We’ve brushed our last two dog’s teeth nightly. They enjoy it and it works.

I have a large dog and just use a human toothbrush. I would think a baby/child's toothbrush would be ok. Try the idea of a cloth on your finger, maybe that would be OK. My dog loves it, or should I say she loves the treats she gets and begs nightly to have her teeth brushed. She isn't happy until she gets them brushed, she will just keep bugging me...HAHA!

You know, I think there's this enzyme stuff that you can put on the teeth and you don't even have to brush them. If I were you, I'd just do a search and see what you can find. Maybe see what Chewy has for cat teeth brushing. Seems like it would need to be pretty small for a small cat mouth.

This is something that I intend to do but rarely get around to.

I use children's toothbrushes when mine are puppies, to get them used to it.

Paco gets his brushed a few times a week with a small cat toothbrush and his yummy toothpaste. He enjoys it, much to my surprise. I've used a baby toothbrush with success, as well.

He's the first cat I've ever coerced into this procedure, encouraged by our vet. I was hesitant at first but Paco just never ceases to surprise me.

Same places that sell pet toothpaste have pet toothbrushes. I never got my dog to accept brushing - she had a Hell of a time with staining and buildups the whole time I had her, which was most of her life. Paid the vet to knock her out and give her a good cleaning maybe once per year. Until she got too old to risk the being knocked out.

I didn't start young enough with my dog. Teeth brushing is a battle. I'm not a cat person so I never tried with the cat either. She has earwax buildup problems. I have a hard enough time getting those cleaned out once in a while. Dh and the kids are more trusted by the cat, but they don't like to tackle the problem so they don't make the cat mad.

Most dogs I've had don't like having their teeth brushed. With the current one we give her Greenies, which she loves. They do seem to keep her teeth white and breath fresher.

I ignored for a while because I give my dog Dentastix. But, now that he is older, his breath seems to need it for freshness.

We have an electric toothbrush which came with some small round brush heads that I use on the kitties...I imagine you can buy just the brush heads.

Yes, we do. We use a beef flavored toothpaste that she loves, it's no problem at all.

Most dogs can be trained to accept and not react or move in response to various types of human hands-on situations, be it having teeth brushed, nails trimmed, etc. Gradual training done in advance should work, it always has with our dogs who were initially reluctant or non-cooperative to any degree.

Fortunately and unfortunately, many general vets have incorporated teeth cleaning under anesthesia to their repertoire. Fortunately because with inadequate care or just bad teeth, it's needed. Fortunately for the vets and unfortunately for the clients, it's one of the biggest ticket items a general vet has to offer and for some it becomes a racket. And for the client, expensive.

There are a limited number of veterinary dental specialists around. For other than routine cases, they can be a better choice. They're no cheaper than general vets but they have more training and far more experience.

I tried to brush my dearly departed Lab’s teeth once or twice, but I never put the time or effort into making it a “thing.” The last few months of her life notwithstanding, she was fed only dry food and given one C.E.T. chew, daily. Fortunately for her, that seemed to be sufficient because, in the end, she had no dental problems and was able to keep all of her teeth. I guess I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that she did undergo professional cleanings, maybe every few years, but certainly not routinely.

Brushing my cats’ teeth? Oh, hell no! I’d need a suit of armor to do that!

It seems some pets have more need for brushing than others. After a $700 dental bill for Oski the terrier, it made me a believer of brushing. It helps if they like the pet toothpaste. Oski likes CET poultry flavor and will lick it out of the tube or off the brush if I let him. I used children's toothbrushes for years until I tried a small pet brush, and it's definitely more comfortable for the dog and probably for a cat too. Here's a link to one on Chewy. There are others too.

https://www.chewy.com/vetoquinol-enzadent-dual-ended/dp/109663 

I tried that rubber finger thing, and yes it's too bulky. Get the tiniest brush you can find and go very slowly with kitty. See if Bud would like to lick the toothpaste off your finger, then off the brush as a treat. Go slowly. Good luck. I wish you success.

comparing child’s brush to small pet brush