Outgoing cat breeds with good teeth?
Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at
2:18 am
Had three dachshunds with terrible tartar (and breath!). Found out this breed can be prone to this. Now that I’m going to get a kitten, I want to select a breed NOT "prone" to this. (And, yes, I cleaned them often.)
Anyone know what breeds of cats, if any, to avoid?
Filed under: Cat Breeds
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There’s no particular breed of cat with bad teeth. Tartar buildup on dogs happens when you don’t give them bones to chew on and don’t have a vet scrape the tartar when it needs to be removed.
Go adopt a cat from a shelter – of any breed or of no particular breed. You’re far better off picking an adult cat over a kitten. With kittens you can never know what the personality will be like while with adult cats the personality is right there before you.
Pedigreed cats are also far more expensive than dogs. They START at about $600 for pet quality and into the thousands for show quality. There’s also few of them compared to "domestics" – cats of no particular breed. Domestics make up over 97% of all cats on this entire planet.
The "Maine Coon" is perfect for you
Cat breeds aren’t really like dog breeds- they only really vary in body shape, coat type and sometimes in personality, and that’s where the differences end. All cat breeds have the same dental issues.
Brush your pet’s teeth and get them yearly cleanings if need be, but one breed of cat will not be more ‘dental issue prone’ than another.
The only breed I’ve heard that were more prone to bad teeth (and this was years ago) was the Abyssinian cats. But proper breeding for health has pretty much eliminated this problem.
So you can rest assured that a cat with good nutrition will have little problems with teeth. Dry food does NOT keep teeth clean like many people (and vets) claim. A good diet of dry, canned and some raw will keep your cat’s teeth in good condition.
Crunching up raw chicken wings with the bone in it will do far more cleaning on the teeth then crunching on dry food all the time.