“Crosby – did you hear that when Nicky went to the vet for his yearly checkup and shots, that they found a broken toof and had to pull it? How did that happen?”

“I don’t know, Buddy. I bet it happened when he was stuck in the storm drain grate in Florida during Hurricane Ian, right before Mom and Dad adopted him. Or when he was roaming the streets before he was rescued.”

“Did they tie a string to his toof and the doorknob, then slam the door shut to pull the toof out? I’ve seen it done that way on TV!”

“No, Buddy, that’s not the way to do it. Sometimes with young kids, when their baby teeth are loose and starting to fall out, you can do it that way. But I don’t want you to ever try that, and the vet didn’t do it to Nicky.

They gave him a shot that put him to sleep so he didn’t feel anything. Then they removed the broken tooth and cleaned up his gums so it doesn’t hurt him or get infected. And while he was asleep, the vet cleaned all his teeth…or ‘toofs’ as you like to call them!”

“Is that why he was woozy and falling over when he got home? I thought he was drunk!”

“I think so, Buddy. It was the shot they gave him. But he’ll feel a lot better now that he’s home from the vet and his mouth will feel better once it heals.”

“Crosby, I was reading in Mom’s Cat Encyclopedia that we have 30 toofs – that’s a lot! We even have fangs that outdoor cats use to kill their food. We don’t chew very well, and we use our back teeth to chop up food into smaller pieces before we swallow it. I saw Nicky doing that all the time, because his fang was broken. Are we supposed to be brushing our teeth, Crosby?”

“Not really, Buddy. Mom and Dad give us Greenies for treats, and when we chew them up, it helps scrape tartar off our teeth and keeps them clean. And the vet checks our teeth when we go see him every year – if he thinks they are getting too dirty, he’ll recommend we get our teeth cleaned.”

“I’m sure glad Mom and Dad love us so much, and take good care of us. If our toofs all fall out, we’d have to wear fake ones!”