Time For Kitty To See The Dentist?

Cats need regular dental check ups too! Luckily, we veterinarians are doctors, surgeons, dentists, pharmacists, radiologists, public health officials, meat inspectors, dietitians, business managers and great people, all in one! So a dental checkup can be part of your cat's yearly visit.

Some vets are recommending twice yearly visits, but that is your choice to make. Once a year may be enough.

Cats have fewer teeth than we do, only twenty eight, versus our thirty two, and many fewer teeth than the forty two a dog has. With modern soft and mushy diets though, cats accumulate tarter quickly on their teeth and need to have it scaled off. Ultrasonic dental scalers do a very thorough job of cleaning a cat's teeth, but sometimes a cat may only need the larger tarter chunks popped off with a hand scaler. I used to keep a hand scaler in each exam room for just that purpose.

If you let your cat's teeth go without cleaning, the teeth get caries (cavities) just like our teeth do. Cats teeth are so small that they are hard to drill out and put fillings in, even though I have done that for many of my patients. The new glass inomer kits, and drill and scaler choices, make more advanced dentistry choices available to the modern kitty.

Teeth cleaning diets are also helpful in that the ones like Science Diet T/D are large and gooey, with chunks that surround the teeth and pull off the tarter build up as the cat is eating. A good dry food diet is great for daily cleaning of the teeth as the dry food is hard and strengthens and cleans the teeth as cats chew it.

Modern dental techniques allow veterinarians many options beyond the old "Elevate and Extract" days that described the extent of dental care available for animals when I was a boy. We can now offer fillings, crowns, root canals, orthodontia (braces) and even tooth implants for people interested in restoring a pet's teeth.

I personally don't recommend brushing a cat's teeth because cats hate it and then the relationship with their owner is lost. Dry food diets and tarter control diets work better and are easier and keep you in good relations with your cat. And that's what it's all about, a warm and loving relationship between you and your kitty!

Dr. Doug Ikeler http://www.drdougikeler.com/