To get them interested in it initially, you want to find a toothpaste with a flavor they like. If you go shove some Total or Colgate toothpaste in their mouth that tastes of mint, they may spit it out. You can buy seafood flavored toothpaste now, beef, chicken, vanilla, bubblegum. Initially, take the toothpaste, put it on your finger, and if they like the taste of it, then you're onto a winner. If they have no interest, then go find another tube of toothpaste. Once you're at that stage, you can then gently start to run it onto their teeth with your finger. You can use a soft toothbrush and just gently rub over the outer surfaces of the teeth, and fold the lips all the way back and get to these ones. If you're a pro you can open their mouth and brush inside, but mostly just focus on the outside of their mouth.

Patience. Doing a little at a time. My dog, Mowgli, is a very nervous patient. He never really leaves our side. When we take him to the groomer, we tell them if he's upset we don't want to force it. We'll still pay the groomer if they can't fully achieve what they need to so that they still get paid. We just don't want to make it a stressful situation, so there are a lot of treats and short visits. If the groomer's ready with your pet, try not to leave them there for six hours. Your pet's going to be happier going home to see you, and the groomer may have a lot of other dogs that are noisy or stressed just like in a vet hospital, so try to minimize your pet's stress. In severe cases, your vet may need to prescribe some medication to help with anxiety.

A sanitary haircut makes me think of Bubby, one of my in-laws’ dogs. He's a golden retriever and he's got this beautiful long cut. If he has diarrhea or if he gets an upset tummy, though, or even if he just gets in the pool, his hair gets matted. So a sanitary haircut is one in which we would shave the back of the legs and under the tail so that, as the dog defecates, they’re not going to get covered in feces. You could do the same around his genitals, sometimes around the face if they have a lot of long hair so they can't see. You can trim the hair from the eyes and around the mouth.

How often do you brush your own teeth? Most people brush their pet's teeth once a month. That really doesn't do much. They go to the groomer, and the groomer cleans them, giving them a quick brush. To have good healthcare, however, you need to brush your dog's teeth at least once a day. If you brush once a month they're still going to get 29 days out of the month where they get plaque and disease forming, so try to make that a daily occurrence.

When kittens are getting enough to eat, they’ll get a nice big fat belly. Well-fed kittens won't feel too ribby over the back. If you have food down and the kittens are eating it, your cat will self-regulate. If your kitten is not eating, then you should be worried and take them to the vet.