Dental Scaling - How often does a cat require dental scaling?

How often does a cat require dental scaling?

I took my cat in 2006, she had sevre tartar buildup and it was removed, now my vet says her tartar is back and her gums are bleeding so i have to have the procedure done again. is this common? Hes a very good vet, hes been on alot of tv shows, recieved awards, writes for several CAT magazines, etc so im confident in him, just want to make sure

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That depends on the cat and to some extent on the diet. Some animals are predisposed to having bad teeth. Even with great dental hygiene they are still plagued with tooth issues. If your cat isn't on a good diet then tooth issues can abound even with good dental hygiene. Beware that most of the foods recomended by most vets are pure crap. If you ask about good foods here you will be inundated with information on how to pick out a good food so you can make your own informed decision in that respect. Home dental hygiene is another issue. Most people never even think to brush their cats teeth. With an adult cat it can be hard to get a routine started and accepted by the cat but it can play an important roll in spacing out how often they need dental work done at the vet.
It depends on the cat. My last cat had her teeth cleaned twice in the 16 years I had her. My current two aren't yet 4 and haven't had anything done yet. Some cats are just more prone to problems. What can you do about it? Hopefully your vet will give you some advice. But if not, there are things you can do. 1. Brush your cat's teeth. 2. Get water/food supplements for dental health. 3. Provide chicken necks for dental health. The one thing that won't do any good is feeding dry food. Even dental dry food diets won't help.
It varies. My 10 year old cat had his teeth cleaned 2 years ago and doesn't need them doing again yet. My 2 year old hasn't had to have them done yet but he does have mild gingivitis so may need them cleaning sooner than my other cat did. How good their teeth are is pretty much genetically determined and doesn't depend on what they eat. But there are things you can do to help keep the teeth clean. Raw chicken bones are probably the best thing (chicken wings or chicken necks are good) and that is how cats keep their teeth clean in the wild - by eating bones. Other than that you can try toothpastes (you don't need to brush with them all - some they can just lick off a paw) and additives to sprinkle on food. But some cats will need to have dentals regularly and others will not and that's just seems to be the way it goes.