Had his new home check up at the vets and some questions...

[Shadowdh]

Hi there everyone,

I took Jack-Jack into the vet today to get his new kitten checkup (which coincided with his 6 month check) and I have a couple of questions...

1. The nurse gave me some stronghold to use as a flea ridder. It lasts for 4 weeks. I was wondering if there was anything that lasted longer. I thought you could get something which lasted a few months...

2. Dental care... hmmm she suggested (strongly but not pushily) that we brush his teeth twice a day (once at least)... using a toothbrush and a toothpaste... is this really necessary and would the dentachew things work well...???

Thanks for any info...

[yola]

Hi - I don't know about point 1 as the flea treatment I use is a 4-weeker.

But, I have a cat 'toothpaste' called Logic (I think) that is either chicken or beef flavoured and you can just squirt it in their mouths a few times a week (reacts with saliva to reduce plaque). No need for toothbrushes which, I imagine is not the best way to go!

[sammy]

Hi Shadow,

I find Stronghold actually lasts between 2-3 months, though maybe less in summer. I think there are other forms of flea prevention, apart from the spot-on types, but I'm sure your vet would be better able to advise.

Brush your cats teeth? :shock: No chance! I have heard of it, but personally I wouldn't attempt it. What do others think?

[Fran]

Hi there

Stronghold is an excellent flea treatment and prevention. It also treats for ear mites but like you say does need applying every month. Frontline spray lasts for up to two months in cats but doesn't treat for ear mites and you have the problem of 'spraying' the cats which most do not like. The spot on applications are much less stressful imo. I am under the impression that there is an injection available from the vets which protects for a much longer length of time although I know very little about it. Maybe someone else on here might be able to offer advice about this?


In answer to your dental care question. If you do decide to try and brush your cats' teeth you will need a special toothbrush and paste as human toothpaste cannot be used for cats. I would say that if a kitten is used to brushing from an early age then all well and good but I think it may be more difficult to get an older kitty to accept brushing! There are dental treats available plus which if you have the stomach to feed your kitty raw chicken wings these are an ideal natural teeth cleaner ;)

[Elaine]

Strong hold gets the thumbs up here.
As for the teeth brushing thing......
My old vet told us to brush the Diva's teeth from when she was a kitten. As you can imagine, even as a kitten she was quite the Diva, and wouldnt have any of it. Its my beleif that because we were told to persevere with the teeth brushing, that the Diva to this day will not allow any one to tickle her chin or stroke her cheeks. She pulls her little face right in making thing very difficult when it comes to pilling her, she may also give a warning bite if you try again. So teeth brushing for us is a no no here. That said we had Winston till the age of 21, he still had all his teeth and they were in pretty good nick and he never had a dental either.

[vicki]

Hi!
With regards to flea treatment, Stronghold is very good but does need applying once a month. As well as fleas it treats mites. Advantage is another spot on, this treats fleas and your beds beds where they shed skin and needs applied once a month. Frontline Spot on lasts 5 weeks and the spray is also 5 weeks I believe. The longer lasting treatment you are thinking of is Program, a injection can be given which last 6 months, however this treatment only sterilises fleas and does not actively kill them. So for example if your pet has fleas already, the adults can not breed but they will live until they die, but their lifespan is very short anyway. Your cat can still pick up fleas and bring them into the house but they will not breed/eggs will not hatch and create a problem but they'll live untill they die. You follow all that? Where as with the spoyton treatments they kill the fleas when the feed, so although fleas may still jump on your pet they die more or less straight away.
If you got your kitten used to teeth brushing whilst he's young theres no reason he wouldnt like it. I know a few cats who seems to enjoy it but yes you must only use special animal toothpastes, the fluride in human toothpaste is very dangerous to them. Logic gel as said above is beneficial if you cant physically brush teeth. Another good product is called Plaque Off which I use in my dogs and cats, its a natural seeweed powder which you put on food once a day and it dissolves tartar already there over a period of time and helps to prevent it building back up. Other more natural options for helping to keep teeth clean are good sizable chunks of stewing steak (best quality) a couple time a week or raw meaty bones. Truthfully the dental treats/sticks are not that good and are full of additives and the like and are very fattening and calorific.
Preventative measures from the off point will save your kitty possibly needing dental work under Ga as young as 5 years old as well as your pennies, LOL! And once you start dental work its just about a yearly thing there after as the sonic scaler roughens the surface of the tooth making it a better place for plague build up. My 5 year old dog had a scale and polish whilst he was under for something else and 6 months later his teeth were worse than what they were in the first place and his breath reeked! I started using Plague Off and Bones and his teeth were pearly white again 6 weeks later!

Oops that got long, hope it was of some help.

[Mags]

Thanks for that helpful information Vicki!:D

[vicki]

Your very welcome =)

[alexgirl73]

Where do you get plaque off from Vicki?

[vicki]

You can order from most internet sites and your vet can order it in for you =)
http://www.naturalpetcare.co.uk/petshop/product_info.php?products_id=406
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=298
Heres a couple of links but if you put Plaque off into google you get lots of results, most dog shopping sites sell it. As you can see its pretty cheap too!

[alexgirl73]

Thanks for that! Will have a good look at the rest of the site later.

[Shadowdh]

Many thanks for all the helpful replies... Frontline was also offered but I will stick with the Stronghold... esp as it helps control so many things... As for the teeth... I might try the remedy that Vicki suggests... many thanks for that... because while Jack-Jack doesnt mind us looking at his teeth, we get the idea he would rather we didnt... plus I like tickling him under the chin and wouldnt want him to get to not enjoy a good scratch...

[tilly]

Don't know about the flea treatment but you can get special diet for teeth. Such as oral care or t/d which work very well. My cats were on them as they both have bad teeth but tTilly has lost most of hers due to neck lession which aren't caused by plaque so couldn't be help by the diet.
Don't know if it would work with Kitten but I have a some which you could have to try as mine don't eat it anymore and I don't know what to do with it. Its not much but too much to throw away. I have just weighed it and it is 300g. So it would last you for a bit.

Sally