September 2008 Newsletter
September is Pet Smile Month
Many of the veterinary practices around the country will be supporting Pet Smile Month and offering discounts on any dental work done on your pet. Do not see this simply as a marketing tool for veterinary surgeries to increase their turnover! Dental hygiene in your pet IS important.
We check your pet's teeth and gums everytime they are presented for their yearly boosters (or if your pet is insured for dental work with Petplan, be aware that they MUST have a 6 monthly free dental check up at your vet or any claims made will not be valid). It is at this time that we can see whether there is a large tartar build up on your pet's teeth that is starting to affect the gums and make them red.
The first sign you will see is that your pet has really bad halitosis everytime they pant happily in your face. In cats, they may show signs of a reluctance to eat hard food or increased salivating. The dangers of leaving your pet with tartar on the teeth, is that the tartar tends to harbour bacteria (the smell in your pet's breath) and if these bacteria were to enter the bloodstream as the gums become red and inflamed; they can spread an infection through the blood. This infection may end up in your pet's kidney or heart and be very difficult to treat.
Take the dental advice that you receive from your vet seriously. Try to brush your pet's teeth from when they are very young (although I have never managed to find the time to do this). My alternative, is to feed good quality dry food to our cats Shadow and Buttons. They purr when they eat it so they must like it!
Smaller dogs, especially those with flat noses suffer more than other breeds as their teeth are not as well aligned as dogs with normal long jaws. They also do not have the strength in their jaws to chew as well as larger dogs. The third reason is the owner's fault. They tend to feed small dogs diets such as Caesar that is very sticky and results in a lot of tartar after only a few years of this diet.
Your pet's dental health is in your hands - keep them healthy with healthy teeth.
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