Pet Dental Health is not what it used to be.

… and we are not talking about more mutts getting cavities, or more kittens with periodontal disease, we mean that caring for your pet’s oral health is getting easier and easier.

Year’s ago, a trip to the Vet for your pups or kittens regular visit would be all the oral attention he or she would get – but now there are a huge selection of options available to keep your pet’s mouth in tip top shape.

To start, the selections in toothbrushes and toothpastes has exploded.  There are traditional finger toothbrushes that became popular close to a decade ago – but there are also traditional looking toothbrushes that work very well for some pets.

The selection of pet breath fresheners have expanded quite a bit, too.  Not many of us like dog breath, but more and more owners across the US are doing something about it, using sprays, mints and other doggie breath fresheners to make their pooches mouthes smell a tad better.

New to the market are dental floss and tartar removal products for pets.  Flosses come in traditional flossing type toys like ropes, as well as liquid floss for pets.  There are a number of different tartar removal products available these days also.   The foaming tartar removal is newest to the range of products and proving to be both effective and well liked by pet owners.

In general, dog dental treats are pretty good at freshening your furry friends breath too.  There are bones made in mint, spearmint and other popular freshening flavors.  NutriDent is a popular brand of dental treats, as well as Greenies and Smartbones.

Finally the variety of dental toys available for pets is a literal explosion.  The toys range from specialty dental ropes,  textured chew toys and dental rings.  Your dog or cat is going to love some of these.

If your cat’s ears seem dirty, there is a great chance that he or she has ear mites.  These pests live in your cat’s ears and survive by eating the lining of their ears.  If you suspect that your cat has ear mites, you must take your cat to the veterinarian.  He will make sure that the ear problem is ear mites and not something else.  Once you are sure your cat has ear mites, you can be sure you will treat them with the correct medicine.

One ear mite medication that has great success in ridding ear mites is Four Paws Ear Mite Remedy – Cats, pictured above.  It is a safe and easy product that contains the ear mite killing ingredient called pyrethin.  Ear mites can irritate your cat’s ears, and the Four Paws Ear Mite Remedy – Cats contains aloe vera to soothe your cat’s ears.

When medicating your cat, you need to be sure that you medicate him or her long enough so that you kill all of the mites.  You may want to stop giving medicine once you do not see anymore mites, but this is a bad idea!  Mites may have laid tiny eggs that are not visible to the human eye, and you have to be sure to treat your cat with the medication long enough to kill the mites and their eggs.  Talk to your vet to find out how long he would recommend you give your cat medication.

If you have more than one cat, you have to be very careful with ear mites.  Ear mites are very contagious, and can easily travel from cat to cat.  If one of your cats has ear mites, there is a great chance your other cats will become infected.

The main part of dental care you are responsible for is plaque control.  Plaque can do some nasty things to a cat’s mouth.  It can cause gums to recede, which allows bacteria and parasites to enter the newly opened pockets in the gums.  Not only does this almost always lead to tooth loss, but it also can negatively affect your cat’s immune system and internal organs.  This can lead to a variety of illnesses, and ultimately an early death.  This has to be enough motivation to take care of your cat’s teeth!

The most important thing to do is brush your cat’s teeth at least 2 to 3 times a week.  It may not be an easy task, but it is definitely necessary.  After he gets used to getting his teeth  brushed, it will get easier!  I use the Pet Dental Kit for Cats, pictured to the right.  It comes with a toothbrush and a finger brush, so you can use whichever your cat prefers.  However, the long toothbrush is good for reaching the far back of the cat’s mouth.  The Pet Dental Kit for Cats also comes with toothpaste that is perfect for removing plaque and food debris!

If you do not properly control plaque in your cat’s mouth, it can lead to bad breath.  If your cat has bad breath, there are ways you can temporarily fix this problem.  One easy way you can freshen your cat’s breath is adding Dental Fresh for Cats – 8 oz to his or her water bowl.  It also contains ingredients that helps to remove plaque and tarter, and also brighten your kitty’s teeth!

Your cat can also have fun while he is geting his mouth healthy!  There are a variety of cat toys specifically designed to strengthen and clean his teeth.  My cat likes the Dental Health Cat Chew Toy.  It keeps the gums clean by removing tartar.  It is infused with catnip so your cat will want to chew on it!  Another fun way to clean your cat’s teeth is giving them dental treats.  My cat loves the Feline Greenies Cat Dental Treats 3 oz.  It comes in 5 different flavors: chicken, beef, ocean fish, salmon, and tuna.  Try them all!

Depending on your cat’s breed, you may have to spend a lot of time grooming your cat’s fur!

If you do not brush, comb, and detangle long-haired cats daily, their fur will tangle quickly.  If you cannot commit to daily grooming, you should trim their hair short so it does not get matted and tangled.  Cats who have medium-length coats will require weekly grooming.  Cats with short hair only need to be brushed out frequently enough to ensure that their fur does not get matted.

As you probably realize, grooming a long-haired cat is a time consuming process.  First, you must comb through their hair with a medium or coarse pet comb.  After that comb handles any tangles, you need to go over their hair with a fine-toothed comb.  I would recommend a double sided comb like the GripSoft Double Sided Pet Comb, which has one coarse side, and another fine-toothed side.  Then, you will need to use a pin brush.  It is very important to go through all of these steps, as skipping one can cause discomfort to your pet, which will make brushing incredibly different.

Medium and wire-haired cats are much easier to groom than long-haired cats.  All you need to do is run a regular pet comb through their hair, and then use a cat slicker brush or grooming glove to follow up.  I would recommend the Love Glove Grooming Mitt – Four Paws, shown above.  These gloves not only massage your kitty while removing their hair, but they also can be used to collect hair from furniture and carpet!

When you groom your short-haired cat, you can use a flea comb.  When combing your short-haired cat, first use a regular comb, and then use a flea comb.  The narrow spacing of the flea comb can pull too much on your cat’s hair, causing major discomfort.  If your flea comb pulls out fleas, put them into a bowl of water to drown them, and then flush them down the toilet!  The Palm Pet Flea and Flea Egg Comb is great because its specifically designed to remove fleas as well as flea eggs.

Keep in mind that no matter what length hair your cat has, there are certain areas that are more prone to tangling and knots.  You need to pay special attention to these areas, particularly in long-haired cats.  These areas are: behind the ears, under the tail, and in their “armpits” (where the legs meet their belly).

Frequently grooming your cat gives you a chance to give their coat a good look.  This way you will become aware of any abnormalities.  If there are bald patches, this could mean your cat has a parasite or fungal infections.  When you notice any abnormalities, take your kitty to the vet!

If there is redness or swelling in your cats eye, or if your cat squints or you see a discharge of mucus, these may be indications of an eye infection.            

• Keep your cat’s eyes clear of mucus at all times. Eye infections are often caused by bacteria that overgrow on mucus. Use a sterile eyewash and/or eye wipes to keep the eye area clean. This is especially important in young kittens that may have considerable eye discharge resulting from upper respiratory infections. 
• Vetericyn Pink Eye Spray is a  steroid-free, antibiotic-free, no-rinse solution is non-toxic and speeds healing.
• Keep all hair out of your cat’s eyes since scratches to the cornea (the clear membrane across the surface of the eye) can result from contact with hair.
• Tear staining is a common problem with particular breeds of cats, in particular Persians. 
• Normally, tears flow across the surface of the eye and quickly drain through the tear duct. Normal tears that spill out and lay on the surrounding hair cause this discoloration at the corners of the eyes.  Use a remedy such as Tear Clear pads for pets.
• For breeds that tend to have tear stains, you should clean hair in affected areas at least weekly with a tear stain remover product.   Eye Clear® Eye Drops and Eye Pads helps eliminate eye stains without harmful bleaching.  The formula washes eyes, cleans stains and breaks down debris.

• Use a spot on treatment like the Bio Spot Spot-On Cat Flea & Tick Control to help prevent or treat a flea infestation on your cat.  This product is made with pesticide that is safe for use on cats and kittens.  It is formulated to easily kill and repel fleas that bother your cat.  This flea treatment is simple to use and can last for several months.
• Another simple way to prevent and treat fleas from bothering your cat is to use a flea collar.  The BioSpot Break Away Flea and Tick Collar makes flea prevention easy and convenient.  Just place this collar on your cat and it will effectively repel fleas for eight months and will kill flea eggs to help prevent infestation.  It is also effective at killing ticks and helping to prevent Lyme disease.
• A flea and tick shampoo, like the BioSpot Flea and Tick Shampoo, is also a simple way to kill and repel fleas.  This particular flea and tick shampoo lasts for almost a month and leaves your cat’s coat looking healthy, shiny and smelling fresh and clean.

For urinary tract disease prevention, choose a supplement that is formulated to help keep the urinary tract healthy and disease resistant.  Nutri-Vet Uri-Ease is an ideal supplement to give to your cat everyday.  It has a great tuna taste and is soft to chew.  This soft chew contains a variety of healthy ingredients that are known to improve and maintain urinary health.

Another soft chew that is great for your cat’s urinary tract health is the Pet Naturals UT Support for cats.  This soft chew is formulated to help prevent your cat’s urine from forming crystals in the urinary tract by lowering the PH in your cat’s urine.  A lower PH means that there is less acid in the urine, which has been a leading cause of forming crystals in the bladder and creating blockages.

If your cat would prefer a paste, choose one like the Excel Cat Bladder Care Paste to maintain your cat’s urinary tract health.  This tasty paste is made with cranberry extract and DL-Methionine to balance the PH in your cat’s urine.  This paste formula works great on senior cats or cats that stay indoors and has a malt flavor that cat’s love to lick.  It may also be used on kittens for urinary tract health.

Keeping your cat’s urinary tract healthy is easy with an easy-to-administer supplement.  Choose a supplement that that your cat loves the taste of to ensure that your cat will eat it.  By preventing FLUTDs, you are saving your cat from a lot of pain and irritation and yourself from an expensive trip to the vet.