Ask Dr. Barre

[Connie]

Hello Barre! I understand these situations are highly individualized, but wondering if you could share your perspective on dental cleanings for dogs. I have a 10.5 year old pup who has really bad breath and his gums bleed sometimes. Unfortunately, he does not like to chew bones/sticks so the plaque/tarter gets built up on his teeth. I brush his teeth to the extent that he will let me with a piece of gauze and an MMS solution. I worry that if I do not have his teeth cleaned proper that it could lead to an emergency vet visit down the road. I would love to avoid a vet all together so wondering if you have any advice to offer. Thank you in advance for your time! – Connie

Discussion

[Andrea]

Hi Connie, I have an 11 yo dog she was 10 at the time who has a heart murmur and needed teeth cleaning I discussed it with a naturally inclined vet and he suggested giving real bones, chicken backs, lamb bones, goat (for example) etc once a week he was not in favour of doing a teeth cleaning on her due to her age and heart. I did this and after about 6-8 weeks the plaque was down significantly and he said to just continue that and the plaque would be fine no formal cleaning needed he was satisfied with the results. So this would be my suggestion as a start since its non-invasive and can have excellent results.

[Connie]

Thank you Andrea!

[Connie]

Did you do raw bones or cooked?

[Connie]

I see now that bones should be raw due to their splintering potential when cooked..

[Penny]

You can add colloidal silver to her water dish too.

[Connie]

Thank you!

[Sonya]

Apparently there is a seaweed that you can sprinkle on cat food that helps reduce plaque, would this suit dogs too? It might be complete rubbish but I’ve read lots of testimonials saying it works so thought I might try it for my cat. There is a branded version you can buy in the UK on the evil Amazon and I did poke around in their info. to find out which seaweed but I can’t remember which one.

[Author]

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