Dogs and Cats do best when eating a meat based diet and have teeth that have evolved to help them hunt and eat meat. In order to eat well, they need to be able to eat in comfort. Also, the mouth is one of the few barriers where the body is open to infection or insult. For this reason, it is important to keep this part of the body as healthy as possible, keeping foreign matter like plaque and tartar and infection under control.
There are many ways that you can help to keep your pet’s mouth healthy at home. Your pet’s teeth and gums can be kept cleaner for longer by brushing them with special enzyme enhanced, flavored toothpaste or cleansing gels. Feeding RAW chicken necks or wings in smaller dogs, or lamb necks and larger meaty bones in larger dogs can sometimes help. There are also Chew toys designed to help keep the teeth clean. For those difficult to medicate pets, there are mouthwashes like “Healthy Mouth” which you can add to the drinking bowl, or a powder like “Plaque Off”, which you can add to the food.
Some foods have been designed to help keep teeth cleaner and healthier. One such diet is Hill’s T/d diet, or Tooth diet. This is a dry food which has been specially designed to clean your pet’s teeth as they eat. It is available for dogs and cats. Another such diet is the Eukanuba dry food biscuits (for dogs and cats) which now include the dental defence system which helps reduce plaque and tartar buildup on teeth both during and after meals.
If you have any queries about dental care, then speak to the nurses who could give you a quick evaluation of your pets oral hygiene. Sometimes, in more severe cases, the only way to get your pet’s teeth clean is to undergo a full scale and polish under a general anaesthetic.