29/05/2024
🦷 Dental Awareness!
How often do you look in your cat’s or dog’s mouth? If you have a look now, especially at the back molars, note what their teeth look like. Are they a brown colour, or does their mouth have an unpleasant odour? Or are they sparkly and clean? If they are brown, that could mean they have a plaque build up.
🐶 What does that mean?
In a basic sense, our pets build up plaque on their teeth from day to day life, and if it isn’t brushed away, it can harden and turn into tartar. Pets that mostly eat soft foods (for example canned foods, small kibble etc) are much more susceptible to this build up. It shows up as a brown, rough discolouration on their teeth, mostly found on the back molars. They may also have an unpleasant smell.
🐱 Why does this matter?
Tartar build up can give places for nasty bacteria to hide and grow (if you’ve ever owned a dog, you know they tend to get into (and eat) all kinds of unpleasantness). This bacteria can cause conditions like gum disease, which can result in tooth extractions or abscesses, but can also result in bad bacteria getting into your pet’s bloodstream, which can also negatively affect your pet’s other organs.
Stayed tuned for part two and three, with information and tips on treatment and prevention.
