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Feline Dental Hygiene

Discover details about veterinary dental costs, tips for maintaining your cat's hygiene at home, and much more.

Hard Truths

  • Dental Care at a Veterinary Clinic can cost between £250-£2000. The prices can vary depending on if it includes: Scale and polish, anaesthetic, X-rays and if any teeth are extracted.

  • Teeth extractions cost extra per tooth, this is classed as Dental surgery and can range from £150 upwards per tooth.

  • Dental surgery is serious and your cat will have to recover from this procedure.

  • If your cat loses teeth they can still live a happy life but their ability to eat certain foods may be reduced, which could reduce their quality of life in the long run.  

  • Periodontal disease affects over 1.8 million cats in the UK every year that is over 10% of the cat population

  • More pet insurances are refusing to cover dental treatments.

  • Obesity is linked to dental disease in cats, if your cat is overweight they are more likely to develop dental disease.​

  • Certain cat breeds have a higher chance of developing periodontal disease such as Siamese and Maine Coon 

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Prevention vs Treatment

  • ​​Once your cat starts to lose teeth the more wet foods they will have to eat which will contribute to the tartar build up making them more likely to develop more dental disease leading to further tooth decay. 

  • Therefore prevention is key, by cleaning your cats teeth, reducing sugar intake, providing harder biscuits for food (not just wet food) and tooth safe toys.

  • Regularly check your cats teeth for tartar build up. Look for yellowness and hard plaques. 

  • Use cat friendly toothbrushes regularly to prevent and tackle dental disease.

  • Cleaning your cats teeth is difficult so we recommend you get your cat used to this as soon as possible. 

Further reading and Sources: 
Reiter, A.M., Johnston, N., Anderson, J.G., Soltero‐Rivera, M.M. and Lobprise, H.B., 2019. Domestic feline oral and dental diseases. Wiggs's Veterinary Dentistry: Principles and Practice, pp.439-461.
O’Neill, D.G., Blenkarn, A., Brodbelt, D.C., Church, D.B. and Freeman, A., 2023. Periodontal disease in cats under primary veterinary care in the UK: frequency and risk factors. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 25(3), p.1098612X231158154.

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