I don't want to brush my cat's teeth

[Anonymous]

I have a new cat, and I plan to care for it by providing all the necessary vaccines and check-ups, giving it food and water, keeping it inside, and brushing and playing with it daily. I'll even clip its nails and empty the litter box as needed (meaning multiple times a day). She is also spayed.

I do not, however, plan to brush her teeth or have bi-yearly teeth cleanings at the vet's office. I don't want to pay for that, and even though not caring for my cat's teeth can apparently cause more serious health problems, I don't care. I don't care if that means I am inadvertently shaving a few years off of her life. Does anyone else feel this way? Is tooth brushing really a standard part of a pet's care nowadays? Is everyone really doing this????? When I was a kid, the vet never guilted/pressured us to do this to our pet.

[Anonymous]

We don't brush our cats' teeth but we do pay for annual teeth cleanings.

[Anonymous]

I hear ya, OP. I have had a cat who lived to age 17 and did not do tooth brushing. I have a hard time imagining brushing a cat's teeth. I did pay for the vet to clean them, but not bi-annually. More like 3-4 times during her lifetime.

Cats will not cooperate with this.

[Anonymous]

Are you really supposed to do that these days??? What about a dog?

This may seriously make me never get a pet.

[Anonymous]

As a dental hygienist, I will tell you honestly: I have NEVER brushed my cat's teeth. I have also never paid for my cat to have a cleaning. I had two 8 year old cats that passed away without having had a cleaning. They both had healthy gums. I have two dogs that are now 8 -- they will likely need a dental cleaning in the next year (lots of tartar build up and a little gingivitis). I have two cats now. One will probably never have a cleaning (totally healthy mouth) and one that will likely need cleanings in the future (he's only two and I can see that he's different than my other guys). But, here's the thing. Most vets know next to nothing about teeth -- seriously. Most can't actually even perform a proper dental cleaning -- they scrape away the crap you can see, but miss the real problem stuff under the gums. For most vets, the cleanings are a real money-maker. Pets with healthy teeth live longer than other pets (they can eat a better diet), but I am not convinced annual cleanings have much to do with that. My advice: feed your cat dry food for the most part -- supplement with wet for treats, etc. The dry food helps clean their teeth. If your cat reaches 15 and only has a couple of snaggle teeth -- just feed him all wet food. That's my two cents.

[Anonymous]

PP again, FYI - I won't be doing annual cleanings on the cat that will likely need the cleanings. Every two or three years would be the tops.

[Anonymous]

We have two cats both age 11 and I have never brushed their teeth. Both have healthy gums and teeth at annual exams, too. I do think some cats are more prone to tooth problems, just like people. But I don't think that means you need to brush their teeth!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Curious if you guys do the cleanings at the vet because you buy into the recommendation OR you feel like you can't say no to the vet without feeling like an uncaring pet owner? Or some other reason?

[Anonymous]

vets can be such scamers but they are for profit businesses. I long for the days when they provided basic care, like in the old movies where the robber would get a bullet and wound patched. It seems that we have gone overboard with tests, MRIs ,cancer treatments, diabetes shots etc... ridiculous considering dying children in other countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a dental hygienist, I will tell you honestly: I have NEVER brushed my cat's teeth. I have also never paid for my cat to have a cleaning. I had two 8 year old cats that passed away without having had a cleaning. They both had healthy gums. I have two dogs that are now 8 -- they will likely need a dental cleaning in the next year (lots of tartar build up and a little gingivitis). I have two cats now. One will probably never have a cleaning (totally healthy mouth) and one that will likely need cleanings in the future (he's only two and I can see that he's different than my other guys). But, here's the thing. Most vets know next to nothing about teeth -- seriously. Most can't actually even perform a proper dental cleaning -- they scrape away the crap you can see, but miss the real problem stuff under the gums. For most vets, the cleanings are a real money-maker. Pets with healthy teeth live longer than other pets (they can eat a better diet), but I am not convinced annual cleanings have much to do with that. My advice: feed your cat dry food for the most part -- supplement with wet for treats, etc. The dry food helps clean their teeth. If your cat reaches 15 and only has a couple of snaggle teeth -- just feed him all wet food. That's my two cents.

Thanks, this is really helpful!!!!

[Anonymous]

I have a 17 y/o cat and have never brushed her teeth. I have had vets suggest it saying "If she will tolerate it." She won't. I got her when she was 8 y/o and already set in her ways. I did cough up a lot of money for a deep dental cleaning when I could afford it and am glad I did. The build up was pretty bad and they found a rotten tooth and pulled it. She's been a much happier cat since. So I would say at least do an annual cleaning.

[Anonymous]

Don't know about cats (I'm allergic), but I brush my dog's teeth pretty much every day. She's now 7 and the last time we asked the vet about teeth cleaning they took one look and said she doesn't need it.

Here's the thing: If you've ever met a older pet (dog or cat) with disgusting breath it's because people never brushed their teeth and there is decay in there. Tooth decay smells bad. If you've ever met an older pet who becomes irritable all the time, it's probably because they have tooth aches from their teeth rotting.

"Denta bones" and other treats don't do jack. If they did, we would have some equivalent thing for humans and I wouldn't have to brush & floss my own teeth all the time.

OP, you're welcome to not brush your pet's teeth, but you are likely inflicting some amount of misery on her and yourself (in the case of her breath). You can read the other PPs to make you feel better about this. News that you don't have to do something you don't want to do anyway usually has that effect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Curious if you guys do the cleanings at the vet because you buy into the recommendation OR you feel like you can't say no to the vet without feeling like an uncaring pet owner? Or some other reason?

We feed our cats an all wet diet b/c it is healthier overall for their kidneys to eat a food which is more similar to what they would have eaten in the "wild:" high in protein, not dried out, not too many carbs, etc.

We feel this is a good investment now and will pay off later b/c they won't be obese or have kidney problems, UTIs, etc.

As a trade-off, we just make sure to take good care of their teeth. It is easier to clean some teeth, or pull some teeth, than start messing around with obesity or kidney problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Curious if you guys do the cleanings at the vet because you buy into the recommendation OR you feel like you can't say no to the vet without feeling like an uncaring pet owner? Or some other reason?

We feed our cats an all wet diet b/c it is healthier overall for their kidneys to eat a food which is more similar to what they would have eaten in the "wild:" high in protein, not dried out, not too many carbs, etc.

We feel this is a good investment now and will pay off later b/c they won't be obese or have kidney problems, UTIs, etc.

As a trade-off, we just make sure to take good care of their teeth. It is easier to clean some teeth, or pull some teeth, than start messing around with obesity or kidney problems.

PS Also, one of our cats does seem to have genetically "bad" teeth. He was grumpy for quite some time and then we discovered the poor guy had what is called feline reabsorbtive ulcerative lesions (hope I spelled that correctly and used the right term!) where the teeth sort of disintegrate at the roots and get reabsorbed into the gums and we had to pull teh first worst ones, and miraculously he was a much happier cat afterwards. The poor guy must have been in pain.

[Anonymous]

It is a fallacy to think that dry food cleans your cat's teeth. That would be like saying, "I don't have to brush my teeth b/c I eat crackers all the time and the crackers clean my teeth." Silly.

That is an old school train of thought which most vets now disagree wtih.