Feline dental cleaning and scaling - pro or con?

[Crzt4torts]

Routine dental care under anesthesia seems to be highly recommended in my local.
Between anesthesia concern and expense, just curious about others thoughts or experiences. Also any frequency recommendations.

 

[Yvonne G]

I suppose if you started early enough you could train a cat to accept you brushing his teeth. Pew do cats ever have stinky breath. Most of my cats will eat dry food, and I've never had a tooth problem, however, the oldest one on the property has started drooling, but I think he has a tumor on his gums. He's going to have to be euthanized before winter because he's so frail.

I have never had a cat to the vet for dental work. I doubt I'd ever do it on a regular basis, but only if there were a problem.

 

[MPRC]

If possible ask about sedation dentistry vs. general anesthesia. They usually recover a bit better from it, but if there are teeth that need to be pulled you may not have that option.

 

[wellington]

Only if it's needed for the Heath of the cat. Yearly, that's just a money maker, unless your cat has a condition that would cause it to be required yearly, which I doubt.
The best way to keep dog and cats teeth in the best shape is to feed dry food only. Can food could be used as a treat but not as a meal. I have had lots of dogs and several cats. I feed only dry foods and treats. I have never had to have dental work on my animals.
I used to work for a vet. A very honest one that wasn't out for money only. The things some vets like to push on people as routine or necessary he never agreed with.

 

[Dfwgolden]

Routine dental care under anesthesia seems to be highly recommended in my local.
Between anesthesia concern and expense, just curious about others thoughts or experiences. Also any frequency recommendations.

I'm about to enter vet school to specialize in nutrition and reproduction mainly in canines but I know a lot about cats as well.

Dental disease is one of the major killers among cats. Poor dental hygiene can lead to organ failure and has been linked to cancers. It can also cause nasty abscesses which if get out of control can cause a raging infection that can potentially kill your cat.
(A lot of this is applicable to dogs too!)

A water additive or toothpaste will be the most effective thing to use between regular dental cleanings.

My preferred brand is Zymox it's unflavored, easy to use, comes in both a paste and additive for the water, and won't break the bank. PLUS IT ACTUALLY WORKS.

Don't let a vet trick you into that prescription dental food they actually get kick back from selling it. It doesn't actually work that well if at all AND it's TERRIBLE for your pet.

The best way to keep teeth healthy is a raw diet but feeding a high quality dry food WITH a high quality wet food with the help of zymox can keep teeth clean.

Royal Canine, Purina, Science Diet, Iams and many others are just junk in a pretty package.

I am the know it all on pet food so if you have any questions you can message me