On of our dogs is a 10 y/o Boston Terrier who has never had health issues and got to vet regularly for shots/etc. One of the things we noticed the last few years is that she was developing "dragon breath" so bad that it could melt paint.

In doing research we found that this is typical of Boston's but we also, recently, took her to a vet that suggested we start brushing her teeth more and a full cleaning which would involve the dog getting knocked out.

fast forward to last Friday....

I walk in and my hallway looked like a murder scene with blood everywhere. I found Daisy in her crate with a decent sized puddle of mucus/blood under her mouth. I immediately put her in the tub and used the showed to flush her mouth and gums out...it loos like something out a horror movie, blood, gunk and goo everywhere.

At this point I wrapped her and brought to the closest emergency vet (who was also horrible) and after several hours they looked at her and told me they there was a large area on her upper jaw that was open but clotting. They irrigated her mouth, have ne antibiotics and pain meds and suggested I take her home, keep her quiet and give her nothing but soft food then follow up with vey as needed. They also said she "might" have numerous diseases and for the bargain price of $1000 they could run those out but I will let a regular vet be the judge of that.

Well, it is 6 days later and the door in her mouth is completely gone, her appetite is back and she seems happy. Regular vet says she either had a rotten tooth or an abscess that let go which accounting for the blood and goop. He wants to let the mouth heal more but then we will do full cleaning and exam.

There are 2 way to deal with this, first is regular brushing. The second is feeding exceptionally high quality food (Blue Buffalo at a minimum).

Gald to hear your pup is tip top again.

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:
There are 2 way to deal with this, first is regular brushing. The second is feeding exceptionally high quality food (Blue Buffalo at a minimum).

Gald to hear your pup is tip top again.

We had been brushing but will need to be more vigilant and I plan on upping the food game. The other three dogs are like furry dumpsters and will eat anything, this one has always been very picky and we had been feeding diamond naturals

these guys have never had a recall, of any kind. They're all I'll feed
https://www.orijen.ca/us/

I suggest you have your vet do full mouth xrays while doing the dental cleaning. If it was an abscess, it will return with a vengeance, and often times the problem tooth (teeth) isn't evident without the benefit of the radiograph.

No dog food will prevent dental caries, and 80% of adult dogs have it. Only way to prevent bad juju is routine dental care (brushing daily, which homie here don't do for my dog), dental oriented foods and treats to slow it, and checking teeth at least annually.

People are often surprised when their pet needs a dental cleaning, when it just had one last year, but imagine if you didn't brush your teeth for an entire year. And ate poop. Ew.

Also, that brown funk on your dog's teeth is a coating of bacteria suspended in a matrix, and every time the gums bleed the bacteria feed into the pet's blood supply. So basically, it's constantly seeding the body with infection, which is a leading cause of valvular endocarditis. This is a bacterial colony growing on the valves of the heart, causing the valves to warp and creating heart disease/murmurs.

Clean those chompers, people.