The 8 Best Cat Dental Treats for Oral Health

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• Not a substitute for professional veterinary help.

If you’re like me, you dread taking your cat in for dental work. It’s expensive, it often involves anesthesia, and our cats dislike it—but healthy teeth and gums are essential to overall feline well-being. Fortunately, there are a few things that can help prevent the experience altogether. You can introduce your cat to daily tooth brushing, and you can also start your cat on dental treats designed to reduce harmful tartar and promote your kitty’s oral health. You’ll still need to take the cat for periodic exams and cleanings, but you may be able to delay or avert more involved procedures.

Who Knew Cats’ Teeth Needed Cleaning?

If you didn’t know cats’ teeth need attention, it might be because feline dentistry has come a long way in the past 20 years. Scraping tartar off the teeth of a struggling kitty wrapped in a towel has been replaced by high-tech cleaning. The American Veterinary Dental College describes the process: Your cat is anesthetized so the vet can perform a complete exam, looking for broken teeth and roots, periodontal disease, dead teeth, abscesses, or infected teeth. Your vet will then clean gums and teeth to remove plaque and tartar.