Teeth cleaning

[Cop-Pop]

How much (averagely) does it cost for the vet to do it? Yellow Dog's breath stinks

- he's wormed regularly and he doesn't eat skanky things on walks (apart from the odd partridge

). His teeth look like they need some tlc tho...

 

[Sarah1]

Not sure TBH but just wanted to say after you've had them done I can highly recommend those denta-stix, they aren't just a gimmick, we feed our lab one a day and she's 7yr old & her teeth are b-e-a-utiful! Pearly white!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I have no idea about the price, I've never had dogs with really yellow teeth but besides always having gnaw bones available, I also have toothbrushes and those metal things that looks like/resembles something human dentists have and with those I can simply scrape their teeth a little, sometimes now and then, to make sure nothing is beginning to build up.




PlaqueOff is supposed to be quite good and effective but it can make the thyroid gland somewhat more active, though not necessarily in a negative way. I know of old dogs whose thyroid glands had begun to not work so well any more and was on medication for that, whose owner could lower their medication dose after their dog had been eating PlaqueOff for a while, due to their thyroid glands working a little bit better again (note lower the dose, not quit entirely with the medication, so we are not talking about a big boost, only somewhat more active).


Good luck.

 

[Cop-Pop]

Thanks

He doesn't eat bones or denta-stix. We've offered them but he had a nibble and ignores them. Our goldie has got to 14 with fabulous teeth but she's always eaten bones - we managed to get the only food fussy lab ever

 

[UnaB]

Raw bones are great for healthy teeth, all of mine get them a couple of times a week and even my old girl who's ten has the most beautiful white teeth, they're perfect

I would keep trying with the bones and see if he will take them

 

[Spudlet]

I might try denta-sticks, my vet told me to brush Henry's teeth and it is not an easy task, holding a wriggly and, for his size, freakishly strong spaniel in a headlock, while at the same time pulling his lips up and brushing his teeth and not ending up with meaty flavoured toothpaste smeared up the walls, on the carpet, and all over me (but very little in the dogs mouth)

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

Spudlet - get him a fresh bone and chuck him out in the garden with it - so much easier then mucking about with toothbrushes etc......St Sweeps fangs are still sparkly white at 12 - never seen a toothbrush in his life - vet regularly checks them but never needed to do anything.

Max arrived with a toothbrush etc - it went straight in the bin and was replaced with a bone - happy days!!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I want my bitches to be used to that I poke and fiddle with them somewhat, so I make them used to that I randomly put a finger between their lips and their teeth and slip around a little, I look in their ears and perhaps poke a little with a finger and if they lay next to me or in my lap for a cuddle, I sometimes hold their paw and feel around, fiddles a little with their claws.


For wriggly bottom experts that struggles when you want to do something with them which they don't want done, I recommend that you begin without toothbrush and toothpaste and simply first makes him used to your finger being in his mouth, preferably at times when he is calm and relaxed. Later you can randomly add a little toothpaste on your finger, perhaps just put the toothbrush between his lips and his teeth and hold it there etc.

What can I say, I gradually makes my bitches used to the idea that my brain's way of thinking is unfathomable for them and if they simply endure whatever I'm up to, it will pass and I become normal again.

 

[Spudlet]

Oh, I can poke and prod him to my heart's content, I just don't think he likes the flavour of toothpaste that I selected for him

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Oh well that is different, if it is the taste on the toothpaste that is wrong, I can understand that he fights for his rights to not have it in his mouth.




But I must say, I don't fully understand how dogs function in the taste department. They can happily drink out of muddy puddles out on walks, they would without hesitation help me clean the cat's litter trays if they thought they could get away with it but with at least two of my three Finnish Lapphunds, sometimes all three of them, if I try giving them a new type of reward or one they haven't eaten for a while, they will treat it with the outermost suspiciousness, usually equalling take it from my hand, spit it out and examine it before having a try on eating it...

 

[Spudlet]

I agree, I can't understand it! It smells revolting, and normally the more revolting it is the better...

There is a gap in the market for doggy toothpaste tasting of fresh horse poo and well rotted dead rabbit if you ask me **makes plans to go on Dragons' Den immediately**

 

[FestiveSpirit]

I have got greyhounds, so denta sticks, lovely revolting chew things from the vets, bones etc have no effect whatsoever, their teeth are appalling regardless

When I had Islay done last Zalacca it cost me about £260 but she did have a LOT of teeth out. The rest will be coming out in May I think when it is time for her MOT

 

[Cop-Pop]

Eeps - I don't think he needs any out, they just need a clean. He just won't eat bones! He'll nibble at pigs ears then wander off and the cats end up playing with them. All he likes to chew is Octo the ball and a bone he buried in Jan 09 and has just dug up.

 

[Murphy88]

Er, depending on your vet I'd say maybe £70-£100 (trying to remember what it was at the practice I was in at xmas?!) The bulk of the cost is the anaesthetic, and then it can bump up more if you choose to have fluids and pre-op bloods done (around £30 each) - most vets will advise this for dogs over 8/9 years so don't know if it will apply to Yellow Dog.

It is worth having it done though - I'd always kind og thought as dental work as something vets do if a dog has teeth falling out left-right-and centre, but we are now taught at uni that dentals should be the bulk of a small animal vets work, because dental disease is so common.