I want to take my dog in for a teeth cleaning (removal of tartar). I heard that they need to give him anesthetics and that not all vets are qualified or have the proper equipment to perform this procedure. Any other things I should be aware of? Also, does anyone have a trusted vet that they have gone to to do this procedure and can recommend?
Unless your dog has ludicrously huge amounts of tartar build-up, it would probably be less stressful for all concerned to just give him a few good big raw bones – that should take care of all but the most persistent tartar.
Worth a try, at least.
AnimalsTaiwan doggy biscuits are made with oatmeal and are exceptionally good for cleaning dog teeth.
It’s weird, my dog isn’t really into chewing on things, which is a good thing for my furniture and stuff. But he also isn’t really fond of chewing on bones. I have bought him every flavor, shape, and size of bone and he doesn’t pay much attention to them. He likes to bite them and then throw them around, that’s about it. I have to admit that I have been a bit lazy, and brush his teeth only once in a while. His teeth are starting to get really yellowish brown. I think my only option is get a vet to remove the hard tartar, and start being more anal about brushing his teeth on a more regular basis after that.
How about hard baked biscuits like the ones we sell? He’d be eating, not just chewing them, but in the process, they’d help keep his teeth cleaner. They have good flavor from the liver or cheese, and no sugar. Much easier and less stressful than a trip to the vet. If you’ll be at the HH tonight you could PM the AnimalTaiwan gang and ask sb to bring a bag for you…
My dog never liked this either. With 15 years old his teeth were pretty yellow, but up till his last day he still had all his teeth and could chew if he wanted…
I heard of dogs that died during tooth cleaning because the anesthetics the vet gave them were too strong. The just never woke up again…
That’s also my concern. Don’t really trust any vets here, especially to do delicate work like that. I’m scared I’ll be arrested for murder, if the vet screws up and my dog doesn’t wake up.
I picked up a stray dog that had absolutely filthy teeth and very bad breath. My regular vet did a very good job of cleaning the teeth up under general anaesthetic. The surgery is located on the south side of Minquan West Road between Chengde Road junction (4) and the Dynasty Movie Theatre (5) - 5 minutes walk over the footbridge from Minquan West Road MRT station (see map below).
(If map won’t show, click here.)
Today I took my neighbour’s dog there with a swollen face. One of her teeth is rotten and she has got infected in her gum and cheek up to around her eye. The tooth will have to come out. Shows the importance of looking after your dog’s teeth.
p.s. I risk being beaten up with a rolling pin if I do not point out the proximity of the Nook Cafe Theatre.
Thanks Juba, I’ll check it out.
How necessary is it to brush a dog’s teeth? Since we adopted our tanggou a few months ago, we’ve not brushed his teeth once. He gets bones everyday, some of which require a couple of minutes of “processing” before they’re ready to go down the pipe, so I imagine he’s getting a good bit of grit from them. His teeth are quite clean, though he does occasionally have bad breath. Should we brush his teeth?
I’ve never brushed any dog’s teeth.
Basically, the healthier and more natural the diet, the less you will need to clean the teeth. Vets never did dental work until processed food became the convenient food for our pets.
We feed ours raw meat and bones, with the occasional rawhide bone thrown in (a lamb shank is far, far better), and you can see the younger dogs’ teeth are sparkling white. They’re two and three years old. The older dog was rescued when she was about ten, and her teeth have cleaned up nicely since getting a diet full of raw, meaty bones.
So I have to go with sandman: give your dog more raw bones! (Cooked bones, especially the smaller ones, are very dangerous for a dog).
And of course, those crunchy, all-natural AnimalsTaiwan dog biscuits will hep break off some of that tartar.
Good luck!
Stray Dog thanks for the info. BTW when you said raw meat, do you actually mean uncook meat. I usually at least boil the meat till its cooked and add some veggies for a complete meal for my dog. I’ve never given it raw meat. Are there any concerns with bacteria and problems such as Mad Cow disease with feeding our dogs raw meat?
Raw means raw. Dogs didn’t evolve eating cooked meat; their digestive and immune systems can handle it. The risk of mad cow disease and such is extremely remote.
And I would add that cooking does nothing to reduce the risk of contracting BSE. It’s not viral or bacterial. If the meat you or your dog eat is contaminated, no amount of cooking will protect you. Vets and surgeons who have done autopsies of BSE/CJD contaminated corpses have found that no amount of sterilization can get rid of the prions on contaminated surgical tools.
As has been mentioned here before, you’re dog is actually at greater risk of getting BSE from dry food than from fresh meats. Dry food is usually full of bone meal, often including bone from the spine and skull. If you are just a little careful about the meats you choose, the BSE risk from raw meats is quite small-I would say definitely smaller than if feeding dry food. Basically, you would want to avoid feeding anything from a cow’s or sheep’s head. You should also probably avoid anybones close to the spinal cord, as the upper spinal cord has been found to contain contaminated tissues in stricken animals. Or you could just avoid feeding any beef or lamb and instead stick to birds, rabbits, fish, etc.
KawasakiRider,
What you are giving your dogs is great - a hundred times better than processed/non-human-grade food. If you’re not sure about feeding uncooked meat, just reduce the cooking time each day. You’ll soon see it’s what dogs were meant to have.
You should definitely feed bone (you said meat, so I’m assuming it’s just meat you give), as that should be the bulk of the diet if you want a healthy dog. It’s particularly important for young dogs, whose bones are still forming, as it contains the perfect calcium-phosphorous ratio. Upsetting this natural balance (as they so often di in commercial foods, by adding too much calcium) causes skeletal problems as the pup grows. Raw bones are perfect for dogs (pliable and easily digested); cooked bones are dangerous (hard, splinterable, and difficult/slow to break down) - please remember that.
The veggies can be cooked or blended, but blended is better for the following reason: raw food (meat and veg) has the most nutrients, in an easily assimilated form. The more you cook food, the less available those nutrients become (plus many get thrown out with the water!) and some enzymes are actually destroyed, including protein. Raw, unblended veggies will just go straight through a dog, though, as the animal’s digestive system is unable to break down the cellulose covering. So veggies must be cooked or blended if they’re not to pass straight through the dog (though roughage is a good thing, and a raw carrot is a healthy recreational food for a dog). Wild canines get their vegetables from the stomach contents of the prey animal. Dogs do not consume the contents of the first stomach of ruminants, where the veg is undigested (not broken down) - only what’s inside the other stomachs is eaten.
Commercial foods put all the good things in, including huge amounts of protein, and then cook it to hell! The dog gets very little of the goodness that goes in. Raw food also contains the omega oils that are essential for a dog’s good health (the essential fatty acids). Pet food companies put it in the food then cook it, whereby it turns to rancid fats that are very unhealthy for the dogs. Even the foods that have the oils added after cooking don’t get it right, because omega oils turn bad very quickly once exposed to air. Many of those fat dogs you see around are not overfed; they’ve been consuming rancid fats. If anyone does feed dry dog food :loco: , you’d do best to buy small bags at a time rather than the huge ‘economy-sized’ bags.
I’m happy to share what I know, so feel free to contact me off-board or post here if you need more help or assurance.
Once again, you are doing the right thing for your dog already! :bravo: If you don’t go raw, it’ll still be doing better than most dogs fed a commercial diet.
Here’s a link for you: http://www.thedogscene.co.uk/articles/nutrition/fresh1.htm
Cheers!
Sean
Wow! Great post Stray Dog. I will give the raw meat a try. Thanks again.
You’re very welcome.
I sometimes wonder if its due to the minimal cooking of their food that the Japanese have the greatest longevity rate.
The only thing I would add to the link that I posted is that, if you want to add peanuts to yuor dog’s diet, feed only those that are aflatoxin free. I just avoid feeding nuts altogether, as the staff at Wellcome don’t know what the hell I’m asking about. :s
Start off with some chicken wings; your dog will love it.
The pup in my avatar (available for adoption, everyone 
) sucks his - he’s still learning how to chew, so I have to chop it up into bits, but he absolutely loves them. The bits will get bigger as he gets used to it, which is alway a good idea for young dogs (younger than him - he’s just a big baby!).
Anyway, let me know if you need any help, and I have an excellent book I can lend you on feeding raw.
Cheers!
Sean
Question on the raw bones. I’ve always been concerned that it might be dangerous to giev my dog raw bones. I’m scared the bones might splinter or have sharp edges that would hurt my dogs mouth. What types of bones would you say are safe and which ones to stay away from?
Stay with raw; stay away from cooked. It’s as simple as that. To take it further, you’d be better to avoid giving load-bearing bones from older animals. For recreation and a good oral and physical workout, lamb shanks are the way to go.
While your dog is practicing (getting used to) eating raw bones, start off with the softer bones. such as chicken necks, chicken wings, whole fish, etc. Later move on to chicken legs, then chicken backs, and once your dog is doing well (chewing properly) you can move on to whole duck, lamb bones, pork ribs, etc.
Must dash - may add more later.
Sean