Pet Care

If you have a pet, then you know how important pet care is to the wellbeing and happiness
of your furry friend.  Pets are part of the family and their health is important when it comes to having your pet lead a long, happy and healthy life.

Pet Care and Dog Teeth Problems - Staying on top of any health problems will save them undo suffering and save you veterinarian bills.  But even with the best care at home and at the annual visit to the Veterinarian, problems can arise that can stump everyone. 

One such vulnerable spot on your pet, especially a dog is their teeth.  You have most likely seen products on the market for cleaning their teeth, complete with toothbrush and beef flavoured
toothpaste and other breath fresheners too.  Keeping their teeth clean and tarter free, will help to prevent dog teeth problems down the road, but sometimes no matter how well you take care of
their teeth, problems can arise.

I have a beautiful dog called Sasha, and I would like to tell you my story in the hopes
that you pay more attention to your dog’s mouth and dog teeth care.

Pet Care for Sasha - We have always taken good care of her, she is a mixed breed of Pyrenees,
Sheppard and Husky.  She is approximately 65 pounds, and has always seemed in good health.  She gets her annual checkups, and we feed her well, but over the last year or so, we noticed her hip was sore and her back legs didn’t take her as far on a hike, yet her tail wagged and she seemed happy.

She is almost 8 years old, and at her last checkup, they did some ex-rays, but nothing really
showed up, so it was put down to age. Slowly over the months, she started not being herself, and having a harder time getting up and her joints seemed to be stiff.

I can’t afford huge medical bills for my pets, so after the last checkup did not turn up anything significant, we just tried to get her out for more gentle exercise.

Dog Teeth Care – I have always given my dogs chew sticks that promise to clean their teeth, and she loves to chew rawhides, and her teeth are actually glistening white with no tarter.  The Veterinarian
always liked her teeth, and the quick look he gave in her mouth always left him smiling.

But little did we know that at the very back of her mouth, actually the very last molar up top, there was something not so right.

Natural dog teeth cleaning – She was continuing to chew on her rawhides, and dental stix I would give both my dogs each night.  She was still a happy dog, but slowin

g down and seeming to have joint pain. 

Dog Teeth Problems – One night I was watching TV, and it was a hot day, so we were in the basement, and she was panting away, and her breath started smelling like someone had crawled in her mouth and died!  It was horrible.  I had a quick look in her mouth and couldn’t see anything, so assumed she had got into some garbage or something.

It started to get worse, until finally one day while taking her out for her walk, she winced and squealed when I touched the side of her head. I checked her ear and washed her ear as she had always been prone to ear problems, but still no luck.

Dog Teeth Problems – I finally laid on the floor and waited for her to pant and with a flashlight had a really good look in her mouth, and there at the very back of her upper teeth, close to her throat was this red swollen lump.

She wouldn’t let me get closer than that, so I quickly made an appointment to see the
Veterinarian, I was worried about my dog, but also the big bill this was going to be!

They tried to force her mouth open and could not see anything wrong, finally one of the Veterinarian students did what I did, and laid on the floor looking up with a long flashlight and we all waited for her to start panting, and there it was!

Broken Tooth – They needed to get into her mouth, so surgery was scheduled for the next morning.  To save me money, I took her home and kept her crated so she didn’t eat or drink, and gave her some medicine, and then took her in the next morning bright and early.

During the surgery, they discovered this broken tooth had been this way for a long time.  It never seemed to bother her, but after a few blood tests, it was determined that infection had been getting into her blood and causing low grade problems.

Removed Broken Tooth – After the extraction and a bout of antibiotics for 10 days, my old dog came back.  No more hip problems, no more arthritic symptoms, no more joint pain and no more bad breath, (other than normal doggy breath!).

We all felt so bad, but she never once until a few days before the surgery, let on that anything hurt.  This tooth was very hard to see, and since she seemed OK at checkups, it was never noticed. 

I came very close to spending lots of money on uncomfortable tests to see why she was limping and not herself when in fact, it was a broken and infected bad tooth causing the problems.  What did she break such a large tooth on?  I don’t know, maybe a rawhide, or something outside.  But the point of my story, is to let you know just how important pet care and especially dog teeth care really is.

Your veterinarian may not pick up on teeth problems right away, and they only see your pet for ½ hour at most.  It is up to you to let them know about personality changes or problems with their breath.

So, if your dog is having health issues, start at their teeth.  Have a really good look.  When they are panting they relax more of their jaw, and you can use a long flashlight and have a really good look.

Make a point of brushing their teeth with the special dog brushes and paste, and you can see
if there are any problems

getting started.

A broken tooth, which didn’t seem to be bothering her, caused a whole slew of health
issues for my dog for a long time.  By removing this tooth, she is 100% better.

So, if you have a pet care regime, don’t forget their teeth and avoid dog teeth problems.