Doggy Dental with Heart Disease

[Mr._Graybeard]

Is there a reason you don’t feed it every meal?

It's expensive! Also, the fourth ingredient listed on the bag is ground yellow corn. I don't know whether the corn has a cleansing effect on the teeth, but there's a limit to how much corn I want to feed my dogs.

A couple other ingredients listed are cellulose and calcium carbonate (chalk), which probably contribute to cleaning, or at least I would guess so.

If your Max has just had a cleaning, you may not even need to feed the dental diet every day. Again, consult your vet.

My two dogs had their teeth cleaned by the vet once, maybe six years ago. They were starting to show signs of gingivitis recently, but they're getting up there in years so I didn't want to put them through anesthesia again. My big dog's vet recommended the dental diet, and after about six months of daily feeding his teeth are looking significantly better.

The little dog's teeth are really improved. Her vet once told me that smaller dogs are more prone to dental problems because when they were bred to miniature size nobody gave a thought to the fact that their jaws were too small to accommodate the teeth the breed had when it was larger.

The dental diet comes in pieces a little smaller than a ping-pong ball, so the dogs have to crunch them to break them up. Our big dog can crunch them maybe once before swallowing, so he may not get the full benefit of the food that the smaller dog is getting. Still, he's showing improvement for sure.

Royal Canin and Hill's also make dental diet foods. Both use corn and cellulose while RC also adds calcium carbonate.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My dog is only 5lbs so doesn’t eat much. He usually needs a dental yearly so normally in 4 months he would have another one. I will research those ingredients you mentioned. When I had a big dog his teeth were pearly white until he died at 13.

 

[RetMD21]

The Veterinary Oral Health Council also lists some approved non-prescription products on their website.

Veterinary Oral Health Council

Does anyone have experience using the Hill's Science diet oral care food?

 

[MarieIG]

Thanks Marie! Except for my human kids the dogs are the most important thing to me. I have always spent a lot of money on them since I got my first dog in 2004. However, I have learned through the years that vets will try to get you to approve very expensive procedures even when they aren’t totally necessary. Unfortunately our vet prices are now as high as the Bay Area. I have also noticed a decline in their business.

Yes, the treatments are very expensive - and it is important to limit treatments to those which will actually benefit our fur babies, i.e. without causing undue pain or risk.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I thought I would update this thread. Max has been on the dental food for 6 months and his teeth are much better. However, he’s getting a dental in February because a few of his teeth are brown and it will have been 16 months. My hope is that he won’t need another one for 2 years.

Amy went for her yearly check up in November and her heart murmur is worse every 6 months. Her bloodwork was better than previously but still not normal. The vet started to pressure me to get her a dental and sent me an estimate for 2k and then called me. I told her at the rate her heart disease is progressiving she will be dead before she ever has a toothache.