Dog Heart

Dog Heart

Dog Periodontal Disease - Prevention and Treatment

Your Dog's Dental Health Is Critical

It is important that owner's "inspect" their dog's teeth and gums.  It is critical to his or her health as well as the owner's peace of mind and wallet.  After 20 years of raising our Dalmatians, we have learned a lot about critical dental care, dog periodontal disease, dog heart disease.  This is what we have learned caring for our "best friend".  

Routine Veterinary Visits are Important

Regular vet exams are a must - Dog teeth and heart disease and periodontal disease are linked.  Tooth plaque turns into tartar - quickly. Bacteria can develop.

Many problems occur too like dog bad breath, dog periodontal disease, dog heart disease, oral pain and tooth loss.   Bacteria is associated with many dog diseases like dog liver disease, dog periodontal disease or heart disease in a dog.

The key is prevention.  Early detection is important. Take care of dental disease as soon as you suspect it.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Stop Dog Disease In The Mouth

You know the steps in preventing dog dental disease. Keep a regular regimen of inspecting your dog's teeth and gums.  Observe problems and attend to them early.  Brush your dog's teeth.  This will reduce the chance of dog heart disease or dog liver disease.

Veterinary Treatment Important

Sometime, a professional cleaning for your dog's teeth may be necessary.  The first time we had this done for Lady - it was a shocker - and expensive.  It was important.  Some dogs need dental cleanings one or more times per year, while others can go longer.

The entire procedure requires the same work as you and I have at our dentists plus general anesthesia.  With the dog sedated, the vet can clean your dog's teeth and gums.  Also the best time to get a thorough and expert examination for problems.

Generally, the vet will scale and polish the your dog's teeth.  The vet may have to extract a tooth or even refer you to a - wait for it - a veterinary dentist for specialty procedures.

Sedation Has It's Risks

But be careful.  Personal care is critical to preventing dog heart disease and dog liver disease, your wallet and even your dog's safety.  Discuss this with your vet in detail.  Sedating a dog is serious.  We had a bad experience that turned out OK - so be careful.  During her procedure, Lady was "rolled over" to get to a few teeth in one part of her mouth.  Sedation relaxes many muscles in a dog - include those supporting their digestive system and stomach.  The "rolling" actually twisted her stomach and caused a constriction that the vet "missed" the next day.

We picked Lady up and took her home in less than 48 hours from her procedure she swelled up and began salivating severely.  It was late at night - off to the emergency vet clinic we went.  Over 15 hours and a lot of very tender care were needed to save Lady.  We rubbed, an sat with her for hours.

About the Author

Hi. My name is Russ McKenzie, we have raised Dalmatians for over 20 years. We have had two litters with a total of 21 puppies. What an experience. These years of work and worry have encouraged us to study and research many issues. We have worked closely with our veterinarians and learned a lot about pet health in general and Dalmatians in particular. We have also learned a lot about ourselves too.

If you are interested in learning more of the details we have found a number of great resources. The best programs also offer free materials too. Please visit our site to learn more - you may find the information useful in solving your concerns.

when do i give my dog heart worm pills?

i have a 9 month old female dog. i gave her a heart worm pill already this summer. when should i give her another?

Depends on what she is supposed to have for pills, most are one pill (or chewy square) once a month.
There is one kind that they only take during the summer, and its still one pill (or piece) every month. Check on the box or call your vet.

Heart - Dog & Butterfly (Live 2003)