Comments on: Dog guilt: I has it, or, yes, I’m going to brush Drew’s teeth

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:18:47 +0000

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?

By: MoabMutts

MoabMutts — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:06:46 +0000

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.

By: retrieverman

retrieverman — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:11:43 +0000

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.

By: Anne T

Anne T — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:03:12 +0000

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.

By: VJ

VJ — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:46:00 +0000

By the way, on the PetzLife spray, there are approximately 450 sprays per bottle.

By: VJ

VJ — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:44:44 +0000

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.

By: Jason21

Jason21 — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:00:40 +0000

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!

By: straybaby

straybaby — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:34:32 +0000

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.

By: Karina A

Karina A — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:02:26 +0000

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!

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:38:14 +0000

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?