Cleaning dogs teeth

cocker5

Hi all,

So my guy (nearly 11) was at the vet today so not a happy camper.. She mentioned we need to look after his teeth ..

Last year I did buy a dog toothbrush and dog toothpaste etc - but he wasn't having any of it!

So she suggested raw hid bones.. Which I bought him today.

She also suggested the hills science plan food that helps breaks down tarter.. But I currently feed taste of the wild and looked at the hills ingredients they're not as good as taste of the wild etc.,

Any recommendations how the help keep his clean / reduce tarter?

If not he will have to be knocked out for a scale and polish etc.. Which I will do if necessary but would rather try other options as he is 11 etc.

Thanks!

Wanderer41

cocker5 wrote: »

Hi all,

So my guy (nearly 11) was at the vet today so not a happy camper.. She mentioned we need to look after his teeth ..

Last year I did buy a dog toothbrush and dog toothpaste etc - but he wasn't having any of it!

So she suggested raw hid bones.. Which I bought him today.

She also suggested the hills science plan food that helps breaks down tarter.. But I currently feed taste of the wild and looked at the hills ingredients they're not as good as taste of the wild etc.,

Any recommendations how the help keep his clean / reduce tarter?

If not he will have to be knocked out for a scale and polish etc.. Which I will do if necessary but would rather try other options as he is 11 etc.

Thanks!

We use PlaqueOff on our dog. Just sprinkle a bit on their food depending on your dog's size once a day. I found it helped and reviews online were good.

awanderer

I am also trying to find something that would keep my dog's teeth healthy. I tried a plastic bone from Nylabone but after 15 minutes I realised that the carpet was covered in blood. Sure enough, when I checked my dog's mouth, his gums were bleeding heavily. I now hope that his frozen kong somehow helps keping his gims a bit healthier but would like to find something safe and efficient.

As for Hills Science food, I would really like to know what kind of percentage vets make on it. When I got my dog, The rescue told me that the vet had recommended to use Hill's science for sensitive stomach : my dogs stomach troubles disappeared when I replaced Hills food with Skinners. My best friend whose dog (on steroid and spoiled with treats) is obese, was sold Hills Science food by his vet to solve the weight problem! The poor guy is struggling enough with all the vet bills without having to pay 80 euros for a bag of mediocre food that won,t last long with a 60kg dog. It makes me angry how vets seem to pretend that Hill Science is almost a medicine rather than simply some overpriced mediocre food.

kathleen37

I used to use Pedigree Denta stix (I think they used to be called dentabone?) on my two, and they definately helped as one had a problem with tartar build up.

I would actually think they nylabone you have may be ok - the fact the gums are bleeding is saying that it's doing exactly what it should be and getting right up to the gums. I appreciate lots of blood wouldn't be very nice though, so may be worth mentioning to the vet and perhaps only giving it for 10 mins at a time after which gums would hopefully improve? The reason for speaking to the vet would be in case gums aren't in good enough condition for the nylabone at the moment, and some improvement may be needed before it's used again.

alex.middleton

Can also vouch for plaqueoff have quarterly checkups and everything is OK!

lazeedaisy

I use a finger brush with my two younger dgs,

They absolutely love deer antlers, which is a healthier safer choice than rawhide.

The first 2 we bought lasted about 14 months, so great value

tk123

I found plaque off very good. Lucy has always had dirty teeth and it really helped loosen the plaque so I could just crack it off with my finger nail. I tried canident and found it useless and a bit of a rip off - 3 scoops of canident vs 1 of plaque off and 1 scoop of canident was equal to either 7 or 5 (i think 7) scoops of plaque off...

I've been brushing them the last while to try and loosen plaque around the gum line of her canines so I can crack it off - her lip is so tight against her teeth it's like it provides cover for them to get dirty - it's just these 4 that are dirty!! I have to brush Baiey's on the side he lost the piece of jaw because he doesn't do hard chewing on that side...

What toothpaste have you tried - I use Vibrac/CET with a double ended brush and while I'm brushing one of their teeth the other is licking the other end of the toothbrush lol! Would your dog let you rub the toothpaste in with your finer? Lucy is not thrilled about having hers brushed but tolerates it and I've managed to use the scaler a few times on her. Bailey doesn't mind me brushing or the odd time I've had to use the scaler on him! His teeth were perfect before his op

cocker5

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the late reply and thank for your replies..

Thank again for the plaque off recommendations.. I’ve seen this one below:

Can you let me know if this is the one you use? If not can you post a link as to where you get your etc – much appreciated. Ill get some fingers brushes too!

http://www.petcara.ie/dog/dog-medicines-healthcare/dog-dental-care/plaque-off

ok so on another note I compete annoyed with myself and my vet if I’m honest.

So after I my last post I got suckered in and went back down and bought the hills food for his teeth (even though I’ve just ordered his taste if the wild last week etc) – I only bought a small bag.
I thought to myself whatever helps his teeth etc – then I got it home and went through the ingredients etc – now I did know it wasn’t as good as taste of the wild.. but I didn’t realise how much it differs.

I’m annoyed I got suckered in – normally I’m not so stupid.

While I was in buying the food my vet was there .. she asked me what I currently was feeding him so I said taste of the wild.. she said she’d never heard of it.. I said its grain free – her response ”why on earth would you feed your dog grain free” - 
I know she sells “hills” and that’s why she pushed it – but come on open up your mind women.

Then we were chatting about his supplements – ie salmon oil and Luposan pellets (she’d never heard of this one) – then I mentioned id might move him over to YU move – she’d never heard of this either..
I’m now getting p*ssed off with the vets I’ve seen knowing NOTHING about dog food / nutritional value or any other product except what they push on their clients – for god’s sake should they not be educating themselves on these matters?? It is their jobs after all.

This brings me to my final point – I’ve mentioned on here before my cocker (over 10) has a few fatty lumps – all moving not solid which she believes are fatty deposits – he has one on his side embedded in muscle which is a little harder than the rest but she says its due to it being in the muscles – so my worry now is I have NO confidence in her for anything except his vaccinations etc - should I bring him to another vet for his lumps? He’s not out of sorts or anything.. I’m just worried she isn’t proactive on any other aspect of “new” nutrition / supplements this leads me to believe she may be sh*te at the rest of her job??

Any thoughts?

Thanks


sorry just wanted to also ask on the YU move how many tablets per day do you give a medium dog? cant find it anywhere?

Bandana boy

to be honest once you lose faith in your vet nothing other than a second opinion will get that confidence back.

Go get a second opinion and if its the same story you can revert to your standard vet with confidence

awanderer

I would actually think they nylabone you have may be ok - the fact the gums are bleeding is saying that it's doing exactly what it should be and getting right up to the gums. I appreciate lots of blood wouldn't be very nice though, so may be worth mentioning to the vet and perhaps only giving it for 10 mins at a time after which gums would hopefully improve? The reason for speaking to the vet would be in case gums aren't in good enough condition for the nylabone at the moment, and some improvement may be needed before it's used again.[/quote]

What worried me was the amount of blood. The carpet and the bone were really red. Is that normal so? When I used Nylabone my dog was less than 3 year old and the vet hadn't noticed anything wrong with his gums. I bought it to prevent rather than cure some gum problems. I still have the bone somewhere, maybe I should try it again knowing now that some bleeding is normal.

To the OP (I am unable to multiquote on my tablet). If you have any reason not to trust your vet, please get a second opinion. You would be surprised with how some bad vets can continue to practice despite their lack of competency. I am very wary as when I was a teenager, my mother decided, at last, to have our 4 cats neutered. When they came back from the vet, they were meowing very loudly which the vet said was normal. Later that evening one of the cat died and another was clearly getting worse. We rushed to another vet but he could only save the 2 last cats by giving them an injection to boost their hearts. The first vet blamed the deaths on the fact that the cats were wearing anti-flea collars which have an adverse effect on the anesthetic drugs.
A year later, a friend of mine told me her mother had ended up on anti depressant after working for 6 years as a veterinerary nurse for a vet that was so incompetent that she felt the pets would have had more chance of surviving if they had been sent to a butcher. She was specially distraught at the number of pets that vet had persuaded the owners to put to sleep when in fact they could easily have been cured. The worst part she said was that the owners were invariably grateful to the vet. That vet was the one that neutered our cats. Like everyone else we thought he wouldn't have been a vet with a nice practice if he hadn't known what he was doing.

cocker5

thanks guys..

Yeah i think your right ill bring him to another vet this weekend to get him checked out again... I'd loose my life if anything happened to him..
especially if it was avoidable

odckdo

cocker5 wrote:

sorry just wanted to also ask on the YU move how many tablets per day do you give a medium dog? cant find it anywhere?

For Yumove, up to 15kg 1 tablet. Made by lintbells. Luposan is supposed to be good too, going by posts on here.

My older dog has alot of those lumps. Just old age. Once you can get your fingers in behind them I think that means there OK. Every year for vaccs my vet checks, might be a new one or maybe an existing one has got bigger.

tbh, pretty much all vet clinics are like that when it comes to dog food and supplements. Not sure I would change for that reason. There are so many products on the market. I mean I got a bag of air dried anchovies recently on Zooplus.de all the way from Lake Victoria, Africa - I had to look it up as I didn't know where that lake was!!!