~ Canine Dental Health ~
~ How Important IS it? ~
~ My Collie's Story ~
This is a question I believe deserves better attention than it receives: Just how important IS canine dental health?
When I was a child growing up, we had a dog like many other families. We took our dog to the vet for annual vaccinations (and worming, I am sure), and when rabies shots were due. We also took him to the vet when he got sick, but other than an occasional bath, we didn't really bother a whole lot with general and overall health. He was a healthy, happy, intelligent dog.
Did we worry about this dog's teeth? Never, that I can remember. Did I ever hear, over the years and as I passed from one dog to the next, from vets or breeders, that canine dental health was important? Never, that I can remember.
So. Just how important IS canine dental health? I found out the hard way, it is a matter of life or death. Literally.
In 1994 I met a Collie breeder, right about the time I was just becoming seriously involved in Shelties. This Collie breeder taught me many things, but one of the main things she tried to impress upon me was tooth and dental care, including brushing the dogs' teeth, and going to the vet for professional teeth cleaning and polishing, much the same you and I frequently visit our own dentists. While I listened to her every word carefully, I remained somewhat dubious about brushing a dog's teeth, or (goodness, do you really do that?) taking a dog to the vet to have the teeth cleaned, or even the thought of canine dental health in general. I admit- though I listened to her, I remained, by choice, basically ignorant of this issue, retaining a mountain of doubt about dogs' teeth.
"You mean you want us to brush our dog's teeth?????!!!!?!?!??!?!?!??!???!"
This question has since been put to me by folks who stop by to discuss with me the purchase of a Sheltie. And I am certain the unspoken thought that follows this question is: 'How ridiculous!'
The question comes to me immediately after I inform the potential buyer that canine dental health can mean the difference between a healthy dog and a sick one, a live one and a dead one. For a long time I gave the spiel about canine dental health with little conviction. Little did I know I would learn the absolutes of this subject in a painful and permanent way...
Time passed, and though I had had no problems with any of the teeth on any of my Shelties in those early days, I one day found myself with a Collie of my own, who came to me when he was 6 years of age. His initial visit to the vet was good, there were no health issues of any sort to be concerned with, with this Collie, to whom I became deeply attached, doing all and everything I could in order to keep his life as healthy and perfect as was humanly possible for me to do. Except for paying attention to his teeth, because I paid so little attention to those long-ago lessons, and had no problems with the teeth in any of my Shelties.
About a year after this Collie came to me it was time to make an appointment to have him neutered, so we went to the vet's for the preoperative exam and blood work. Since I could see his teeth had acquired an ugly, gray buildup of matter (tartar), I also intended to have his teeth cleaned and polished while he was under anesthesia for his neuter.
When the vet placed the stethoscope over his chest, she grew a look of high concern. She paused, glanced at the file to her right, shuffling papers. She bent to her stethoscope again, and then straightened. He had a very disturbing heart murmur that had not existed on previous examinations, and she didn't like the looks of his gums or teeth. She expressed some shock, as this animal had previously shown such a high level of health and adaptation to the change in his life at his age, coming to my home.
Blood was drawn, spun, and examined under the microscope. As she looked up from the scope she informed me his white cell count was very high, suggesting a dangerous level of infection in his system. Coupled with his newly acquired heart murmur she drew a grave conclusion: The condition of his teeth was killing him.
My vet explained how the buildup of tartar was a breeding ground for bacteria. At first the gums become infected, very much like human periodontal disease. The moist, warm environment of the mouth is perfect for bacterial growth, and grow the bacteria did, eventually becoming so numerous as to freely wash down his throat to his stomach, intestines, and into his bloodstream. The bacteria, she explained, really loved the heart, settling there, infecting the pericardium, or the protective sac in which the heart rests. The heart murmur.
Then she opened this Collie's mouth and pointed out several things, but not just the tartar buildup. Poking at one of his molars with a dental tool, she pointed out very distinct spots and lines colored much darker than the rest, and told me these were scars in the enamel of his teeth. She wondered aloud, how could they have gotten there?
I told her that in his previous life his teeth had all been scraped and cleaned at home, and this, though unsettling, explained it all. Scraping and cleaning the teeth at home inadvertently removes bits of enamel from the teeth, creating pockets and crevasses deep in the enamel. It is here, my vet said, you will see tartar buildup first occur. By not properly polishing the teeth after cleaning, something my vet indicated was very hard to do without the correct equipment, what begins as a service to the animal quickly turns into a disservice. So cleaning a dog's teeth at home can easily wind up doing much more harm than good, and each cleaning done at home can make it that much faster before the next cleaning is required, only causing the problem to pick up speed as time passed.
The vet and I discussed reality. Could we still neuter him, clean his teeth? Just how sick was he? The vet explained to me he could be pretreated with strong antibiotics which would continue past the surgery to help keep the infection under control once the cleaning was done. She felt his otherwise health, once pretreatment was accomplished, was good enough to withstand the rigors of anesthesia and surgery. Further, she certainly felt the benefits to be realized by the neuter and teeth cleaning far outweighed the potential risks to his system, the greatest risk of all being that his heart might be so weakened by the infection that he would not survive the anesthesia. I made the appointment for the surgery and went home with a packet of antibiotics.
So surgery was done, he was neutered and his teeth cleaned. That afternoon when I went to pick him up I consulted with the vet. Several teeth - nine of them actually - had been pulled because they were rotted to the bone. Many more, she said, needed pulling, but in light of the number already pulled, she felt those left behind would not present too great a problem. The dog needed teeth to eat, after all.
We went home with new antibiotics and a big hug from the doctor, and I began brushing his teeth and providing him with dental exercisers on a frequent basis. A mere three months after his surgery his teeth were once more in as horrid a condition as they had been prior to cleaning.
I phoned my vet and made another appointment. We had an extensive conversation - this Collie's life was at stake. Though she was shocked to see his teeth (and again, his health) had deteriorated so quickly, she explained that the damage done by the home cleanings had been so extensive that polishing the enamel smooth was impossible. Could she pull all his teeth? No, she would not do that. It would be an "unreasonable and inhumane" treatment, destroying what quality of life he had. Could he survive frequent enough cleanings to keep the bacteria at bay? Based on the level of infection already in his system (had it ever gone completely away? We doubted it.), she did not feel his health could be maintained at an acceptable enough level to withstand quarterly anesthesia for cleanings. Nor, she suggested, could my pocketbook.
So what could we do? She handed me yet more antibiotics and sent us home, telling me I would know when the time came. No further words were spoken. None needed speaking.
So we went home and he was with us for yet another year. During this time his health slowly declined. His mental health, too, it seemed, was suffering greatly, although I attributed this to his continued yearning for his former life. The vet, however, was not so certain his mental illness was wholly attributable to his missing his former life.
He continued to decline. Most noticeably, his coat and eyes grew dull, lifeless. Behavior deteriorated. He began marking everything, including urinating in his crate, his food bowls, and could no longer be kept in the house. Being kenneled seemed to increase his mental anguish. He began to become rather listless and lifeless.
Finally, my pain for him grew too great. I feared I would come home from work one evening to find him dead or dying, a suffering I could not bear him endure. With a very heavy heart I placed yet another call to my vet. She would be happy, she said, to come out to the house and "take care of" him for us, and finally, he was released from all his sorrow and poor health. We buried him beneath the trees in our back yard, but I know his heart and soul are where he truly wished to be. He was not quite nine years old.
If you would like, you are welcome to visit Ailea's Rainbow Bridge page and read my tribute my Collie.
There is no question the condition of his teeth contributed in largest part to his death. There is no question that had his teeth not been scraped at home, and then not properly polished, but rather "professionally" cared for and looked after more carefully, he could very well yet be with us today.
So, folks, the whole point to the story is, canine dental health IS important. I learned the hard way, it is a matter of life or death. Silly you may feel, ridiculed you may be by others' ignorance, but for the sake of your loved and loving companion, consider the condition of the teeth, and take the matter very, VERY seriously. Call your vet TODAY to find out what YOU can do to prevent a similar tragedy from weighing your heart as it has done my own. Though it is widely known Collie mouths are much more prone to these problems than Sheltie mouths, our dear Shelties are susceptible enough to make it a critically important issue.
For even more information on canine
dental health, it's concerns, causes, treatment and prevention, feel free to
visit any of the following off-site links- but be sure to use your browser's
"back" button to return to your journey through Ailea's Place ~
Canine Dental Health
This site provides links to show you how
to brush your dog's teeth
and preventive dental health care
Everything You Need to Know about Canine Dental Care & Health
With a link to explain how your dog can
have
perfect dental health
A Guide to Canine Dental Health
Includes suggested instruction on how to
get
your dog accustomed to having his teeth brushed
Canine Dental Health Care
Includes information on canine tooth
paste and tooth brushes
and includes a How-To guide for brushing your dog's teeth
Whole Dog News on Canine Dental Health
Featured article including information on doggie dental care, canine
heart disease, with links for more information on these topics
o o o Meanwhile, back at Ailea's Place o o o
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