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One of my cats (recently arrived off the street) had severe gingivitis, so bad that my vet didn't want to give her a dental cleaning because of the excessive bleeding it might cause. The vet recommended daily application of Dentahex for a month before dentistry. After a month of Dentahex treatment, my vet was thrilled with the improvement, and my cat now has a much safer dental appointment scheduled. The vet was so pleased that she cut the Dentahex treatments back to three times a week from once a day. (Can't tell you how happy that made both of us ... me and the cat.) The label on the bottle tells you to squirt the Dentahex along the gumline on each side of the mouth, then let it spread through the oral cavity. I'm against that, and so is my vet. Neither of us wants the cat ingesting more of this stuff than absolutely necessary. (Read the warning on your own bottle of mouthwash; if you swallow a hefty mouthful, you're urged to seek immediate medical attention.) Here's what I do: I get brand-name Q-Tips. They have more cotton at the tip than the store brands. I let 2 or 3 of them marinate for a few minutes in the Dentahex, so that the tips get super-saturated. That way, if you can just (gently) press the business end of the Q-Tip for a second or two against the animal's gums (upper and lower, both sides) the saturated Q-Tip will release its payload of Dentahex, and the rinse should spread through the mouth evenly. And as long as you've managed to get the Q-Tip in there anyhow, seize the moment and GENTLY move it back and forth along the animal's gums, even if only for a second or two. I know this isn't easy for most of us. It wasn't easy for me. I've had lots of cats over the years, and not one of them took medication gladly. The technique I've described above made it at least POSSIBLE for me to do the right thing for this cat. (And it still wasn't easy.) But if you love your animal(s), the alternative -- just bailing and saying, "This is too much for me!" -- is something to strongly resist. Poor oral health promotes a pro-inflammatory state throughout the body, for all animals including us. Your dog or cat can't tell you, "Hey, I feel lousy." But take it on faith that if you don't look after their oral health conscientiously ... and their gums get really bad ... lousy and sick is exactly how they'll feel. Final thought: I have to do this all by myself, seated in a wheelchair. If you can rustle up a volunteer in your home, and the two of you simply double-team the dog or cat, while standing up ... then in my book you're out of excuses.