Dental disease in dogs and cats: why you should brush your dog’s teeth! Part 2

The most important question pet owners fail to ask is how often do I need to brush my pet’s teeth?  For you to take the best possible care of your pet’s teeth, they need to be brushed once daily! A daily brushing will certainly reduce your pet’s frequency of professional veterinary dental cleanings, but probably will not eliminate them. Remember, under anesthetic and with the best possible lighting, your vet will see things you cannot and can perform a very thorough exam and cleaning.

If you take care of your pet’s teeth (and that means daily brushing), the gums will remain much healthier and the dental procedures will be simpler and less frequent. Almost 15 years ago I adopted a 5 year old rescue dog with very heavy tartar accumulation, but fortunately little gum disease. After a thorough dental prophylaxis, I began brushing his teeth every day. It wasn’t easy to get him used to it (he was 5 years old and no one had ever tried), but in a few weeks he was becoming much more cooperative and ultimately came to enjoy it (they love the taste of the veterinary pastes). He lived another 11 years and never needed to have his teeth cleaned again. This dog was the exception, but had I not chosen to brush his teeth every day, he would have needed to be anesthetized for professional dentals every 6 to 12 months for the rest of his life. 

Our pet’s dental health is similar to ours and once the gum tissue has become infected and receded (leaving the exposed dental roots), it will not grow back. After a thorough dental prophylaxis, this area will rapidly refill with tartar and the gum disease will continue to progress. Ultimately the involved tooth or teeth will become unstable and need to be pulled. So don’t wait to have your pet’s teeth cleaned and to begin home dental care.

The sooner you begin to practice good dental hygiene with your pet, the healthier his mouth will remain. It is important to remember that we are not simply talking about cleaner teeth. Heart and kidney disease and other serious health issues are known to be caused by untreated periodontal disease and the associated bacterial infection that floods our blood stream. And, we aren’t even talking about the pain and discomfort caused by infected gums and loosening teeth. 

Yes, your pet will need to be anesthetized to have his teeth cleaned, but with new anesthetic regimens and appropriate monitoring, this is a safe procedure. In fact, the odds of serious complications from untreated dental disease are much greater than the risks of general anesthetic for most pets. Neither you nor your vet should ignore your pet’s dental health! Don’t rely on the occasional dental prophylaxis to take care of your pet’s teeth without the benefit of home dental care. You wouldn’t stop brushing your own teeth and simply rely on your dentist to take care of your teeth and you shouldn’t take this approach with your pet! If you need more suggestions on how to brush your dog’s teeth or how to take better care of your cat’s teeth, talk to your veterinarian.

Dental disease in dogs and cats: why you should brush your dog’s teeth! Part 1

Dental disease is all too common in our pets. Every time you go to the dentist the hygienist gives you advice on how to better care for your teeth. Does your veterinarian suggest how to take the best care of your pet’s teeth?

When your pet is getting his annual exam, be sure that the mouth is opened and there is a thorough oral exam. Not only ask but take a careful look to see how your pet’s teeth look. Inquire about what you might be doing at home to help your pet maintain a healthy mouth.

The simplest suggestion is one that will help both canines and felines: limit feed dry food. Canned food tends to leave a paste residue over the surface of the teeth. Free feeding (the food is allowed to stay out all day) and nibbling throughout the day is no better for your pet’s teeth than frequent snacking is for our teeth. Every time we eat, more plaque is left on the teeth.

Dental diets and treats may help some, but not at all if your pets doesn’t chew them thoroughly, and some pets, especially cats and small dogs, may simply swallow them whole. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for brushing your dog’s teeth. (The same could be said for our cats, but while few cats will allow us to brush their teeth, almost all dogs can be trained to have their teeth brushed.) We are only talking about 1 to 2 minutes daily.

When you adopt a puppy, you should get him used to your opening his mouth and looking around. When you need to give your pet a pill, the process will be much easier; it will be possible to pull something out of his mouth if you need to, and once his adult teeth have all erupted (about 6 months of age), you can begin brushing his teeth. Until this time he will be getting used to your handling and playing with his mouth.

For most dogs a small or pediatric tooth brush works well. A used brush (with the bristles somewhat crushed) is great. Always use a veterinary tooth paste. Human paste actually contains soap and is not meant to be swallowed, and pets hate the foaming action of our tooth paste. In addition, because we live so much longer than our pets, their past can be much more abrasive (and effective) than ours.

Push the paste down into the bristles, hold your pet’s mouth closed (pets hate to have their mouth forced open), lift the cheek on one side of the mouth and brush away. You are mostly interested in brushing the surfaces of the maxillary (upper) teeth. These actually scrape off and clean the lower teeth as your pet chews. Be sure to include the last molars on each side as well as his fangs (canine teeth). Check his incisors (the smaller teeth between the canines) carefully. Many (especially large breed) dogs maintain healthy, clean incisors and they don’t appreciate your brushing them (because you are often closing you pet’s nose while you try to get to these teeth). However, some dogs (especially smaller breeds) accumulate heavy tartar and plaque between these smaller teeth and the gums become red and irritated as they recede. If a careful examination shows anything but perfect incisors and gum tissue, this area will need to be brushed also. While you are at it, check the lower incisors. In some dogs this can be a real problem area and may also need your attention. On a weekly basis I try to hold my pet’s mouth open and briefly brush the inside surfaces, but this is difficult (and often ineffective) and the inside surfaces tend to accumulate much less tartar than the outside surfaces.

We’ll continue this discussion in another week!

Part 2 of 2: Euthanasia of the Potbellied Pig

The big mastiff calmed down quickly and the couple led me to the barn to see why I was here. I retrieved my house call kit from the car and followed them between two old barns out into a fenced area that looked like it once held livestock. Other than 2 goats in an adjacent area there were no more farm animals to see now.

“We got our potbellied pig, Jimmy, for our kids about 15 years ago. He’s lost so much weight. He used to be fat and now he’s skin and bones. He can hardly walk. Our regular vet put him on some medications a while ago, but they are not helping anymore. We think it’s time.”

I first drew up a sedative and gave him an injection in the neck muscle. (Recommended in this area because the pigs have so much fat everywhere else and the injection needs to go into the muscle and not the fat.)

Euthanasia solution is best given directly into the vein and the most accessible vein in a pig is in the ear flap. Mrs. Arnez headed into her house to get me a bowl of water to wash up the area. I needed to thoroughly clean the outside of the ear and improvise a tourniquet to force the vein to stand up for me. This would be the sight of Jimmy’s injection.

He was sleeping soundly from the sedative. Once the ear was clean and the tourniquet was in place, I could still not see a vein. The next step was dousing the area with alcohol and tapping or lightly “slapping” it with your hand until the vein stood out. My worry was, what if after the sedative and the prep, I still couldn’t find a vein? Or what if I found a tiny vein but couldn’t successfully feed the needle into it?

There was no problem. The vein became obvious after the alcohol treatment. Jimmy felt nothing as I gave his injection and he peacefully went to his final rest. 

Part 1 of 2: The Brazilian Mastiff and the Potbellied Pig

Have you ever driven down a street and seen a sign: aircraft may also use this road for landing? Or seen a street sign that says: aircraft only? If you haven’t, then you haven’t driven through an air park in Tucson where homes, planes, horses and wildlife share space. When I was heading to a house call a few nights ago and saw these signs, coyotes, jackrabbits, multiple Gambel quails  and the many homes that shared their backyards with private aircraft, I knew my GPS had mislead me. I had even been forewarned by my new client. Luckily, I still had cell phone reception and could get directions. Making house calls in unfamiliar areas around Tucson, the most frustrating experience is to be lost and not have cell phone reception.

I was heading out to euthanize a potbellied pig. He was weak; he was old and had been losing weight for a long time. I hadn’t dealt with one of these guys for many years, but I had done my homework and was prepared.

It took me so long to find their home that it was getting dark by the time I arrived.  The directions weren’t easy (I have a terrible sense of direction anyway), but when I passed their barn, rusting antique tractors and horse stalls, I knew I was in the right place.

As I pulled over to park, 2 huge dogs came running over to greet me. The Great Dane was quiet and friendly. His much larger companion wasn’t happy to see visitors; he barked and snarled as foaming saliva flew all over my dust covered car (I had just driven 3 or 4 miles down a dirt road to get here).  I assumed when I saw my client walking across his driveway that he would call off his guard dog, but he paid no attention. I wasn’t getting out while this snarling giant was waiting on the other side of my car door. Finally a woman walked out the front door and she thought to call this big boy to her side.

When I felt safe enough to leave my car, the first thing I asked was, “How big is that dog? He kind of dwarfs your Great Dane, doesn’t he?”

“He’s about 225 pounds. The only thing we could get that was bigger was a steer.”

I had to agree and you’ll have to wait for the next blog to hear about the pig.