Cleaning a Cat's Teeth Isn't Easy - Proper Dental Care Is Important

First, let’s take a look inside a cat’s mouth. A house cat’s jaw contains thirty teeth: it each side of each jaw there are three incisors, one canine, two (below) or three (above) front molars and one rear molar. These rear molars only appear during teething. Kittens have 26 baby teeth which are replaced by adult teeth between the ages of three and six months. The canines together form the fangs that are typical for predators: thanks to space between them in the bite, these teeth can move past one another. The animal uses the fangs to grab and kill prey. The molars, which have developed into incisors, the cat tears away meat and swallows portions whole without chewing.

A shockingly high number of cats have problems with their jaws: around three quarters of cats suffer from impairments in their mouth. Tartar often is a warning sign, which is formed in the same way as in people: food residue solidifies on the teeth and forms plaque, which hardens into tartar due to the minerals in the saliva, causing gum infections and paradontosis. The teeth become loose and there is a risk of a loss of teeth and the functionality of the bite.

In other, rarer, cases, the gums may also be attacked by immune disorders or viruses. The gum infection is not only dangerous for the jaw. The bacteria from the sources of infection can reach other parts of the body through the blood stream and cause infections in places that the owner would not immediately think of in relation to the jaw. Renal damage or heart disease can also be caused – indirectly – by tartar. A cat’s mouth can be opened just enough for a visual inspection by pressing carefully in the corners of the mouth.

Tartar in cats is a serious problem. If the teeth are already badly affected, a vet will have to intervene. Under narcosis, the vet can remove the tartar from the cat’s mouth. For complex dental problems, such as root infections, it may be necessary to remove teeth. To stop things from coming to this, you should prevent tartar as much as possible with appropriate dental care and have the cat’s mouth checked once a year during its routine examination.

As soon as kittens start trying everything out with their little teeth that they find while playing, dental care begins. Alongside wet food, cats should always have dry food available: by crunching on hard food, the teeth are mechanically cleared of plaque and the development of tartar is prevented. The resulting gum massage also helps to strengthen the gums holding the teeth. The jaw muscles are also strengthened. There is dry food that is specially designed for tooth cleaning. If the cat absolutely refuses hard food, whether in the form of dry food or snacks, this may be an indication that the animal has tooth pain. The pet store also offers special cat toothbrushes or finger brushes and tooth paste – naturally not in mint, but in flavours that are attractive to cats.

Cleaning a cat’s teeth, however, is anything but easy. It is worth getting the cat used to it in a playful way so that it will accept the procedure later. Tooth cleaning with a brush cannot be avoided, but only in cases of very specific tooth problems, such as tooth loss, or if the dry food method is impractical for some reason. Generally, the development of tartar in cats can never be completely excluded – this has to do with the individual animal’s own predisposition.