It's a dog's life
Looking after your dogs teeth
For reasons best kept to within the four walls of the Pearson household, Tilly the miniature dachshund is coming with us on our summer holiday to France this year. It's a bit of a mammoth logistic affair involving Barbara our camper van, bicycles and a river boat but we are all very much looking forward to some time off and a chance to practice our pidgin French. Tilly is very used to riding around in a basket on the front of Em's bike and we have bought her the dinkiest life jacket so she all should be fine and dandy as long as we can find a vet to worm her apparently just before we return to dear old Blighty (Does anyone know how to say 'please can you worm my dog' in French, by the way?!).
So in preparation for the big trip or 'grandes vacances' as they say in France, we have purchased the additional hi-vis jackets and alcohol tests and got Tilly a Passport. It was whilst we were at the Vet that they gave us some freebie Dentastix which included a handy guide to looking after your dog's teeth. Ben is often asked if as a 'human' dentist he can deal with animals as well and the answer is no. Apparently veterinary dentistry is a completely different ball game and they even have their own website where you can have all your pet dentistry questions answered.
Anyway the Dentastix had some very interesting information - "Shockingly 4 out of 5 dogs over the age of 3 experience gum disease and despite this 90% of owners think their dog's teeth and gums are healthy. Dental problems in pets are often overlooked and can lead to significant health problems. For gum disease prevention is much better than cure...It's never too late to get started with any pet. Remember that because our pets don't complain, that does not necessarily mean all is well."
It's the same with us humans - 83% of the adult population have gum disease in some form, prevention is better than cure and it's never too late to get started. Just because no one sees you spit blood into the sink doesn't mean you can just ignore it. Next time your Vet suggests your pet needs some dental care perhaps it's worth getting your own mouth checked out as well?
