Pet Dental Health Month on February, 2025: Any dog dental health experts?

February, 2025 is Pet Dental Health Month 2025. Dog Has Dirty Teeth?‎ Explore Dental Products or Services for Dogs at PetSmart® Today!

Sponsored Deals
Amazon Gold Box

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Any dog dental health experts?

you should get them extracted or his other teeth will be crocked... probably a result of poor breeding (especially if you got him from a pet store)

this is very common in some breeds such as Chinese Crested, but also in other small breeds - call the breeder and let her know - if it is a good breeder and other pups have had the same problems she will not breed that mom dog again

Do your pets get regular dental exams/cleaning - repost into cat section?

Do your pets get regular dental exams/cleaning - repost into cat section?

I do not own a cat (just dogs), but I do work at a vet hospital that mostly sees cats. Generally we start to recommend dentals when you start to see the tartar as a brown substance on the teeth - make sure to look at both the bottom and top teeth both inside and outside. The veterinarians typically will check this during annual exams as well. This goes the same for dogs too. We do not recommend dentals at a specific interval, as each animal has its own needs. The most severe cases we will do dentals every 6 months and the teeth are terrible by that time even on antibiotics, some dogs and cats only every 5+ years and their teeth are beautiful. Sometimes both animals are from the same owner and eat the same things, so like humans genetics and oral care both can play a big role in this. Once pets get above the 8-10 year mark we start recommending blood tests before anesthesia, although our doctors leave it as optional and many of our clients still opt out, a vet exam is required however, and I have seen our doctors refuse to put an animal under anesthesia for a non critical procedure without a blood test because of poor health, although this is very rare. I have not been to a ton of vet hospitals, but I do know that our doctors certainly make sure an animal is capable of withstanding anesthesia before using it.

I do recommend preventative care for dentals such as teeth brushing, or as a cat owner if this is not possible, and for many cats it is not, my veterinarian with over 40 years experience recommends to rub the cheeks for about 10-20 seconds each day - this may not seem like much but it appears to work extraordinarily well for those animals that teeth-brushing is not an option. It does stimulate the gums (important for gingivitis prevention) and seems to help prevent tartar buildup for quite a significant difference in needed time between dentals.

Dental cleaning does absolutely extend the life of the animal, I say this both as a dog owner and a vet assistant. The dental diseases are basically giant pools of bacteria that as your cat eats and breaths and circulates blood near- forces their immune system to expend a lot of energy taking care of that terrible mouth and other infections it may cause. I have seen dogs and cats that have terrible mouths, they get a dental and they are like puppies and kittens again, the difference in quality of life and health is so unbelievably significant that there is no way that this does not affect their life span.

As for the canned vs dry food I would agree that with dogs, this does seem to be a trend if only because canned food tends to stick to their teeth more or have other things that cause tartar, but with cats this is a very controversial subject actually. Many believe that the dry food tends to meet nutritional needs less ably, although this is not a belief my vets support both in practice and with their own animals, but it does increase the likelihood of dehydration. If your cat does not drink enough which some do not when fed dry food, this can be a negative factor in oral health among other problems. Some hold that canned cat foods on the other hand can contain other unnecessary additions that stick to already formed tartar, making it worse. I can tell you however, that the veterinarians I work with do not seem to have much of a preference one direction or the other outside of the individual cat's needs.

Any Canadians experienced with pet insurance? Which is good?

Any Canadians experienced with pet insurance? Which is good?

I looked into pet insurance for my 2 Yorkies when I got them. The premiums were ridiculous. The all inclusive was about 70.00 each a month. So 140.00 a month. (This was 6 years ago) It carried a 500.00 deductible a year. To me it wasn't worth it. In the 6 years I've had them, I've paid 800.00 for dental work, and the usual yearly shots. If you're pet has major health problems, it might be worth it, but for most people, I don't think so.

You can try petsecure.com

Also on this date Saturday, February 1, 2025...