Originally Posted by Cleopatra Beers

Cleo "brushes" her teeth at least 3 times a week and at most once a day. The quotes are there because she eats the toothpaste and refuses to let me brush her teeth. Her vets say that does work and she has great teeth and breath. We use Drs. Foster and Smith toothpaste for cats and dogs. It's really cute; she gets on my shoulder while I brush my teeth at night and then I put her toothpaste on her toothbrush and she takes it off the brush while she balances on my shoulder ( I have the scars to prove that her balance isn't that great). The vets told me that brushing or eating toothpaste once a day is great.

Originally Posted by Cleopatra Beers

I have the small brush too, but I remember a post on this site several months ago where someone (sorry, I can't remember who) uses baby toothbrushes. I am going to try that. I don't think Cleo will go for it, but I'll try it anyway.

Originally Posted by Inflamed

We use a brush for babies/toddlers too! Samael sort of lets us brush his teeth but he mostly just licks the chicken flavoured paste of the brush too. We don't do it enough though, but he just got his adult teeth and they're so nice & white! Btw there's nothing wrong with doing it every day, the more the better, but most people can't be bothered to so vets recommend once a week to get people to do it (or that's what I think anyway).

Originally Posted by Nofuratu

If you have the time to do it once a day instead of once a week that is definetely better. Cats and Dogs DO need daily brushing, but a lot of owners only have time for weekly...go for daily if possible!

Originally Posted by Taraforweb

I know there are dog treats to help with teeth cleaning... are there cat treats that do the same that anyone likes?

Originally Posted by Zeke8888

I tried getting some dental treats for my cats -bu even my alley cat was not having it! Definitely brush those teeth-you don't want your babies to end up "toofless" like my poor Siamese almost is because I listened to a vet that wasn't all cats -my fault big time, seriously!

Originally Posted by jussiolavi

Is teeth brushing mandatory? Fiona has very good teeth and her breath doesn't smell or anything. Do I still need to brush them? A sales clerk at a local pet store (she is the manager and knows a lot about cats) said that because she eats dry food that she chews (it's Applaws so the kibbles are pit bigger and need to be chewed) no teeth brushing needed.

Originally Posted by catlover

I have never brushed my cat's teeth)) I try to feed it with food that cleans teeth so Clyde never has any problems with teeth. I've read many, and found out it wasn't healthy.. By the way, how do feed your cat?

Originally Posted by Snowball

Okay. That is good to hear. I would love to do it everyday, even if I don't have the time for it. (I feel I don't have time but I have plenty of time to sit here and comment on other people's post! ) Okay I do have time to do things but it always feels like I don't have time because I have so much things to do and so little time.

Pebbles got his adult teeth 2 months ago and I'm trying to keep it pristine white and get him into the habit of getting his teeth brush. He has smelly breath because of those can food he loves to eat. I don't feed him a lot of can, just one can a day and a shot glass full of dry food in the afternoon. Prior to the 4 months, he's never had his teeth brush like that so he hates it. I just wanted to know if it's bad to brush their teeths daily even if I don't have time. Some vets says no, just once a week but they don't really tell you why. Good to know others tries to brush their babies teeth everyday. I just don't want to be the odd ball out because if anything happens, I have you guys to help me out.

Originally Posted by jussiolavi

Is teeth brushing mandatory? Fiona has very good teeth and her breath doesn't smell or anything. Do I still need to brush them? A sales clerk at a local pet store (she is the manager and knows a lot about cats) said that because she eats dry food that she chews (it's Applaws so the kibbles are pit bigger and need to be chewed) no teeth brushing needed.

Originally Posted by Snowball

I would love to read your sources on why it's not healthy to brush their teeths. Did you type in on the search bar, "Why do animals need their teeths to be clean?" or "Should animals get their teeths cleaned?" Also feeding food that helps keep an animal's teeth clean doesn't clean the outside of the teeth well. It doesn't get closer to the gum line where bacteria could grow and continued to infect the gum. Those food just scrapes the surface part but doesn't really target a specific area well. I know in the wild, it's not neccessary to have their teeths brushed, but those felines in the wild has really bad teeth, just not as bad as ours because they're not eating commerically made food that has loads of chemical in it.

When you asked, "...how do you feed your cat?" What do you mean by that? Do you mean how much I feed my kitty or what I feed my kitty? How do I feed my cat sounds more like do I leave a bowl of food out there for it to eat, or do I baby feed it like I would to a baby, by holding it in my arms and feeding food down it's throat? I'm sorry but that question can be looked at in different ways. I don't want to give an answer if it's not what you're asking because that's how misunderstanding occurs. Thanks for understanding.

Edit: So I checked out the link you have above on Pissed Consumer and there was nothing on why it's bad to clean teeth. I will research further about teeth cleaning and get back to you. If you found sources on why it's bad cleaning a pet's teeth, then maybe I can too.

Edit: Okay, so I googled and yahoo different ways to ask why teeth cleaning for animals are bad and it all comes up as why we SHOULD clean our pet's teeth and we should be brushing them. Buying the treats or food that has cleaning properties in it does help a bit but not as well as actually using a brush and cleaning off the gunk that's close to the gum line. I think why you said it's unhealthy to brush an animals teeth all the time is because of the bleeding of the gum. Some people do not know how to properly brush an animals' teeth and will use a little more force than neccessary, thus making the gum bleed. This can cause bacteria from the teeth itself to go into the gum and make it worst. This is my reason on why teeths shouldn't be brush so often but it also goes both ways for humans. We do make our own gums bleed but routine care can prevent our gums from bleeding easily.

Originally Posted by Nofuratu

What your pet store rep told you is wrong...unfortunately.
Studies in veterinary dental health tell us that there is NO evidence that feeding dry food cleans the teeth, and it definetely does not eliminate the need for brushing.

The way i usually explain this to people is to compare it to eating cookies for humans. If you eat hard cookies all day, you must still brush your teeth to prevent plaque and then tartar from building up right?
Eating cookies all day instead of pudding does not eliminate the need for humans to brush their teeth, even if they are eating sugar free cookies/pudding.

the only way to clean pet teeth is to brush them or wipe them with a cloth, or use an oral cleansing gel which is not as good as brushing but better than doing nothing....OR to feed raw food with bones, ligaments, tendons etc that scrub and floss the teeth. Although if you feed raw you should still brush the teeth too.

Originally Posted by Snowball

Okay. That is good to hear. I would love to do it everyday, even if I don't have the time for it. (I feel I don't have time but I have plenty of time to sit here and comment on other people's post! ) Okay I do have time to do things but it always feels like I don't have time because I have so much things to do and so little time.

Pebbles got his adult teeth 2 months ago and I'm trying to keep it pristine white and get him into the habit of getting his teeth brush. He has smelly breath because of those can food he loves to eat. I don't feed him a lot of can, just one can a day and a shot glass full of dry food in the afternoon. Prior to the 4 months, he's never had his teeth brush like that so he hates it. I just wanted to know if it's bad to brush their teeths daily even if I don't have time. Some vets says no, just once a week but they don't really tell you why. Good to know others tries to brush their babies teeth everyday. I just don't want to be the odd ball out because if anything happens, I have you guys to help me out.