. I don't know if it matters, but the human dentist always said to brush after each meal. I don't if it makes a huge difference though when you only brush the cats' teeth once a day...

 

[TAsunder]

The idea behind brushing first is that they will associate brushing with eating soon. If I brush afterwards it's like punishing them for eating.

 

[queen of the nile]

With my cats it is easier after food because they are full, content and so are easier to manipulate. I always grab them when they begin to lick their paws :lol: .
I think either way that they won't associate the feeding with the 'punishment' (brushing). Somewhere, littlebigcatdaddy said that cats only have an attention span to an action for 1 1/2 seconds. ie: if your cat pees on the floor, you must reprimand them within that time frame in order for them to associate the action with the reprimand. I think the same would go for teeth brushing? At least it makes logical sense in my head :lol:

 

[sentimentalgirl]

I brush their teeth before I go to sleep. They always come to the bathroom when I'm brushing my teeth. I use the situation and brush their teeth too. Usually I have them on my lap or between my knees. After that I give them some dry food - as a treat.

 

[Superkitties]

What I am doing is preparing their canned food, and then using the brush on them, and then immediately after I think they've had enough, I will give them their food.

That is very very clever, sounds good to me. If they're still happily eating their food afterwards, then just keep doing what you're doing. It would be like the reward after the 5 secs of ickiness, and they're associating it with something good (yummy food!). Don't see any negative psychological impact there.

Later, you can brush their teeth a little longer, maybe get them to kinda open their mouth, switch times, who knows?
Progress is progress

 

[TAsunder]

This technique seems to be progressing. One cat licks the toothpaste off his teeth and only struggles occasionally - although his ears are back. The other cat is very sassy but usually lets me get a good 3 seconds of brushing in!