Home Dental Care for Your Cat Or Dog

Hi, I'm Dr. Colleen and this is another edition of Petsecure pet health tips. Today, we're talking about home dental care. Did you know that over 70% of dogs and cats over the age of three years old will have some form of dental disease? That's why it's critical for us to start with home care as early as possible with our pets. You want to check with your veterinarian to see which products are going to be the best for your pet at home. There are rinses, gels and toothpastes that we can use for our cats and dogs. Once your veterinarian has let you know which product to use, then you can start from there. We usually start just by having our pet in our lap or sitting beside us and getting them used to having our hands around their lips and in their mouths. Once they get used to that -- and that may take several weeks -- then we can work our way up to simple things like gauze squares, the waistband of old pantyhose, or a soft baby facecloth. Using the toothpaste, if that's going to be our choice, we take a small amount of the paste, put it on your gauze pad, and then we will slowly start to rub along the surface of the tooth. You don't need to open the mouth wide, you just need to kind of lift up the lip a little bit and you can get all the way to that back surface. Home dental care is a good way to help prevent gum disease and to keep your pet's mouth clean and healthy.