Teeth health. Petzlife?

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by 107barney

To clarify, the crunchy treat advice I was given by a vet dentist was to increase chewing and saliva flow. He also suggest rawhides, frozen veggies, and bully sticks among other things. My Winston is a severe case - it's very sad. Thankfully, he's a healthy sturdy little guy other than that. He actually has a beautiful bite as he was originally bred by a show breeder but his xrays reveal the bone loss. I feed two other dogs the same food and they don't have his issues.

I didn't even see where in your original post where you mentioned "crunchy food" - I only saw it in BabieChloe's post and I thought she was only talking about feeding kibble (ie, the school of thought that kibble is better for teeth). So that was why I made the comment afterward about using chews instead.

Now I went back and read your post and I see where you mentioned it and it makes total sense to increase the saliva flow in certain cases, and I understand why you posted to clarify now (at first I was all, what is she clarifying, lol?). That's actually really good info about saliva flow!

[107barney]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

I didn't even see where in your original post where you mentioned "crunchy food" - I only saw it in BabieChloe's post and I thought she was only talking about feeding kibble (ie, the school of thought that kibble is better for teeth). So that was why I made the comment afterward about using chews instead.

Now I went back and read your post and I see where you mentioned it and it makes total sense to increase the saliva flow in certain cases, and I understand why you posted to clarify now (at first I was all, what is she clarifying, lol?). That's actually really good info about saliva flow!

I definitely agree feeding kibble doesn't help. Winston ate kibble before I adopted him and thereafter. He doesn't chew. He seems to flow saliva a lot with his oinkie chew, but he still produces more plaque than I've ever seen before... As Linda says... "It's a sin!" I just ordered a gel to try putting on his teeth in the morning. I've tried almost everything but it hasn't helped. The dentist told me to try my best to keep it away from the gum line but it drives me crazy that he has anything on his teeth with all my home care.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by BabieChloe

Also, is there a bone that you can give that's TOO hard? I looked before at some bones in Pet Smart and they are all rock hard.. it scares me that she can crack a tooth like this? I'm sure she would love those bones, though.

Yes. Things like bully sticks and antlers are to hard and can brake teeth.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Yes. Things like bully sticks and antlers are to hard and can brake teeth.

My experience is that bully sticks are not very hard and are fine for them...but that's just my experience. Yours may be different. I've never tried the antlers but they do seem very, very hard to me.

[gemy]

Yeah I don't use antlers even for my big dogs. But they do get real meat bones.


I tried a lamb thigh bone for Magic once, and I was in the kitchen when I heard that special crunch sound ... I levitated down to the doggy den
He had snapped the thigh bone in half - about 10 minutes into the chewing time..... He thought it most unfair that I was taking his bone away! I had to offer him some other goodies in exchange. I now stick with bison and beef bones.

I also give turkey necks to the doggies, good cartilage for them. My butcher cuts them up for me - big dog size and small dog size.

I like healthy mouth but my dogs not so much. I use petzlife oral gel in both the spray bottle and gel bottle.

From Tropic clean I have a nubby ball (that has now disappeared) that you can spray on the Tropic Clean and give to your dog to chew. Problem is all the doggies want what Magic has - so three balls for three dogs, two get left by the wayside and Magic spends his time protecting *his* ball. If I put them in their crate they only chew for a moment or two then leave it. Balls in their lexicon are for chasing and retrieving - preferably from the water

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

My experience is that bully sticks are not very hard and are fine for them...but that's just my experience. Yours may be different. I've never tried the antlers but they do seem very, very hard to me.

I was told they were to hard by a vet dentist and Callie broke hers on one.