The vet noted that Vice had a little bit of plaque built up on his teeth at his appointment last week, so we're now ten minutes into teaching him to tolerate having his teeth brushed. Step two will be increased tolerance and three will be finding a pet toothpaste he likes.
The things I do for lint, man.
So this is literally only ten minutes of training on the toothbrush, but prior to this I have made a point of occasionally touching teeth while petting for all of my cats, because dental checks are part of routine vet visits and this normalizes that kind of contact. So sometimes while I'm petting their faces, I'll move their lips and press against their teeth a little.
Then, I introduced the toothbrush! It's one of the soft bristle spares I keep packaged in my guest room-- I opened it up, swirled it through the treat jar to cover it in crumbs, and held it out for investigation. Mmmm tastes like treats
And then I used the toothbrush to brush over his face and head, which he enjoyed quite a bit! This is a good face, trust me. Gradually I focused on petting and brushing near his mouth, eventually bringing a second hand in to stabilize his head. Lots of treats at this stage. And then...a little bit of brushing and still more treats.
He's food motivated enough to stick around throughout this whole process. If anything, I'd encourage you to occasionally gently handle your cat's mouth during normal petting, just to make vet visits easier.
