Dental disaster: check your dog’s teeth regularly
Comments(33)
Photo: Dr Quito recovering from his operation
A week ago we noticed that Dr Quito had lost weight and was off his food. Quito has had a crummy shake of the dice. He was attacked by a lurcher at 10 months old and has been semi-crippled since then. From a pup, he’s always been a picky eater so we tried soaking his food in delicious gravy, bought different dog food, changed the toppings.
“It’s like The Caesar Syndrome,” muttered Danny as he hand fed our best boy.
I was curious. What could The Caesar Syndrome be? Some sort of dog related condition discovered by Pliny?
I’d forgotten that before The Contessa joined our family, Quito would only eat Caesar dog food. Excellent but expensive gourmet food for small dogs. With a hungry new wife at the table his tastes broadened rapidly and to our joy, discovered the delights of cheaper dog food.
Quito was looking very ill indeed on Wednesday. He had to be carried into the garden to pee and had no interest in food. Danny rang the vet immediately.
Quito was put on antibiotics and this morning and underwent x-rays and a blood test. Under anaesthetic, his teeth were descaled and many were removed. Although he will shortly hit seventy in dog years, we don’t think of him as an old dog and had no idea that he had a problem with his teeth. Poor Quito must have been in agony. We suspected cancer so are hugely relieved.
So was the Contessa. Apparently on his return Quito was heralded with lots and licks and attention from his trophy wife. When Dr Q and I climbed into Jalopy this morning and drove away, she crept under the duvet and seemed very depressed all day.
But we have let this little fellow down. We didn’t know that it was important to examine his teeth regularly. I’ve kept dogs for over fifty years and have never had a problem with bad teeth in any but the most ancient dog. So we are now starting a new weekly regime with all our Min Pins. We are going to check and clean their teeth. We’ll try using our toothpaste but if they rebel I’ve seen dog toothpaste at Pets At Home. They’ll hate this ‘manhandling’ but better to prempt a dental problem. We’re also investing in some dental chews. They used to love them when they were younger. They also enjoy crunching fresh carrots, which are great for their teeth and also supposed to be a great alternative treatment for worms.
Their water bowl has filtered water. Perhaps we should use water straight from the mains as it contains fluoride. What do you think?
This evening Dr Q ate some Weetabix soaked in a little milk and goose stock before falling deeply asleep after a long and stressful day.
Recipe for chicken, mushroom and tomato risotto
Thank you for your comments. And a bit of silly bath time fun with the Frothing Sea Monster trick!
Cutting energy costs
Recipe for sausages baked with herby garlic infused beans, bacon and tomato
Tracing some of my ancestors has taken me on a long journey
Recipe for lamb shanks braised in red wine with shallots: slow cooker/crockpot
HG
Hi Fiona:
Sorry to hear about Dr Q. Why don’t you check into feeding your dogs raw? There are enormous health benefits including dental and biodegradable non-smelly poop.
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/diet
For further information on the diet and campaign please visit:
http://www.rawmeatybones.com
http://www.ukrmb.co.uk
http://www.usrmb.net
http://www.aussiermb.org.au
and
http://www.bluegrace.com/resources.html
http://www.rawlearning.com/
Philippa in New York with the dachsies
It is alarming when a Min Pin looses his appetite! Glad to read Dr Quito is doing well after the surgery.
Min Pin Berry’s teeth are in great shape, but his brother Basil’s teeth needed to be cleaned a few weeks ago…I wish we had done it months ago. Basil had been grumpy, but we didn’t know why; once his teeth were clean he sweetened right up…his mouth must have been hurting him!
Our veterinarian told us not to use people tooth paste on the dogs (I don’t remember why, maybe the flouride is bad for them?). I brushed Berry and Basil’s teeth for a while when they were pups, and they loved the chicken flavored dog toothpaste.
Both of the dogs are on very restricted diets now, so we can’t feed them any store bought dental treats so I have been making them dried sweet potatoes; they don’t like them as much as a bully stick, but they do think they are pretty good.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Dr. Q, and good luck with the tooth brushing!
Sarah
Horrible when pets are poorly.. even worse than the kids as they cant communicate clearly sometimes. Actuaslly kids arent always much better at this.. anyway…
We feed our staffordshire terriers raw bones from the butcher almost every day, fresh water & quality kibble. Plus any appropriate leftovers of toast or dinners.
No problems with teeth so far & no brushing either, bad enough our girl Xena loves to get in the shower with any one of us if she is quick enough.
for goodness sake don’t use human toothpaste its no good for then at all. humans aren’t meant to swallow their toothpaste but dogs always do. Its best to use the special doggy stuff. Plus it tastes like meat so they’re much more likely to like it. and won’t run away when you’re spotted carrying a toothbrush.
Glad you have discovered the tooth problem. We had a labrador that used to salivate all of a sudden for a couple of hours. We actually persuaded the vet to look at his teeth under anaesthetic and he found an enormous hole in one of the dog’s molars (his other teeth were fine).
Hi Fiona
I agree with Philippa. We have 5 German Shepherds, all raw fed, now mostly nine years old and in superb health, including teeth. Even my old rescue with a broken canine manages well.
It can be a little scary at first but there is a great UK list that can help you get started:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BritBarf/
Great blog, love to read it every day.
Sharon
Please don’t use human tooth paste on him, it’s bad for dogs. There are also special dog tooth brushes available that make it much easier to get into the back teeth than would be the case with a ‘normal’ toothbrush.
Also, try giving them a good bone from your butcher at least once a week as this does the same job as those dental chews but has the added benefit of nutrition. Dogs need to chew and bones are what they’re designed to chew on.
Good luck. I know how awful it is when pets are poorly.
I seem to remember my mother had a dog toothbrush that fitted on her finger like a finger stall, so she could just rub it around her dog’s mouth. Dogs often take hold of a toothbrush and bite it which makes it impossible to use.
We have 2 Staffordshire Bull Terriers who are as soft as soft can be, and a cat who is adorable, but as mad as a mad march hare!
Our eldest staffy, Foxy, was poorly yesterday, not eating and vomitting quite alot. She is a little better today, she has ate this morning, so we are going to buy a chicken and roast it for her, I’m sure she will love that.
It is awful when one’s pets are ill, I hate it.
Poor little chap.
He’ll be feeling much better once his mouth settles down again. Toy breeds can suffer badly with dental problems for all sorts of reasons – the miniaturisation process is slower with teeth than with the rest of the body, so the teeth can be jammed in too tightly and get misplaced, and they’re often not given hard things to chew and gnaw on to descale their own teeth. The bacteria from bad teeth can get into the lungs (dogs keep on breathing through their mouths!) and bloodstream, and can cause all sorts of other health problems.
Ditto the others about not using human toothpaste – they hate the foaming agent and you can’t teach a dog to spit! Better to use an enzymatic toothpaste specially designed for dogs with a soft brush, or just rub it on the teeth with your finger. Although gnawing bones has advantages, they commonly cause slab fractures of the molars which can then result in further dental issues.
Hope the little chap is soon well on the mend! It’s awful when they’re ill, and don’t we feel guilty?
PS. Thank you so much for the wonderful New Year wishes. Very much appreciated, and reciprocated!
Poor Dr Q! Hope he makes a full, rapid recovery.
Get well soon dr Q.
Oh poor Dr Q. Toothache is just the worst pain. I hope he is now on the mend and will soon be back to himself.
poor little thing.. Jess’s front bottom teeth have worn down to nubbins, and when we took her to the vet, he said it was nothing to worry about. Still, we give her one of those dental treats every other day, and lots of chew type treats. we do check her teeth, although not clean them. maybe we should. but pressing around the front area doesn’t make her wince, so she’s not in any pain. I hope Dr Q recovers soon!
Bad teeth can kill- not just animals, when you look back at the London Bills of Mortality from the 17th century ‘teeth’ was a major cause of death: Andrew had bad teeth when we got him, his years of scrounging from bins as a stray hadn’t helped, he’s been a much healthier cat since we got them sorted out and now he has special tooth cleaning biscuits, which seem to do the trick and keep them clean- not cheap, but cheaper than operations on his gnashers!
Yeah we have to check my cats teeth, and the vet said to brush them every now and then – with that and the ear cleaning he is a grumpy cat these days!
Phew! Thanks so very much for this, Fiona –
As soon as I read your post I immediately gave each of our pups a carrot to gnaw on, what a fantastically valuable tip! And as neither of them will permit my attention regarding anything vaguely related to tooth-cleaning, this is such a wonderful & natural bonus (especially the worming bit!).
Standard fayre for Nanuk & Brynn, consists of plenty of raw meat & bones to keep them in a healthy, natural condition: after all, that’s exactly what they’d eat in the wild…ergo, what their physiology is designed to naturally cope with.
However; being a recently-weaned BC puppy, young Brynn is stil a bit too small to tackle a full-sized ox marrowbone – Nanuk’s favourite weekly treat – so instead, we give him a raw pig’s trotter or two from the local butcher; which keeps said pup happily occupied for hours as well as maintaining robust teeth & gums: not to mention a coat glistening with health…& a body, bounding with far fitter enthusiasm than mine (so who said anything about New Years’ Resolutions…?!).
But in all seriousness, I think ‘Jo Public’ has been so persuaded by the seductive hype that tinned dog food &/or the dried stuff, allegedly provides such an – ahem – ‘perfect’ balance of vitamins, minerals etc that we’ve all become effectively blinkered against the fundamental facts…..
Basically, as I understand, canned pet food is a cheap & effective way for the ‘mass-produced’ sector of the food industry to dispose of their offcuts & offal, much of which could be – but IMHO tragically, is not (owing to current public sensibilities) palatably fed to humans in a wide variety of delicious, full-flavoured & wholesome meat dishes….
(Oh, if only people could be persuaded to become more adventurous &/or more frugal, in their cuisine!).
Instead, said offcuts are essentially processed into animal feed (carnivore) by being overcooked & canned up with EU-rejected, non-standard veggies (thank goodness at least, the law is changing on that score – said veg probably tastes far better than anything which hits our supermarket shelves!).
It is then ‘dressed up’ to sound more appetising to doting pet owners (i.e. “terrine of salmon & prawn”; or “luxury cassoulet of beef & venison” etc etc)…
….because as the marketing gurus are already greedily aware, we all want passionately want to believe, is that we are giving our cherished pets, even better meals than those we eat ourselves.
I personally – occasionally – am seduced by such hype; & if I feel each & every one of our charges on this farm is enjoying a far finer diet than me, I’m dubiously satisfied that I’m somehow improving their welfare.
But what we all really need to do, is not anthropomorphise our pets, poultry or farm animals; but appreciate the unique & special species they are; & treat – & feed – them, accordingly. But we all fully appreciate it’s not at all easy, with so much hype to battle against…..
Meanwhile poor, dear, Dr Q – we wish him the very best: not to mention, a speedy & pain-free recovery. And for goodness sake please please PLEASE, don’t blame yourselves; even though all your animals receive such wonderfully attentive & loving care, even the most diligent of us may not realise there’s something amiss until our friends reluctantly ask us for help (& how many people do you know, who are even worse on that score….?!).
So purrlease my dear fellow friend & smallholder, take it from us –
Everyone at CS HQ is so very lucky to have you as their trusted & faithfully caring companion & mentor, Fiona – so please, don’t feel bad.
But especially, sincere thanks for your open honesty in communicating such valuable, important & helpful information – this will benefit caring canine owners globally; therefore with such refreshing honesty you’ve done such good, across the world; what a wonderful Christmas gift.
xxx J,T & LFfD Menagerie.
Another advocate of raw feeding here too. We inherited an elderly border terrier who had been fed tinned food and dried food mixed with water all his life and had terrible trouble with his teeth. We’ve brought up to ‘raw’ pups and I also have a rescue dog who’s teeth were less that stunning at only 10 months old. On a raw diet, with plenty of meaty bones to chew on, they cleaned up splendidly and 4 years later he has teeth the vet only sees when he approaches with a thermometer!!
Another one of your posts which has received such a lot of comments. I have read every one and learned so much. I did know about not using human toothpaste and to use the special enzyme one for dogs. I also use the finger-stall teeth cleaner.
So glad you found out what was ailing Dr.Q and that he is now feeling better. x
AWWWWW poor little baby, and I greatly sympathise with you feeling rotten about not noticing. I recently spotted a lack of fang on one of my old cats and it occurred to me that I had been cursing him for his hell like breath for months!
He is impossible to hold or pin down so i spent the next week or so trying to sneak up on him when he was fast asleep and try and left his lip to have a proper look before he realised what was happening ( this only resulted in him being totally freaked out instead of his normal mild state of paranoia) I still haven’t found out if its fell out altogether or a bad stump or healed up etc and wrestling with the thought of taking him to the vets will totally freak him and it may all be for nothing, ( not to mention what an anaesthetic will do to a vastly over weight 13 year old paranoid aggoraphobic feline)
I haven’t got a lot of experience with dogs , as I have only ever owned a yorkie but she loved those 3 sided star shape chew things that had the strange aroma of rice pudding, the pet shop recommended them for her teeth as they have such tiny ones I was worried about her chewing too hard stuff and breaking them off.
I really hope Dr Quito is feeling loads better soon
Poor little mite, hope he’s starting to feel the benefits of his dental. We have a greyhound, and they tend to have dental problems, something to do with the long mussle and therefore not using the teeth at the back. We have always given him raw carrots and rawhide chews, but he simply doesn’t use his back teeth so eventually developed sore gums and lots of horrid plaque.
When the vet was planning to do a major dental job on him, I was recommended a product called ‘Plaque Off’ by a friend and at the pet shop. So we tried it, it’s a herbal product that comes with a tiny scoop (size of small fingernail). A couple of scoops are added to his evening meal and after just a week, we could see the difference. After a month, the plaque had almost all come off and his gums are no longer looking sore. I would really recommend this product to anyone with this problem, we have never managed the teeth brushing very well with our boy so this has been a life (and teeth!) saver.
I’ve since seen it in lots of pet shops, I get it from Soham. I’d never go down the route of raw food, simply because of the delicate tummy our boy has.
Give the little Dr Q a big cuddle from us!
Sorry to hear about your pup. I have 5 chis and know the problems of teeth. One had infectin so bad she had a stroke from going under and never receovered properly and had to be put to sleep after evacing from hurricane. Another is 17 yrs old and has only 2 teeth and is very finicky . I know how you feel.
Hi Fiona, Glad your little guy is okay. It isn’t just dogs that need their teeth checked and cleaned on a regular basis, Cats too need theirs done as well. Jingles is pretty tolerant of me brushing his, although he does make a kind of sing song growling noise.
Hello Fiona,
I have also been using Plaque Off for my three Cavs and it seems to be very successful. A small pot lasts for ages and it can be easily added to food.
Hello Philippa
Thanks so much for your advice. We feed the Min Pins on complete dried food with a meat and vegetable topping, made by us.
Perhaps going down the raw food route would be an answer. Everyone seems to be very enthusiastic about it.
Gentle pats to the Dachsies.
Hi Sarah
Sorry to hear that Basil’s teeth are not so good. Those sweet potato snacks sound interesting. I bought some dental chews yesterday and The Contessa and Inca loved them but in the end they had to be confiscated as they preferred to protect them rather than eat them!
Hi Belinda
My next step will be to get some bones from the butchers. We gave up giving them bones as these seemed to cause so many fights. But I reckon that it’s worth giving them another go. The Min Pins are fed a good quality kibble.
Hi Jopan
Thanks for the advice. Don’t know how we’ll get along with the teeth brushing .
Hi Lindsay
Oh your poor Lab! Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Sharon
Thanks for your advice. I’ll check out the forum.
Hello Sharon J
I’ll definitely go back to giving them bones.
Hello Z
I saw those at the pet shop today. I reckon that it’s the best way to start.
Hi Melanie
Yes it’s awful when pets are ill. Lucky Foxy, having a chicken roasted for her.
Hi Jan
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.
Hi Moonroot
He seems to be much better this morning and has got his appetite back!
Hello S.O.L.
Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Pamela
Yes toothache is terrible. No wonder he was so grumpy and withdrawn.
Hello Kethry
Chews seem to be a good idea. Except our two female Min Pins aren’t chewing them, they’re guarding them!
Hi Kate(uk)
I got some of those teeth cleaning biscuits yesterday and Inca loves them. As you say, much cheaper than surgery.
Hi Natasha
Poor old puss. Perhaps the biscuits that Kate(uk) recommends would do the trick.
Hi Jo
Thanks for your good advice and support. We don’t give them tinned food but have never thought about giving them raw food. I expect that they’d love it.
Dr Q is recovering well, sleeping in a warm basket beside the wood burning stove.
Hi Steph
Thanks for that. Raw meat and bones will be part of their diet from now on.
Hi Wendy
The finger stall tooth cleaners looked practical to me. The min pins have quite small mouths but can clench their teeth very hard. I’m taking a softly softly approach and just using my finger at the moment!
Hi Mandi
I laughed out loud at your description of your cat! Thanks so much for cheering us up.
Hi Charlie
Plaque off sounds like the biz. Thank you so much.
Hello Tami
What a shame that your dog had a stroke.
Your eldest (at 17 years old) must be a real old gentleman. Why that’s 119 in dog years.
Hi Pat
I loved hearing that Jingles sings when his teeth are being cleaned.
Hi Jane
Thanks for that. I’m definitely going to try it with the Min Pins.
Thank you for this. Our “boys” have just eaten their first raw carrots. They needed quite a bit of encouragement though.
Aw, poor Dr Q! Our Trevor is only 4 months old but I will definitely start a regime with him. I have considered dental chews but I like the idea of raw carrot as a chew. Thanks for the advice. Hope Dr Q gets better soon.
Poor you and Dr Q of course, hope he’s 100% better soon. I read your post and all the comments, I too have learned lots. The puppy and the cat love cucumber (taking after Small obviously!) but I will try giving them both raw carrot.
Thank you for being so honest and sharing this.
Amanda x
Hi Fiona:
You will likely need to start them with chicken bones. A whole chicken cut up into smallish pieces and perhaps with skin off. Chicken bones are safe and digestible. Stay with that until they (and you) are comfortable with it. In general the bones should have lots of meat on them — not bare bones and watch the fat. Watch them when they eat so there is no stealing.
HTH
Also, the rawfeeding list on Yahoo Groups is a moderated list, now 13,500 members strong and full of good advice from kindly and knowledgeable moderators. There are no dumb questions and it’s free, but If you join, make sure that you choose ‘web only’ or you will be completely flooded with e-mails.
Are chicken bones safe? If so, does it depend on the size of the dog? I’d never give my medium sized dogs a chicken bone without being absolutely certain. Morris (who is also a Dr BTW) can chomp through a marrow bone in minutes and I always thought that chicken bones shouldn’t be given to dogs because they can splinter… Or, is this only if they’ve been cooked?
Casalba, raw bones are the only safe ones for dogs. Cooked bones (roasted, boiled or whatever) are brittle and very dangerous. Raw ones, if intended to be swallowed, should have a good covering of meat to help avoid impaction (yes it does happen) in the gut.
Casalba- I have had bad experiences with dogs and chicken bones. Chickens bones are fragile and dogs have no trouble eating them completely. I would chicken bones all together.