Dog tooth care

**stacwase** · 12-19-2003, 04:50 PM

Max and Jake's breath has been so bad. I've been very lazy and not brushing their teeth. I finally got around to doing it today. They love it of course. Afterward they were smelling eachothers' breath! We have that chicken flavored enzymatic cleaner.

If their breath still stinks tomorrow I'm going to bring them to the vet. I think it's better now but I can't tell. Neither one of them has stuck their face in mine and exhaled again yet.

Do you brush your dogs' teeth? How often? Do they like it?

How often do you get your dogs' teeth cleaned at the vet?

**K9soul** · 12-19-2003, 04:54 PM

I don't brush them as often as I should. The dogs love the taste of the doggie toothpaste but they don't care so much for when I'm trying to get those back teeth clean and am prying their mouth open.

I've been a bad mommy, not brushing regularly

**clara4457** · 12-19-2003, 05:03 PM

I try to brush my two twice a week, but I probably average once a week. Leo always has the sweetest smelling breath and beautiful teeth. Penny Lane has not so good teeth. When I adopted her, she had to have two teeth pulled and the vet did a thorough cleaning. Her breath still smells a bit from past problems, but it is definitely getting better.

The vet said she might need a couple more pulled as she gets older, but I am hoping to avoid that. When I first adopted her, her gums would bleed if she was chewing a bone - but now her gums and teeth seem to be much stronger.

The reason I am mentioning it is that there have been a great many studies (both human and animal) on the correlation between tooth decay and heart disease. I figure an ounce of prevention will save me heartache and money in the long run.

**stacwase** · 12-19-2003, 08:35 PM

The reason I am mentioning it is that there have been a great many studies (both human and animal) on the correlation between tooth decay and heart disease. I figure an ounce of prevention will save me heartache and money in the long run

Yeah - that's what my vet was telling us! We had Jake's teeth cleaned a couple of years ago. He's probably due for another cleaning soon. Toby (cat) had his cleaned recently and had an absessed tooth that had to be pulled. The vet said that just keeping their teeth clean can really make them live longer.

Jake and Max were eating Katie's kittie litter before we rehomed her. I think that's why their breath got so raunchy. I'll brush their teeth again tomorrow - maybe they just have a lot of bacteria in their mouth from that. If they still have bad breath I'll get their teeth cleaned.

**micki76** · 12-19-2003, 10:38 PM

Originally posted by K9soul
I don't brush them as often as I should. The dogs love the taste of the doggie toothpaste but they don't care so much for when I'm trying to get those back teeth clean and am prying their mouth open.

I've been a bad mommy, not brushing regularly

Same here.

**Shelteez2** · 12-19-2003, 10:55 PM

I let my dogs brush their own teeth on bones....LOL
They work very well, I just wish that I had known about giving bones sooner, then I might have been able to prevent Emily from having to have a dental and gettting 10 teeth pulled.

**gkristian** · 12-19-2003, 11:43 PM

Originally posted by Shelteez2
I let my dogs brush their own teeth on bones

I've never brushed Foxy's teeth, i just give him a bone few times a week and it does work.

**wolf_Q** · 12-19-2003, 11:56 PM

Nebo absolutely LOVES having his teeth brushed...when he sees the toothbrush, he runs right over! He really likes to lick the toothbrush when I'm done too (see attached pic.)

I TRY to brush Nebo's teeth every day, but I'm a big slacker...it's been about once a week for the past while...