u/burzmali

Not great at this game but, now my side audio is the album 2112.

I have this Mockingbird lately, usually in the Cedar tree next to my driveway, that frantically runs through his repertoire of imitations from sunup to sundown. It's crazy! He even fakes out Merlin. The only bird in this list that was really chiming in was, of course, the House Sparrows. Loud ass bugger too.

Jax is over the top fearful at the vet and it is taking a long time for him to trust us with basic grooming. We have brushing down. He likes that now. He lets us now put a muzzle on for vet visits. He's that scared. So today he had general anesthesia for teeth and ear cleaning and nail cutting. The nails were so long but he's been getting adjusted to us with a silent-ish Dremel, but they needed to get to a state where we might be able to maintain with the Dremel going forward. He's a playful love bug in every other way, but is totally stressed about any poking and prodding besides brushing at this point.

The question is what do people do for brushing teeth? Any suggestions? Vet said he has some gum pockets and would benefit from periodic brushing.

Pics are from a typical walk and recovering from anesthesia today (he never bleps). We would love to be able to nail trim (almost there), and do to ear and tooth care, at home without sedation. He's a four year old rescue and with us for just over a year.

I rambled but main question is teeth.

Edit: Thank you all for the kind and thoughtful advice. Will be looking into several things here. I love this community!