Dental disaster: check your dog’s teeth regularly
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Cottage tales, Min Pin dogs | 33 comments
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.
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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
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!!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
Get well soon dr Q.
Poor Dr Q! Hope he makes a full, rapid recovery.
PS. Thank you so much for the wonderful New Year wishes. Very much appreciated, and reciprocated!