I can honestly say that brush my dog Chesney’s teeth three to four times a week. Trust me, it’s not always easy, especially when he looks up at me with those adorable beagle eyes. But knowing what I know as a Technician, these are the reasons why I can easily keep motivated to do this for him/put him through it (if you ask him):
- There’s the obvious reason that I don’t want to spend all of our precious snuggle time together thinking that his breath is horrendous and trying to escape the smell (AKA escape his love)!
- It only takes plaque 72 hours (that’s 3 days!) to begin calcifying into tartar (which only comes off with a dental surgery). This is why I don’t like to go more than 2 days without brushing his teeth.
- Dental disease is painful, and I don’t want my best friend to be in pain.
- Pain does strange things to animals. It can make their attitude change. After we perform dental surgery on a particularly bad pet mouth, we sometimes have people comment on how they’ve gotten much nicer and playful since their dental.
- Dental disease can affect many organs in the body, including the heart and lungs. This could ultimately affect his quality and length of life.
- Want to know how to limit anesthetic risks in your pet? Prevent dental disease, so they do not need dental surgery.
- Dogs eat disgusting things (I’d be lying if I said Chesney hasn’t eaten the occasional cat turd). Brush. That. Away. Enough said.
- Chesney really loves chewing on things. I would feel awful if his mouth ever hurt so badly that he couldn’t chew anymore.
Thirty seconds, three to four times a week is nothing compared to the years this may add on to his life! I do it because I love him and I want him to be his best self for as long as possible so that I can have my best friend around for the next 15 years (that’s the hope anyway)! If you’ve slipped up and forgot to brush your pet’s teeth for the past 946 days (we’re all human, right?) and your best friend could use some breath freshening, give us a call today for a dental assessment and can help make a plan to get back on track!
Written by: Kirsty Riemersma, Registered Veterinary Technician