sigelphoenix | Cat maintenance

After today's check-up, my vet has recommended that I try to brush Drannor's teeth (he seems prone to gingivitis). It's one of those things that I've heard about doing with cats but never tried myself, because I wasn't sure of the risk vs. reward payoff.

The first attempt went decently well (and then after the fact I did some online research, and saw recommendations to gradually introduce brushing over several days/weeks ... oops). Drannor does not like to be restrained or messed with in general, but he has a "I'll just tolerate it until it's done" attitude for the first minute or so, before he really starts squirming or breaking out the teeth and claws. Since brushing doesn't seem to take that long, I wonder if he'll just let me do it.

Anyone out there brush their cat's teeth or have experience with it? Any tips?

And while we're at it, what about brushing cat fur or trimming their claws? Both my boys are decidedly against the practices, and I haven't bothered because, again, the risk doesn't seem worth the reward. They groom themselves (and each other) and have lovely soft fur that rarely causes hairballs, and they scratch their scratching furniture politely and only occasionally catch us with an errant claw. If that's the case, is there any reason to put them and us through the hassle of grooming and clipping?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Have never tried to brush ours' teeth -- I can't imagine them sitting still for it, really. ^^;

We do brush them and clip their nails, though, and that is totally a thing we do for our own convenience. We do have occasional problems with hairballs (Ren is the worst for this), and it also decreases the amount of shedding they do during petting if they get loose fur brushed out occasionally. They don't care for it, but for us it's worth the trouble.

Clipping their nails is a similar situation. Most of them are kneaders, and scratching the posts doesn't keep their nails *short*, so they hit a point where they'll come up to knead in somebody's lap and it's really painful. (...In the summer, they will also sometimes try to scratch the window screens and then get stuck.) They fuss, but they hold still for it, and it makes our lives more comfortable. ^^;

Ah. Mine are kneaders, too, so I would appreciate a reduction in stabbing. I guess I figured that trimmed claws still have sharp edges (there's still a ] edge even if the > edge is gone, if that makes sense), and the claws would still prick when they came out for kneading. Or is the purpose just to reduce the length rather than get rid of the sharpness?

Do any of yours get scratchy if you brush them? Drannor will actually bite - not severely, but he'll pinch pretty hard - if I try to brush him, so I gave up after a few attempts. (Kershach, on the other hand, just squirms a lot, so it's probably more laziness on my part that keeps me from brushing him.)

None of ours are really aggressive, even when they're angry. They do squirm a lot, though, and sometimes -- especially with Ren -- have to be scruffed and pinned down. Ren yells and hisses enough that I don't feel bad about doing that, though. >->

The ] edge does seem to dig into skin a lot less than the > edge, I think, and it does help a lot to make them shorter. So it's a little of both? They definitely stab less after a recent trimming, whichever the cause!

Noted. Thanks!

Also, thank you for sharing your experiences/advice!

I can't help with the toothbrushing >_>

Re: hair-brushing
Have you tried different kinds of brushes and combs, like the sort with rotating bristles (that's what my vet recommended for our long-hairs), or the gloved brushes that are like petting?

Re: Claw trimming
We try to get them when they're relaxed and M cradles the cats while I quickly trim as many of their front claws as possible until they start to wiggle. Then we repeat the process later until all front claws are trimmed. Madeline needed to be cocooned in a towel with only the paw of interest sticking out. (We've never tried that method on Sheba, because it would probably scar her psyche further. Sebastion is chill enough to just need to be cradled.)

While it may not be an issue now, as cats get older they usually need some help with the grooming. Madeline was prone to claws that would grow so much they curled around and started poking into her paw pads (leading to vet visits to get them removed), and they can get lazier with the fur grooming as well, leading to more matting. I'd suggest figuring out what works for them now, and you can save yourself some unhappy older cats (and owners) down the road ^_^

That's a good point about when they get older. I rub their paws every once in awhile - a holdover from when I was trying to start a claw-trimming routine with Kershach, and I heard it was a good way to make them calm about being handled that way - so I think I would catch any incorrectly growing claws. But it's probably worth it to at least figure out how to accomplish trimming, like you said (and also

cypher's point about kneading might be enough reason for me to do it now).

For brushing, I have a Zoom Groom (though it works better for cleaning the cat tree than grooming the cats, so that's what I use it for) and a Furminator. I'm not sure what the rotating-bristle type is?

Thanks!

This is the name brand rotating teeth brush (we have another brand, but the technology is the same). When I brought Sebastion to the vet with a mass of matted tangles, we were using the Furminator, and our vet suggested the Untangler instead. Both our fuzzballs seem to enjoy it more than they did with the Furminator, and it seems to do a better job keeping and removing matts (when we've gotten lazy >_>;).

Oh, I see. I haven't yet had to deal with any mats (besides the kind that can be clipped off without harm), but I'll keep that in mind for if/when I do.

Cat maintenance

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