Would you have a dental done?

fiwen30

fiwen30

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Just looking for some opinions/advice, please.

My dog has just turned 13, he’s a 18.3kg, medium-sized, rough collie/Jack Russell. Medical history includes:
  • A grade 2 heart murmur that was diagnosed and has been medicated since he was 8 - there has been no change or advancement in his murmur, it is checked by stethoscope every 4 weeks. He’s not had another heart scan since the murmur was detected.
  • A TPLO cruciate surgery on 1 hind leg when he was 10 - this was the last time he was put under general anaesthetic, and there were no complications either from the anaesthetic or from the surgery.
  • On-going medication & additional therapies for arthritis - hydrotherapy every fortnight, and laser therapy 4 weekly. With age, he is getting weaker and has been losing muscle mass in the hind-quarters, and then getting sore in front from throwing weight forward to compensate.
Medication includes:
  • Vetmedin & furosemide for the heart murmur.
  • 400mg Gabapentin (twice daily), and loxicom for the arthritis.
  • 4 weekly librella injection for the arthritis.
He had a full pre-anaesthetic blood panel done in February just gone, when we decided to keep him on loxicom long-term. His results were perfect, and surprised our vet for a dog of his age.

He has never had any dental work done, but has lost 3 of his lower front teeth over the last 2 years due to gum recession, and has quite a build up of tartar on his very back molars, and upper canines.

He is still eating well, and shows no sign of pain or discomfort, but he is also notoriously stoic and known for hiding pain symptoms. He is still bright, alert, happy, and playful, and we have made all the necessary home and exercise adaptions for him. He wants for nothing to keep him happy, comfortable, and pain-free, at very great expense as he was never insured.


We’re just home from the vets for his librella injection, and our vet raised the topic of a dental for him due to the tartar build up. We see the head of the practice, and have worked with him for years - he’s very practical and straightforward, which I appreciate - for this though, he couldn’t really advise me one way or the other.

General anaesthetic comes with greater risk in an older dog, especially one with heart problems. There is maybe a 1 or 2/100 chance of a fatality. His teeth aren’t currently causing him any trouble, as far as I’m aware, and I’m loathe to take risks with him. On the other hand though, my boy’s blood panel was perfect as of 2 months ago, whereas it might not be in a year’s time if the dental disease progresses. And dental disease will only worsen, and could lead to other problems down the line.


So what do you think you would do, and why?
 
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Yes I would have teeth done - from the history you describe I think I would be comfortable in him having the procedure, and poor teeth can lead to further heart and other problems as well as being horribly uncomfortable for the dog in question
 
My 10 year old collie has build up of plaque and some missing tips of teeth, was offered dental work under anaesthetic...said no and now give fish treats which have definitely helped clean her teeth. She has librella too which has been great for her.
 
My old lurcher stopped eating and vet thought it was her teeth so I felt I had no choice and let her have GA and dental treatment. She was 14 and had a heart murmer which was never treated as it was not considered serious. She ended up having a few teeth out and sailed through the GA, so it was no problem for her. Sadly she didn’t really start to eat and as she had always been a foodie I decided to let her go and not leave her to fade away…
 
My nearly 13 year old was supposed to be having a dental this month . He has been on canident for a couple of months and vet is impressed with improvement and wants to see him again in 6 weeks before making a decision. But if she feels he still needs doing I will go ahead as long as pre op bloods are ok , I know bad teeth can lead to other problems.
 
AmyMay said:
I’d second this. I’d be loath to put him under a ga. Does he have smelly breath?
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His breath is smelly. I’d never heard of Canident before, it sounds interesting. I’d asked our vet if there was anything less invasive/proctive that we could be doing, as was recommended Stomodine to try - it seems like an antibacterial gel to help with gingivitis etc., but it wouldn’t remove the existing tartar.

He is also on Riaflex Joint Plus Pro, but I don’t believe that contains seaweed, so it may be OK to have alongside the Canident.
 
Try Canident and daily tooth brushing using and enzymatic toothpaste for a couple of months and assess the results with your vet. Mine is 14 and I’d considered a dental as it might be the last chance at his age. He had a heart scan to check the progress of a murmur and he needs meds (he’s at a good point for them to work well), but he didn’t do well with the light anaesthetic and was very weak and wobbly for more days than I was happy with. His teeth aren’t that bad and I’ve decided the risk isn’t worth it. Daily brushing has really helped with the tartar and he’s good enough to let me get some bits off with a thumbnail. I should say I’ve done this for years and don’t recommend it for everyone!
 
I absolutely cannot see how canident can possibly help.
I got some for Tawny after reading about it on here, while thinking ‘yeah right’. It has made an amazing difference. It shouldn’t be possible, one scoop of it in a bowl of kibble that is gone in seconds but bizarrely it really has.

She didn’t have smelly breath or anything but post dental did start to get some tartar build up again, it is pretty well gone now. 🤷‍♀️
 
How does Canident compare to Plaque Off?

My dog had his done for his 12 birthday, no heart issues though, he was fine despite needing two removed and my husband said the improvement in breathe was worth £500 🤣
 
HopOnTrot said:
How does Canident compare to Plaque Off?

My dog had his done for his 12 birthday, no heart issues though, he was fine despite needing two removed and my husband said the improvement in breathe was worth £500 🤣
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I used Plaque off for probably a year and didn’t see a difference. Swapped to Canident and his teeth are improving after a couple of months .
 
HopOnTrot said:
How does Canident compare to Plaque Off?

My dog had his done for his 12 birthday, no heart issues though, he was fine despite needing two removed and my husband said the improvement in breathe was worth £500 🤣
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I used PlaqueOff with no improvement. Then tried Canident and it has worked for all my dogs, and also my elderly cat who had very bad gingivitis and foul breath, now completely gone. I wish I had shares in the company, it’s great stuff.
 
Errin Paddywack said:
I also think Canident and would also give him fish skin fingers from Skippers. Mine have one as a chew every night and my vet is very pleased with their teeth. They take a fair bit of chewing so don't just get swallowed.
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Have a look at Maltby's Stores of Hull, they are cheaper than Skipper's. They have all sorts of stuff there.
 
Crunching on dried turkey necks and chicken feet cleaned up the big girl's teeth when I got her.

.
 
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I purchased some Skippers fish skin chews after seeing discussed on here, they did last longer than "normal" dental chews, but still gone in 2 minutes 🙄
I have similar to OP, 14 yr old with heart murmur, I'm not putting him through surgery/GA
 
Use plaque off then find a dog groomer that cleans teeth honestly Winnies were bad and my groomer had a look and said she could get most of it off, the results were amazing all the staining gone and most of the plaque for £60 the vets quoted me £600 a bit of a difference!

I also use logic oral gel you just squirt it on the teeth daily this was recommended by the groomer, she then said teeth cleaning won't need to be done so frequently.
 
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