Tigers for Tomorrow is a wild animal preserve in Atalla, Alabama. Right now, they’re desperately trying to raise the funds to save two tigers from a closed zoo in Mentone. A matching grant is being offered by American Dog Rescue to fund the building of habitats and relocation for these two tigers. In other words, if you donate $1, they match it TWICE. If you donate $10, they match it TWICE. $100? They match it! Twice!
Back in 2006, Fred and I went to Tigers for Tomorrow several times in the space of a couple of months because they had BABY TIGERS. Guess who got to snuggle and kiss and feed a baby tiger?
It was one of the neatest experiences of my life. We haven’t been back in a few years, but you’d better believe we’re going to make time to go back!
(More pictures of that, here.)
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In my comments last week, Sofia asked:
my mom and I have been talking about the veterinarian telling us we should try to brush our cat’s (Clover) teeth. Do you brush your cats’ teeth? I was just wondering how many people do this and how many people have to deal with cats who have dental issues.
I have actually never brushed my cats’ teeth, and we haven’t had any dental issues. But Oldcat said (in the same comments):
Its been a while, but when I brushed my cat’s teeth it wasn’t nearly as stressful for them as clipping nails usually is. You can usually get at the outside of the teeth just by opening the lips a bit and scrubbing away. Since you don’t have to open the mouth like giving a pill, and the toothpaste seems to taste ok they didn’t give too much trouble.
Getting the tops and inside parts of the tooth, well, you can try it but they don’t tolerate it that much. Of course you get the itty brush, not a human toothbrush.
I did it in the living room, with the cat on my lap on a big towel to avoid getting too wet. A glass of water to dunk the brush in for rinsing. Brushing in the bathroom would probably scare them, just because its the awful bathroom.
How about y’all? Do you brush your cats’ teeth, and do you have any tricks to share?
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Also, Nini asked:
So those of you guys that have a Roomba, are you happy with it?
I LOVE my Roomba. Now, it doesn’t do as good a job in the kitchen as I can do with the Dyson, but it keeps the mess down to a dull roar, so to speak, in between the times that I vacuum. The only problem right now is that I can’t run it, because it doesn’t live in the kitchen (we used to keep it in the kitchen, but the cats were forever walking across it and setting it off), and since I’m recovering from surgery, I can’t pick it up and carry it into the kitchen.
Fred’s doing a great job of keeping the house somewhat clean, but believe me – I’m REALLY turning a blind eye to the cat hair tumbleweeds these days! 🙂
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Previously
2009: No entry.
2008: “Well,” I said. “You really hit the trifecta this weekend, didn’t you?”
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Well, for the toothbrushing, I don’t do it. I tried it and it was a very bad experience. I am guessing if I had started as a kitten it would have made a big difference. We have one cat that gets a lot of tarter but the rest have no problems. The one with the problem has to get cleanings and has had a couple issues but they did’t start til he was older (he is 13 now, so he was around 10 when the problem started). He is the one I tried to brush and he just wouldn’t put up with it. I do get the tartar control food sometimes but the problem is they don’t really like it too much.
I have read that you can use cat tootpaste on a washcloth, instead of an actual toothbrush, to do tooth cleaning in cats but I haven’t tried it.
None of my cats have ever tolerated having their teeth brushed. I do mix in Friskies Dental Diet dry food with their regular dry food, and that helps cut down on the plaque build-up considerably. When I had an older cat, he had to have his teeth cleaned at the vet’s once every couple of years.
I’d like to say that I brush my cats’ teeth, but I don’t. Both Pandora and Zowie are supposed to have it, but neither of them like it, and it’s tough to get at their mouths. I really should try to though, and be consistent about it.
As for the Roomba, I love mine. I don’t use it for any of the hardwood or linoleum areas (which is most of the house) but I do use it on carpet, and it is especially good in bedrooms to get rid of the dust bunnies of cat hair that always end up under the bed. 🙂
I am so jealous of you and Fred with the tiger cubs! I would so love to do that. I visited TFT a few years ago. No tiger cubs then. I hope they are able to save the two new tigers.
Never brushed my cats’ teeth, but willing to try.
One style of cat toothbrush is a ‘finger cot’ that fits over your finger to turn it into a toothbrush.
When I was brushing, they also sold little papers to scrub with.
You better watch out…you’ll end up with a couple of those tiger cubs in a spare room.
I don’t brush my cats’ teeth but I do feed a prescription dental diet: Hill’s t/d. It’s available from most vets. They’re big chunks of kibble that scrape their teeth clean when they bite into them. However, I also feed a really good wet food (weruva) and our vet thinks that really minimizes our problems.
As per Roomba, we have one but we almost never run it. It kind of eats cables and we have a lot of those that need to be picked up right before you run it. Plus, mine gets stuck under my bed and I have to go get a broom to push it out. If I’m going to go through all that trouble, I might as well get out the Dyson.
There’s a methodological error here. Asking who brushes their cat’s teeth will naturally bias toward people who don’t brush – simply because you have to be alive to answer the question.
We don’t tolerate the teeth brushing well, we do prefer the fur brushing though!
So glad the pup is looking a bit better!
How lucky are you feeding and cuddling those baby tigers! Lucky lucky girl!
And nope ~ I’ve never brushed Banjo’s teeth. But he only eats dry food. I wonder if there is a difference with teeth when always eating wet food? Hmmm…
Toothbrushing… nope.
There’s a range of cat treats in the UK which help keep the teeth cleaner (and I can’t remember what they’re called!), and our vet said that in his experience they were quite good at maintaining a healthy tooth/gum condition.
Our vet also gave Tosca’s teeth a quick clean during her annual check-up, very swift and he was obviously very experienced in dealing with squirming kitties and clamped jaws!
I have made a few feeble attempts at cleaning teeth. It was not well received by the victims! Starting them young is probably the best way to go.
My kitties are strictly indoors. We have had several who needed dental work. I now give them Royal Canin Dental Diet and their teeth are much cleaner.
I have found that kitties who go outside are less likely to have problems. I think it is due to the eating of birds and rodents, crunching those little bones seems to scrape the teeth nicely!! I prefer keeping them in and spending more money on special food!
Beth P.
I’ve got a very old cat (he’ll be 18 on April 1) whose teeth are a mess. He only has a few left, and I’ve *tried* to brush them, both with the cat-sized toothbrush and with the “finger cot” style. It was, shall we say, not a good experience. (With the finger cot, I got bitten (by accident–I don’t even think he realized that my finger was inside the toothbrush) as he tried to get it out of his mouth–it didn’t break the skin, but I had a nice deep bruise on that finger. Ow. And this is my sweet boy who will let toddlers drag him around without complaining.)
The vet and I decided that getting his teeth cleaned at her office is much less stressful for his elderly system than having me do it regularly–any time she has to sedate him for any other procedure, she goes after the teeth as well.
Thank you! Our problem is that Clover (our cat) really, really does not like the vet. At all. So she hasn’t really been able to give her a good checkup. It’s reassuring to know that it’s not something everyone else does and I had no idea! I wish I had known this was something we might have to do a while ago, like when we got her, or I’d would have tried to get her used to it when she was younger, like Beth P. said. Oh well! We have one of those plastic things to put over a finger to use as a toothbrush, and I’ll probably give that a try, and if it really doesn’t work I’ll just keep an eye out for treats that may help keep her teeth clean.
Thanks again, everyone!