[whateveracct]

Pets get other stuff though. My understanding for cats at least is there's a heavy genetic component. I have two brother cats and one has bad teeth [1] and one has good teeth. But they eat the same and get their teeth brushed the same.

[1] As in, he lost one and needed his teeth cleaned by age 7 (not old). That said, I didn't get into a habit of brushing their teeth until they were several years old, and both of their teeth are excellent now (vet doesn't see either of them as needing a cleaning in the foreseeable future). So dental hygiene is helpful even for cats!

[taeric]

7 is fairly old for cats, I thought? Not ancient old, but well past early life.

I fully agree on it having a hefty genetic component. Pure breed?

[whateveracct]

I'd say it's neither old nor young. I believe it's like the 30s/40s of cats.

My cats are also pretty healthy otherwise - they're even older now and the vet always says she'd believe it if I said they were 5 by their muscle tone etc.

[taeric]

This is what I intended "fairly old" to be. The framing of the article was about grade school kids, so I really just meant well above that age. :D

[whateveracct]

haha that's fair

I think the gist of all this is "brush your teeth"!

[lost_tourist]

My cat is 14 and has never had a cavity and she pretty much just eats high quality dried food along with a bit of canned food every day. Not pure bred, she's a mutt.

[taeric]

Wasn't my intent on that. I was thinking in comparison to elementary school kids. Also just curious, all told.

My expectation would be that mutts have healthier teeth. And general health. That said, that expectation isn't strong enough that counter would shock me.