Pet Dental Health

February is pet dental health month. Just like the health of your teeth and mouth is important to  your overall health and wellbeing, same goes for your pet. The best way to help your pet maintain a healthy mouth is to brush their teeth. Now you don’t need to brush twice a day like we humans do, but a few times a week is recommended to prevent dental disease. But before you go at your dog or cat with a pet safe toothbrush loaded with pet safe toothpaste, you first need to get them used to it. Start by rubbing your pets gums with your finger, reward them for accepting it. Next, introduce the brush to your pet, by letting them smell it, chew it if they like, rub on it, reward them for accepting it. Then start to touch their teeth with the brush (don’t move it across their teeth yet), reward them for accepting it. Slowly start to move the brush back and forth across a few teeth until you’ve worked your way up to all the teeth, reward each step as they accept it. Let them smell and taste some of the pet safe toothpaste, reward them for accepting it. Finally, put some pet safe toothpaste on the pet safe toothbrush and start brushing, reward them for accepting it. All of these steps will take days to weeks to implement. It all depends on the pet and their tolerance for the brush and the paste. Cats may take longer than a dog. Never force your pet to accept any of these steps. This is meant to be enjoyable or at least train them enough to accept it. 

If you tried and your pet absolutely will not accept the toothbrush/toothpaste combo (looking at you Chester and Lilly!) you can try hard chews such as those that are fully edible and made from ingredients such as milk, cheese, human grade tapioca or potatoes (or compressed vegetables), NO RAWHIDES!! They’re not as healthy as you think! Another good choice is a recreational bone made from big beef or bison bones. These bones should still have some meat and soft tissue attached to it and I hear you “ew gross that sounds awful”. It may be to us, but to your dog, all that leftover meat and soft tissue is floss for their teeth. Sadly for cats, there aren’t a lot of good options on the market for dental chews. Greenies are popular, but they’re honestly not a great option, just look at the first few ingredients: Chicken meal, wheat, brown rice, corn gluten meal, poultry fat. These are not ingredients for good dental health. It would be like your dentist telling you to eat potato chips to keep your teeth clean. Please, please, please do not buy “dental diet”, “prescription/veterinary/special” food either. It’s exactly the same as the Greenies. You can try adding a dental additive to their water, just make sure they also have another option of fresh clear water. Cats are notorious for not drinking enough water and you don’t want to give them an excuse to drink less. Another option I like is Plaque Off powder or a similar seaweed product. It’s a simple additive to their food and it helps to keep their teeth clean and no bad ingredients: Ascophyllum Nodosum (seaweed) and (some contain) Brewer's Yeast, that’s it. 

So in summary, DO NOT: feed any rawhide. I’ll link a video down below explaining the truth about how rawhides are made (disclaimer: if you have a weak stomach, don’t watch). Avoid Greenies for dogs and cats, they’re made from ingredients that don’t actually help with dental health. Avoid the “dental diets” as they are just as bad as the greenies. Stay away from pigs ears, nylabones, plastic bones, or anything they can chew and break off and possibly swallow. DO: teeth brushing with pet safe toothpaste and toothbrushes, seaweed powder, recreational bones with meat and soft tissue still attached.

Helpful Links: PetMd Tips for Brushing Teeth
Healthy Pet Detal Treet