Dog guilt: I has it, or, yes, I’m going to brush Drew’s teeth
By Gina Spadafori
January 7, 2009
Over the holidays I came to realize that Drew was eating a little more slowly. Once I caught on to that, I noticed a couple of other things, such as the fact that he took treats on one side of his mouth but not the other.
I realized that I had screwed up big time in not noticing these things sooner, and with no small measure of dread I lifted his lip to take a look. Tartar, not so bad, but gums red and swollen. Gingivitis, at the very least.
Bad mom. Bad, bad mom. Sorry, Drew.
No, I don’t brush his teeth. He’s 11 years old, and to be honest he hasn’t had any dental problems. He didn’t get his first dental cleaning under anesthesia until two years ago, and even that was for more tartar than I wanted to see, no gum or periodontal problems at all. Because my dogs mostly eat a home-prepared diet that includes some raw, meaty bones, their teeth stay in pretty good shape. And I’m usually pretty good about checking frequently for problems and dealing with little things before they get big.
But things have been very busy in the last year, both personally and professionally, so I just wasn’t paying as good attention as I should have been. And sweet little Drew isn’t as “in your face” as the big bounce of retrievery crazies, which means I have to remember to make special time for him.
Drew’s “special time” this time would involve my veterinarian.
I hastily scheduled an appointment with our darling Dr. Bill for Drew. We did all the pre-op work — chest films, bloodwork, etc. — and then I made another apppointment for a full dental check-up, cleaning and treatment as needed under anesthesia.
Dr. Bill just called, and the news could have been much worse. Drew’s mouth wasn’t as bad as it would have been if I hadn’t noticed the behavior changes. No teeth needed to be extracted, and he has just a little bit of periodontal disease. Most of his discomfort appears to be because of his gums. Not good, and I feel very guilty for not noticing his problem early, but he will be fine now.
Everything has been treated, and I’m picking him up in a while with pain meds, a special periodontol rinse — and a free toothbrush and toothpaste. (He was already on antibiotics, starting three days before the procedure and continuing four days after.)
Poor Drew. I don’t want him to have to go through this again. He is no pup, and he doesn’t need to add dental problems and pain to other burdens of increasing age.
So … I’ll be brushing. Knowing Drew, I’m guessing he’ll love the extra attention, so that’s good, too.
Best well wishes to Drew.
I’m down sick too (apparently with acute tonsillitis due to mono, don’t ask…)and Kasey is about going stir crazy. But fortunately he likes having his teeth brushed; I think the peanut flavored toothpaste does it. Of course we’re talking about a dog that I never have to “pill” he just eats them like they are candy.
Comment by Lori — January 7, 2009 @ 3:15 pm
If nail clipping is bad (just tried the Dremmel and love it, much better than the clippers, still not perfect, but so much better than the clippers)… teeth cleaning is just a comedy.
Trying to keep them still while they make the uky face and try and get that stuff out of their mouth with their tongue, while you’re trying to brush their teeth for them (which is not so easy on a cooperating person, let alone an uncooperative dog)… AND to do it for long enough to be effective (I find brushing my own teeth for the rec’d time is daunting and my brush even has a timer!)… is nearly impossible.
I’m thankful that Celeste has excellent teeth. Dublin, he’s starting to get a little tartar and yellowing. No fun.
Comment by Christopher — January 7, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
Yeah I know. The funny thing is that even though most veterinarians suggest brushing pets’ teeth, many if not most don’t do it for their own pets — and for the same reasons I don’t. Life is just too crazy. Heck, I’m lucky to get my own teeth brushed two-three times a day, and if I floss once a day it’s a miracle.
But I will TRY to brush Drewbie’s toothies. I don’t want The Drewbinator gumming his food or in pain. I have never, ever had a dog who didn’t die of old age with all teeth intact and mouth in good shape, and I don’t intend to change that now. (Heather is a slight exception … she BROKE a tooth so she’s down one, but not because of neglect.)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 7, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
I brush my dogs’ teeth once a week (probably should do it more often)—and they LIKE it! (They, too, are retrievers—so they love attention.) The dog toothpastes have flavors they like—so this doesn’t seem like too much of a chore to me (nails are a whole other issue!)
Comment by Arlene — January 7, 2009 @ 4:45 pm
One of my cats loves anything the has a motor. Hand mixers and power drills just fascinate him. So after struggling to brush his teeth I found a reasonable solution.
He now has his very own Spiderman electric toothbrush! Its got a very small brush (for a child) and a pretty gentle motor. Now when I go brush my teeth at night, he jumps on the counter for his toothbrush.
Admittedly, he’s not too crazy about the actual brushing. But I alternate a night of brushing with a night of licking the toothpaste off the moving brush and biting the bristles.
Better than nothing….now if only I could figure out a way to effectively brush the other cat’s teeth since she’s the one who really has the serious mouth issues. But she’s so squirmy (and has very few teeth left at this point) that I don’t believe that my ‘brushing’ is doing anything but making her miserable.
Comment by 2CatMom — January 7, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
There is a toothpaste and a spray that is effective in keeping down tarter and gum problems. I’ve been using it on the dogs for about 6 months. Don’t know if I can use the name here, if there are any issues about advertising, but if it’s okay, let me know and I’ll pass along the name. Or, better yet, it’s advertised in the dog magazines and can be ordered if you can’t find it in the pet stores. My vet even asked me to order some for her so she could tell clients about it. There’s also a flavor for cats.
Comment by VJ — January 7, 2009 @ 5:25 pm
I came rather late to toothbrushing, as for many years I raw fed and saw little problem. But after my Scotties began aging and—because they are Scotties—developing elevated liver enzymes, I switched to a cooked diet and began a near nightly tooth brushing regimen. Amazingly, four Scotties actually line up for the run through, which also includes nail trimming (one nail per dog per night), eye cleaning and treatment, if necessary, beard washing (necessary, oh yea), and a pat down for ticks (we live in the woods in south Jersey). The trick seems to be the tooth-friendly treat I dispense at the end. A single piece of freeze dried cod is all it takes to hold them in my thrall. And the whole business takes only about 15 minutes—time well spent.
Comment by Lisa — January 7, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
Sure, post the name of the product. We know it’s not an ad, but rather a product you use and want to share with others.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 7, 2009 @ 5:28 pm
My labs get their teeth brushed twice weekly, I think your supposed to do it more than that but it is a lot of work and they’re teeth are sparkling. I use a chicken flavored paste on them and they spend the majority of the time licking it.
Comment by Dogs — January 7, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
Drew is home and feeling a sorry for himself, but I think in a day or two he’ll be doing MUCH better. Tonight, a little cottage cheese with his antibiotic and off to bed for the little Sheltie head.
All in all, a strong reminder that brushing not only would have spared Drew who knows how much pain, but also would have been a LOT less expensive than dealing with the problems caused by not brushing.
I guess I have just backed into a New Year’s resolution.
Have to say, though, the dental X-rays were way cool. Turns out Drew has bilateral premolars that are identically abnormal … and so, one must presume, are a genetic glitch or birth defect. Who knew?
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 7, 2009 @ 7:38 pm
Waiting anxiously @ VJ’s product name. Our kids don’t like it but I guess I feel responsible if I don’t do it, it’d be way more painful for them (just walking through the vet’s office door is quite an experience for two of them). But we also use - and thanks for allowing names - Petrodex and it greatly reduces tartar buildup allowing me to space out cleaning to only onc a week. Big difference! I also use MilkStone bone cookies and Purina’s Busy Bone. This keeps teeth clean and breath smelling fresh. Hope this helps (again VJ, waiting for your solution!)
Hope Drew is feeling better!
Comment by Karina A — January 7, 2009 @ 10:02 pm
I’m glad they did dental x-rays and you got to see them. In the past I would have thought his symptoms were suspect of cancer (my mom recently lost her beagle to mouth cancer). I’m very happy to hear it seems to be a brushing issue :) Any advice you can give to help owners brush doggie teeth would be more than appreciated. My girl has gotten used to feet handling and the dremel and also teeth/gum inspections. That said, I’m sure she wouldn’t be herself being a front runner on scary thigs.
Comment by straybaby — January 7, 2009 @ 11:34 pm
I too was late to toothbrushing. For the longest time I thought solid food and water was good enough. Boy, was I wrong. We ran into a lot of teeth problems with our lab and had to shell out a lot of $$ to get things back in line. Now we brush three times a week - no excuses!
Comment by Jason21 — January 8, 2009 @ 12:00 am
The product is PetzLife Oral Care gel and spray.
Comes in original flavor and salmon for dogs and salmon for cats. http://www.PetzLife.com.
The ingredients are all natural, distilled water, grain alcohol, grapefruit seed extract, propietary blend of herbs and natural oils. Directions are: apply daily. Small dogs & cats 1/3 tsp. Medium dogs 1/2 tsp. Large breeds 1 tsp.
Can use finger or soft tooth brush. No food or water 1/2 hr before and after application. Nighttime best. Maintenance: Apply every 3 to 4 days. Lots of times I just squeeze some in both sides of their mouth and let their tongues do the work. Or I just use the spray.
The tarter can be scraped with a fingernail. I order it from PetMart Centerville, Ohio, 877-279-7387. The spray is $14.95; the gel $16.95 plus S/H. Sometimes there is free shipping. With 2 dogs the spray lasts perhaps 2 months and the gel maybe a little longer. Depends on the amount used. If I get lazy, of course the product lasts longer. I saw a difference in my dogs teeth in about a week.
Comment by VJ — January 8, 2009 @ 11:44 am
By the way, on the PetzLife spray, there are approximately 450 sprays per bottle.
Comment by VJ — January 8, 2009 @ 11:46 am
Lots of people have had success with Petzlife. I use PlaqueOff, both the herbal powder and the water additive. Alas, you still have to brush the plaque off the dogs teeth but no where near as frequently and it comes off readily! My dogs have no trouble with a Dremel on their nails anymore, but tooth brushing is still a major battle no matter what flavor I try. So dental hygiene is my big downfall as a dog owner.
Start your dogs on dental hygiene as puppies, and do what I say, not what I do. Lol.
Comment by Anne T — January 8, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
I’ve never fed a dog a raw diet. I’ve heard that retrievers do well on it.
The St. John’s water dog that is in their ancestry really did live on a Spartan diet of game, meat, and fish. So maybe we need to return them to a more wholesome diet as a result.
My dogs were all golden retrievers that all lived into their teens (13 and 14 years repectively). They ate commercial food, but the last years of their lives were rather rough. They had gum disease that even regularly cleanings couldn’t stop. They also lost teeth as they aged.
Comment by retrieverman — January 9, 2009 @ 10:11 am
My vet - AND my dental vet - have both recommended a gauze pad with half water/half hydrogen peroxide for “toothpaste.” Mine like it just fine, though they’ll take a brush too. I alternate the gauze (allows more “hand on” feel to tooth surfaces) with a brush in the same solution. Long tales of dental work here too - for another time.
Comment by MoabMutts — January 11, 2009 @ 12:06 pm
Quick question on an older post. The other day Dr. Barchas had a dental question on his blog and he mentioned that dogs who eat soft homemade food are more likely to have dental problems than dogs who eat hard crunchy kibble. Have you guys read this or found this to be true? And can it all be mitigated by just keeping up with the brushing and an RMB now and then?
Comment by Lori — March 5, 2009 @ 9:18 am