Dental disease is important to control in our cats and dogs as infection can set-in causing them to stop eating, develop kidney and liver disease, amongst other health conditions. Dental disease starts off with tartar buildup. Tartar is a hardened or calcified often brown coloured version of plaque. Plaque is the precursor to tartar and is a clear, slime we can easily remove by brushing it away when we toothbrush. We witness plaque most commonly in ourselves when we wake up in the morning with that slimy film in our mouth. In our pets because most of them do not have their teeth brushed daily, the tartar buildup on the teeth causes irritation of the gums around the base of the teeth, resulting in exposure of the roots, infection and tooth loss. Dental disease can also be painful as it is in humans when we develop cavities or even infection extending to our jawbone.

When a general physical examination is performed on your pet, your family veterinarian will also stage the dental disease your pet has. A score of 0/4 means your pet’s teeth are great and a score 4/4 means your pet has significant dental disease that warrants immediate attention.

Depending on the stage, your family veterinarian will discuss various plan of care options with you. It is important to note, that even if your pet has a perfect score of 0/4, your family veterinarian may discuss at-home dental preventive options with you to keep your pet’s smile in tip top shape. If your family veterinarian stages your pet’s dental disease and recommends planning for a dental procedure the following information may be helpful for you to know.

A full and thorough oral or mouth examination in our companion animals can only be conducted when they are under anesthesia. Blood and urine testing in addition to the aforementioned general physical examination would need to be done prior to dental cleaning to evaluate organ function, safety for anesthesia and other medications to help ensure your pet is a good candidate for the procedure to be conducted under general anesthesia. Although aesthesia always carries a degree of risk, the modern aesthetics in use in the clinics minimize this risk, even for older pets. The decision to schedule a dental procedure is discussed with your family veterinarian and depends on the individual needs of the pet and pet guardian.

While your pet is under anesthesia, if rotten teeth are found, removal of these teeth or dental extractions are important so the infection no longer continues and healing can begin. Pain control and antibiotics may given prior, during and after this scheduled dental procedure for a set period of time.

SO, to delay development or progression of dental disease, even if your family veterinarian rates your pet’s teeth as a perfect stage of 0/4 or even if they have just had a dental procedure done, they will often recommend your pet be started on some at-home dental care measures to minimize the need for a future dental procedure.

There are a plethora of at-home oral care measures to consider. Incorporating as many of these different measures together will do a better job at combating and preventing progression of dental disease. At-home dental products such as tooth brushing, toothpaste, diets, treats, water additives can be started to help delay further progression of dental disease as they help remove plaque, again that a sticky clear bacteria film on the teeth that is a precursor to the calcified version, called tartar that we mentioned earlier. It is important to note that once plaque becomes tartar, that brown hardened substance on teeth, no amount of tooth brushing or other at-home care measures can safely remove tartar. It requires dental cleaning with dental instruments such as a scaler. This is why we humans try to visit our own dentist once or twice a year.

Tooth brushing remains the best at-home oral care routine and so I have devoted a separate instructional video specifically about tooth brushing. Please visit the Toronto Mobile Veterinary Services website at www.tomobilevet.com to access this video.

I will briefly talk about two other more common secondary measures of at-home oral care that are good at helping to keep your pet’s gums and teeth healthy. These are the dental kibble diets and the dental water additives. I mention these ones over other products because of ease of incorporating them into your pets daily oral care regimen as the dental kibble taste good and they can also be used as treats or snacks. And, finally the water additive is mentioned because it too is a method that can be more easily incorporated into your daily pet oral care regimen because it will not alter the taste of their drinking water.

The first one I want to talk about is dental kibble. It is important to note that not all kibble effectively removes plaque from your pet’s teeth. The kibble needs to be a dental formulation because dental kibble are designed so that when your pet chews on them, its design will help “pull off” plaque. This will prevent further plaque and subsequent tartar buildup.

Another product to consider are special water additives. These products, when added to water also help to remove plaque on teeth when your pet drinks his/her water.

Thank you for watching this video. I hope it will help you in building an everlasting happy and healthy bond with your pet. If you have any questions or concerns about information from this video, speak to your family veterinarian. If you would like to schedule a phone consult with me regarding this topic, please visit the Toronto Mobile Veterinary Services website at www.tomobilevet.com and book online.

 

Have a wonderful day!

It’s allergy season again! For us humans, this includes a variety of irritating things such as runny noses, sneezing, skin problems, and so many more. But what about the allergies that our pets are prone to? Did you know that dogs can get environmental allergies also?

*If you think your dog has an allergic condition, it’s important to get an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as you can.

Environmental Allergies

Just like a person, your dog can also be allergic to a variety of irritants in the environment. These can be outdoor allergens like ragweed, grasses and pollens, as well as indoor irritants like mold, dust mites, cleaning chemicals and even fabrics like wool or cotton.

If your dog is allergic to something inside your home, he’ll have symptoms like sneezing or itching all year. If he’s reacting is to something outdoors, it could very well be a seasonal problem.

Here are ways to help your dog feel better:

1. Clean Up! 

We don’t like putting our children in toxic environments, so why should we put our pets in them too? Keeping a clean environment can do wonders in helping your pet feel better. Clean up your pet’s indoor air environment. Don’t allow smoking around your pet. Switch to non-toxic cleaning products. Consider investing in an air purifier to control dust mites.

2. Make sure your pet is drinking some high class water. Seriously!

As human beings, we are so picky about our filtered, flavoured, and branded water. We’re not telling you to buy a carton of Fiji Water, but just make sure your pet is getting the good stuff. Allergens can come from anywhere. Make sure your dog’s drinking water is high quality and doesn’t contain fluoride, heavy metals or other contaminants. Simply use a filter and see if any of his or her conditions improve.

3. Too much medication can hurt

Just as you would not overmedicate yourself or your family, don’t over-drug or over-vaccinate your dog. Vaccines boost your pet’s immune system and too many can actually cause damage.  An over-reactive immune system sets the stage for allergic conditions. Antibiotics wipe out good bacteria right along with the bad guys. Most of your dog’s  immune system is in his GI tract and the right balance of gut bacteria is critical for his health.

4. The Simple Bath

Take a bath! If your pet has irritated skin, bathing will rinse the allergens away and make her feel better immediately. Don’t be shy about how often you bathe your pet, especially if she suffers from allergies that itch and irritate her skin. If you suspect something outdoors is irritating your dog, in between baths, do foot soaks. Chances are the allergen is coming inside on your pet’s feet. She can’t escape it, and she’s spreading it around indoors to every room she visits.

5. Do an analysis

If you’ve been paying attention to your pet, you’ll have a pretty good idea of when they have certain reactions, including time or day, their location, and what they’ve eaten before an allergic reaction. Your veterinarian will want to know this information if you end up bringing your dog in for a check-up.

If you haven’t been keeping track, now would be a good time to start. By analyzing your pet’s lifestyle, you’ll be able to eliminate the things that are causing the allergy leading to a happier and healthier best friend.

Thanks for the read! Next week we’ll be continuing this three-part series on pet allergies by going in depth about Fleas!

Have your pets had any environmental allergy problems ? What have you done to fix the problem? Let us know by commenting below.