My Portia is losing 4 teeth!!

[snowkitty]

Oh, dear! We took our little 2 year old meezer Portia in for a dental cleaning today. The vet just called and said she needed to have four teeth extracted---all premolars.

The vet says we will need to brush Portia's teeth. I don't know how we're going to manage that---she is a squirmy little thing and doesn't like to have her mouth messed with.

Has anyone here had success with kitty toothbrushing? Will we have to switch her to only canned food? (Right now she gets some canned food but always has dry food available. There are 4 cats in the house, so it works out well that way.)

[furrykidsmother]

Hi Snowkitty and welcome! Sorry to hear that Portia is going to need to have some teeth pulled. I don't think that I would have much luck with my 4 brushing their teeth, but I know that there are many different types of materials on the market. One I know of I believe just fits over your finger and if you can just get that into her mouth and gently rub I would think that would be the best way. I know they have special kitty toothbrushes and that you must use a special kitty toothpaste as human toothpastes are not good for them. As for only feeding her soft food, I would think that a certain amount of dry food would be good for her. Our 4 kids have gum problems and we have been told to give them Friskies Dental Diet as it helps to keep the tartar under control. I also give them Clindamycin treatments every 3 to 4 months.

[Shady]

I've tried brushing teeth with my two docile females, it didnt work out too well they protested, squirmed and generally disagreed totally with the whole idea.

There are some foods out there that will help. I have (since I have been aware that there was a tartar buildup (I think from feeding them Temptations) found a dry food by Royal Canin called Oral Sensitive 30.

I have been substituting this for the regular treat kind of food and in the four months or so of using it have noticed a remarkable improvement in all of my four cats. That's just with using them as treats, they also get Royal Canin for Persians, and a very small amount of wet food.

I highly recommend it, it's pricey but can save problems and $ in dental care in the long run.

Oral Sensitive 30 Specs:

Promotes healthy teeth and prevents bad breath
Special kibble size and texture generates, during chewing, a mechanical scrubbing effect against dental plaque and tartar.


Prevents the formation of hairballs
An exclusive association of different types of fibre and psyllium stimulates transit and facilitates the elimination
of hairballs.


Reduces the risk of vomiting
The size and texture of the kibble encourages chewing, thereby reducing the speed of ingestion
of the food and reducing the risk of vomiting.

[snowkitty]

Thanks for the recommendations. Í'll ask my vet about the clindamycin and check out the special foods. I just talked to the vet again, and fortunately, the four premolars are balanced, one one each side top, one on each side down, so she'll still be able to chew. We're going to have to do dental checks more often, of course.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Welcome to PT.:) I'm so sorry to hear that Portia had to have 4 teeth extracted.:( Have you ever heard of Oravet? I recently took two of my cats in for a dental cleaning and they put oravet on their teeth. It's a tooth sealent that helps prevent plaque and tartar buildup. You can also buy kits to use at home and it's much easier than brushing their teeth. It has to be used after a dental cleaning though and you use it once a week. Here's the link that will tell you more about it: http://www.oravet.com/. Good luck.:)

[relish]

My vet. told me that wet food is actually bad for their teeth. He recomends only dry food. Try telling that to the kitties (they're still getting some wet food, but not as much:)

[snowkitty]

Thanks, everyone. My vet gave me some gel stuff to put on her teeth every day (just a dab with a q-tim on each top back tooth). Maybe that will help. Alas, there are two more teeth that are not great but don't need to be extracted yet. Let's hope the gel helps arrest that problem.

When Portia got home yesterday it was hard to make her understand that it is not a good idea to be jumping up to the highest possible places while still woozy with anesthesia. I spent an hour and a half removing her from bookcases and the top shelf of the cat tree before she settled down! Silly kitty.