Dental disaster: check your dog’s teeth regularly
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Cottage tales, Min Pin dogs | 33 comments
Photo: Dr Quito recovering from his operation
A week ago we noticed that Dr Quito had lost weight and was off his food. Quito has had a crummy shake of the dice. He was attacked by a lurcher at 10 months old and has been semi-crippled since then. From a pup, he’s always been a picky eater so we tried soaking his food in delicious gravy, bought different dog food, changed the toppings.
“It’s like The Caesar Syndrome,” muttered Danny as he hand fed our best boy.
I was curious. What could The Caesar Syndrome be? Some sort of dog related condition discovered by Pliny?
I’d forgotten that before The Contessa joined our family, Quito would only eat Caesar dog food. Excellent but expensive gourmet food for small dogs. With a hungry new wife at the table his tastes broadened rapidly and to our joy, discovered the delights of cheaper dog food.
Quito was looking very ill indeed on Wednesday. He had to be carried into the garden to pee and had no interest in food. Danny rang the vet immediately.
Quito was put on antibiotics and this morning and underwent x-rays and a blood test. Under anaesthetic, his teeth were descaled and many were removed. Although he will shortly hit seventy in dog years, we don’t think of him as an old dog and had no idea that he had a problem with his teeth. Poor Quito must have been in agony. We suspected cancer so are hugely relieved.
So was the Contessa. Apparently on his return Quito was heralded with lots and licks and attention from his trophy wife. When Dr Q and I climbed into Jalopy this morning and drove away, she crept under the duvet and seemed very depressed all day.
But we have let this little fellow down. We didn’t know that it was important to examine his teeth regularly. I’ve kept dogs for over fifty years and have never had a problem with bad teeth in any but the most ancient dog. So we are now starting a new weekly regime with all our Min Pins. We are going to check and clean their teeth. We’ll try using our toothpaste but if they rebel I’ve seen dog toothpaste at Pets At Home. They’ll hate this ‘manhandling’ but better to prempt a dental problem. We’re also investing in some dental chews. They used to love them when they were younger. They also enjoy crunching fresh carrots, which are great for their teeth and also supposed to be a great alternative treatment for worms.
Their water bowl has filtered water. Perhaps we should use water straight from the mains as it contains fluoride. What do you think?
This evening Dr Q ate some Weetabix soaked in a little milk and goose stock before falling deeply asleep after a long and stressful day.
Leave a reply
Poor little chap. 🙁 He’ll be feeling much better once his mouth settles down again. Toy breeds can suffer badly with dental problems for all sorts of reasons – the miniaturisation process is slower with teeth than with the rest of the body, so the teeth can be jammed in too tightly and get misplaced, and they’re often not given hard things to chew and gnaw on to descale their own teeth. The bacteria from bad teeth can get into the lungs (dogs keep on breathing through their mouths!) and bloodstream, and can cause all sorts of other health problems.
Ditto the others about not using human toothpaste – they hate the foaming agent and you can’t teach a dog to spit! Better to use an enzymatic toothpaste specially designed for dogs with a soft brush, or just rub it on the teeth with your finger. Although gnawing bones has advantages, they commonly cause slab fractures of the molars which can then result in further dental issues.
Hope the little chap is soon well on the mend! It’s awful when they’re ill, and don’t we feel guilty?
I seem to remember my mother had a dog toothbrush that fitted on her finger like a finger stall, so she could just rub it around her dog’s mouth. Dogs often take hold of a toothbrush and bite it which makes it impossible to use.
Please don’t use human tooth paste on him, it’s bad for dogs. There are also special dog tooth brushes available that make it much easier to get into the back teeth than would be the case with a ‘normal’ toothbrush.
Also, try giving them a good bone from your butcher at least once a week as this does the same job as those dental chews but has the added benefit of nutrition. Dogs need to chew and bones are what they’re designed to chew on.
Good luck. I know how awful it is when pets are poorly.
Hi Fiona
I agree with Philippa. We have 5 German Shepherds, all raw fed, now mostly nine years old and in superb health, including teeth. Even my old rescue with a broken canine manages well.
It can be a little scary at first but there is a great UK list that can help you get started:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BritBarf/
Great blog, love to read it every day.
Sharon
We have 2 Staffordshire Bull Terriers who are as soft as soft can be, and a cat who is adorable, but as mad as a mad march hare!
Our eldest staffy, Foxy, was poorly yesterday, not eating and vomitting quite alot. She is a little better today, she has ate this morning, so we are going to buy a chicken and roast it for her, I’m sure she will love that.
It is awful when one’s pets are ill, I hate it.
Glad you have discovered the tooth problem. We had a labrador that used to salivate all of a sudden for a couple of hours. We actually persuaded the vet to look at his teeth under anaesthetic and he found an enormous hole in one of the dog’s molars (his other teeth were fine).
for goodness sake don’t use human toothpaste its no good for then at all. humans aren’t meant to swallow their toothpaste but dogs always do. Its best to use the special doggy stuff. Plus it tastes like meat so they’re much more likely to like it. and won’t run away when you’re spotted carrying a toothbrush.
Horrible when pets are poorly.. even worse than the kids as they cant communicate clearly sometimes. Actuaslly kids arent always much better at this.. anyway…
We feed our staffordshire terriers raw bones from the butcher almost every day, fresh water & quality kibble. Plus any appropriate leftovers of toast or dinners.
No problems with teeth so far & no brushing either, bad enough our girl Xena loves to get in the shower with any one of us if she is quick enough.
It is alarming when a Min Pin looses his appetite! Glad to read Dr Quito is doing well after the surgery.
Min Pin Berry’s teeth are in great shape, but his brother Basil’s teeth needed to be cleaned a few weeks ago…I wish we had done it months ago. Basil had been grumpy, but we didn’t know why; once his teeth were clean he sweetened right up…his mouth must have been hurting him!
Our veterinarian told us not to use people tooth paste on the dogs (I don’t remember why, maybe the flouride is bad for them?). I brushed Berry and Basil’s teeth for a while when they were pups, and they loved the chicken flavored dog toothpaste.
Both of the dogs are on very restricted diets now, so we can’t feed them any store bought dental treats so I have been making them dried sweet potatoes; they don’t like them as much as a bully stick, but they do think they are pretty good.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Dr. Q, and good luck with the tooth brushing!
Sarah
Hi Fiona:
Sorry to hear about Dr Q. Why don’t you check into feeding your dogs raw? There are enormous health benefits including dental and biodegradable non-smelly poop.
www.rawmeatybones.com/diet
For further information on the diet and campaign please visit:
www.rawmeatybones.com
www.ukrmb.co.uk
www.usrmb.net
www.aussiermb.org.au
and
http://www.bluegrace.com/resources.html
http://www.rawlearning.com/
Philippa in New York with the dachsies