Brushing your pets teeth is a year round activity

Hooves and Paws Veterinary Clinic out of Elrose has a good stable of animal lovers working inside their walls.

From dogs to horses, and everything else in between, their job is to keep your animals healthy and do what they can from a preventative side to keep any issues from arising in the first place.

Hooves and Paws had some special deals on for Pet Dental Health Month back in February (All photos via Hooves and Paws Veterinary Clinic on Facebook)

Back during Pet Dental Health Month, the local veterinary service's Facebook page shared that common signs of dental disease owners should look out for include bad breath, broken teeth, dropping food while eating, swallowing food whole, chewing on only one side of the mouth, reduced appetite and/or losing weight.

With that reminder in February, and early April's annual National Pet Day celebration, it's important to recognize that love and care is a year round activity for our furry friends. The team at Hooves and Paws wants people to know that for many animals, and dogs specifically, a lot of health problems can originate from the mouth.  

Diving into these issues a bit further, we got into contact with veterinarian out of Elrose Dr. Pat Van Parys.

"Probably the biggest thing that people don't realize is that you need to take care of their teeth, just the same that you would take care of your own." shared Dr. Parys. "Having a healthy mouth is a key matter of health for your animal. It's also becoming an animal welfare issue for your pet because of the pain associated."

Serious tooth pain is never fun to deal with. We as humans would look to get it dealt with ASAP, and if there is a waiting period, it is just in our nature to adapt. We can find different ways to work around pain, but when it comes to our canine friends, it takes a lot more for that handicap to shine through. 

"It takes a lot to put an animal off their food, and to stop living their life before they will let you know. By the time you know they have dental disease pain, and infection, or abscesses, they have been suffering for a while."

A dogs mouth that has seen better days

"We don't realize how much pain they have been in. I can't tell you how many times I have taken an older pet, people who thought their dog was just getting older and we cleaned their teeth, pulled all the bad diseased teeth, and then a few days later the owners will tell us their dog is acting like a puppy again," said Parys, as improved breath is another added bonus.

Dr. Parys said one thing she always hears is, 'I don't want my pet to suffer'. The number one way pets suffer is due to dental disease.

"It just warms my heart when I have an old pet come in, and it might have kidney disease or some other health issue they are going to have to deal with. I'll look in their mouth and see the owners have taken care of their teeth, and I think to myself 'you are such a lucky pet. You don't have to deal with the other diseases and a dental disease at the same time'."

Now that's a clean(er) mouth!

Just visually you can see for yourself the difference of a clean mouth. Dr. Parys encouraged some of the ways to perform dental hygiene at home.

"Brushing your pets teeth is by far the best way to take care of your pets oral health."

Sure there are dental chews and special diets that can help out with the process, but some good one-on-one facetime with your dog and a brush in hand is always the preferable method.

"There has been a number of times where owners that brush their pets teeth, will bring their dog into me and say, 'I was brushing my pets teeth last night, and this tooth is loose?'" 

Dr. Parys says that it can even play a factor when it comes to the early detection of problems.

"I am only going to detect that loose tooth when they come in for their annual exam. So that pet might have to deal with that painful tooth, but they are bringing it in right away because they are checking every time they brush."

Not only is that tooth creating pain, but it is also opening up a way for those different diseases to get into the bloodstream. Dr. Parys shared one unfortunate scenario from her 30 year career that goes to show just how vital healthy teeth really are.

"A six year old healthy animal died suddenly from a tooth that abscessed." she shared, "I didn't believe it, so we had the pet autopsy and sure enough what killed it was an acutely septic tooth. We really think it's a leading cause of chronic kidney disease, because the blood mixed with all the bacteria, toxins from the infected gums and teeth, get filtered through your kidneys."

A clean mouth will lead to a happy and healthy dog. 

With all this information it might seem like a good idea to dive right into brushing your dogs teeth, but Dr. Parys warned against doing it before taking the proper steps.

"The important thing about brushing, is that I don't want people to see this and think they are going to start brushing their pets teeth. Unless you have a (younger) dog that has a recently healthy mouth, it's really important to have that mouth assessed. If you try to start brushing a mouth that has already got gingivitis and periodontal disease, it's going to hurt and you are going to turn the pet off to the whole toothbrushing process."

The local veterinarian said that anyone outside the scope of practice would be surprised how early dogs can develop these issues. Often times they see a puppy at around 4 months for vaccinations, and then when it reaches around 16 months there is often a chance you will start to see tartar build-up. 

"When I do a first oral health assessment under anesthesia for cleaning, even at the age of two, a lot of those dogs already have a significant disease in their mouth."

Genetics also play a major factor. Small breed dogs will have way more periodontal disease than your large breed dogs. A smaller mouth in general also causes for some other issues such as teeth stuck under the gum line. This is due to a more crowded space in the mouth.  

Both dogs and cats were the main topics of conversation with Dr. Parys. When the animals are sleeping for their spay and neuter appointments, that presents a great time to feel around inside to check for anything wrong. Hooves and Paws Pet Dental Health Month promotion went one step further and included the cost of dental x-rays into other procedures for small animals.

A healthy weight along with healthy teeth are strong indicators that your pet is healthy, things Dr. Parys checks for every time. 

Putting the Hooves in Hooves and Paws, however, they weren't about to leave out their large animal friends with 10% off horse teeth floats in the month of February. Dr. Parys was happy to share one process for horses that helps them keep feeding alongside their neighbours.

"Sometimes when a horses teeth don't line up quite right, their teeth won't wear evenly and they will start to get sharp points on the edges of their teeth. Then when they try and chew, it starts to cut the insides of their cheeks. Some horses won't eat very well. You will notice when they are eating grain they are dropping it. Could be losing weight."

 Dental health is important for all your animals big or small

The last thing Dr. Parys wanted to stress, was that this process can be fun. After all, it is just a person and their pet trying to bond. Whether it is for a cat, dog, or a horse; a training routine must be brought in slowly so the animal can feel comfortable with their owner getting all up in their face.

"It might take you three, four months to train your dog to accept the teeth brushing. But it's ok, because you are going to do it for their lifetime."

Even though a puppy's baby teeth might not be ready for the toothbrush, getting them use to being up close and personal around their face will make it a lot easier when it actually comes time to get down to brushing.

Making it at the same time, at the same place, and using a slow introduction to the products that will keep them happy and healthy are all things that will make brushing your dogs teeth a breeze in the future.

"If you aren't brushing your dogs teeth four times a week, you aren't going to slow the progression of disease."

Your dog might not necessarily like the act of brushing teeth. They might just be in it for a treat. Even though that might be the case, they are just as eager to be spending time with their owner.

All in all, taking the time out of your week to commit to your dogs dental health is something that could pay off bigtime in the future.