Don’t turn your nose to Fido’s or Fluffy’s bad breath! That odor might signify a serious health risk, with the potential to damage not only your pet’s teeth and gums but its internal organs as well.

To address the significance of oral health care for pets, the AVMA and several veterinary groups are sponsoring National Pet Dental Health Month in February.

Click on the links below to learn more about National Pet Dental Health Month, and how you can improve the dental (and overall) health of your pets.

Watch

Dr. Sheldon Rubin gives easy, step-by-step instructions on how to teach a dog or cat to accept a daily tooth brushing. He also describes healthy treats, and explains the true risks of periodontal disease in pets.

Periodontal disease is the most common clinical condition in cats and dogs even though it’s completely preventable. Dr. Cindy Charlier explains what periodontal disease is and how we can prevent our pets from getting it.

Listen

In this AVMA Animal Tracks podcast, Dr. Jan Bellows talks about the importance of dental health for our pets.

View

Dog breath is nothing to smile about … even for a cat. View the National Pet Dental Health Month ad from the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Share

Show us your pets’ pearly whites! We’re looking for photos of your pets’ beautiful teeth — and we mean any kind of pets: dogs, cats, horses, bunnies, ferrets, goats, cows … fuzzy, furred or finned, you name it. After all, pets need dental care, too. View and submit photos on our Flickr group: Pearly White Pets, on our Pet Dental Health Month Facebook event page, or TwitPic your photos and use the hashtag #pearlywhitepets.

Read

View the AVMA’s press release on National Pet Dental Health Month.

Remember

While February is National Pet Dental Health Month, dental health should be a daily ritual for pet owners all year long.

AAHA dental care guidelines for dogs and cats.

The pictures of Glory were taken during her young modeling career at Harmony Pet Care.

You can start brushing your pets teeth at any age. Getting them use to it as a young animal will have the best results. Even know they will loose their baby teeth around 3-4 months of age it still is a good idea to get them used to the idea of having something in their mouth. They will have all their permanent by 6 months of age. You should use a soft toothbrush that is the right fit for the mouth. The young and small animals may need a pediatric toothbrush while older larger animals can use an adult tooth brush. After you get them used to the idea of brushing you maybe able to use an electric tooth brush like I do when they are adults. Even know you use an human toothbrush you should never use human toothpaste on the animals. It contains an ingredient to make it foam up and since animals don’t rinse and spit and have to swallow the toothpaste it should be appealing to them.

Video of Gambler getting his teeth brushed with a electric toothbrush.

At Harmony Pet Care   we have products made by a couple different companies one is called Virbac. We use their C.E.T. Enzymatic Toothpaste for Dogs & Cats: Dual-Enzyme System toothpaste formulated for dogs and cats to provide natural antibacterial action and to inhibit the formation of plaque. Also acts quickly to help eliminate mouth odors. These toothpastes come in 3 appealing flavors and contain no foaming agents, so they are safe for pets to swallow. Poultry, malt, and vanilla-mint flavors are well accepted by pets to help make brushing easy. Available in 2.5 oz (70 g) tubes.

I start by putting some toothpaste on the brush, I let the animal sniff it and if they want to taste it even better. I have dogs sit and place my left hand over the top of their muzzle, I left up their lips and put the brush inside and start slowly moving the brush back and fourth. I make the beginning sessions short and use lots of praise. I then let them lick the rest of the toothpaste off the brush. After a few days of taking it slow you should be able to brush all the teeth. When brushing a cats teeth I would put them on a counter or table or kneel on the floor with the cat between my legs.

In the above picture there is a product called Oravet made by Merial: While other products may remove plaque and tartar, OraVet is the first plaque prevention system. It significantly reduces plaque and tartar formation by creating an invisible barrier that helps prevent bacteria from attaching to your pet’s teeth.This breakthrough approach to oral healthcare begins in the clinic when your veterinarian applies the OraVet Barrier Sealant after your pet’s dental cleaning. It continues at home when you apply the OraVet Plaque Prevention Gel weekly to your pet’s teeth and gum line.This system helps reduce plaque and calculus formation on your pet’s teeth between dental cleanings.

C.E.T. HEXtra chews:

C.E.T. Veggiedent:

Vegetable-based chews that work with a dog’s chewing action to freshen breath, reduce plaque, and decrease tartar formation.

• Cleans teeth and freshens breath when chewed once a day by dogs.
• Independent study demonstrated significant plaque and tartar control in dogs fed 1 C.E.T.^® VEGGIEDENT^® Chew per day.¹
• Patent-pending easy-to-hold Z-shape design and tough, chewy consistency.
• Highly palatable vegetable-based chews for dogs. No animal-origin ingredients.
• Available in 2 sizes; 4-inch strips for small dogs and 6-inch strips for medium and large dogs. Packaged 30 chews per bag.

Purina also makes their version of a dental chew to help reduce tarter buildup.

Besides chews there are water additives and mouth sprays or gels that your pet will benefit from using. Brushing daily is always the best method of keeping the tarter at bay, if you can’t brush daily then giving them chews and using the other products when you can will help reduce the tarter buildup. If your animal has sever dental disease they can be put on a prescription dental diet made by Hill’s called t/d. They make a feline and canine formula:Oral HealthDental care for your pet may be more important than you think. The accumulation of bacteria laden plaque above the gumline can lead to long term oral health issues. Recent studies have demonstrated there is an association between oral health issues and systemic general health issues affecting the kidney, heart and metabolic systems.At Hill’s, nutritionists and veterinarians have developed clinical nutrition especially formulated to keep your dog’s teeth clean and help control the oral bacteria found in plaque.Video of Periodontal Disease in Dogs

Stay tuned for dental cleanings at the vet.