Many people ignore the importance of dental care for their pets, harming their overall health and wellness. If you’re much more worried regarding your pet’s behavior, coat, and joints than their teeth, you’re excused from giving them as much attention as possible. Inadequate knowledge concerning dental health is one unfortunate result of this.
Prevalent Myths About Your Pet’s Dental Health
It’s common for us to obtain a little lost concerning our pets’ oral health. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions regarding how to care for your pet’s teeth correctly. One of the most common trouble is dog and cat oral conditions, but it goes greatly undetected and neglected.
Only a small percent of these animals are getting proper care. Below are some typical myths concerning dental care for pets.
Myth 1: Human toothpaste and toothbrushes are okay to use.
There are times when using animal-specific products can feel like a waste of time and resources. If toothpaste is just toothpaste, why can’t your dog consume it? Pet owners are making a serious mistake by doing so. Since animal-specific toothpaste and toothbrushes exist, you can not save money using human options.
For more info, even if you believe that they are not supposed to consume toothpaste, the truth is that every single time you brush their teeth, they will ingest a few of it. Think about how much toothpaste a dog or a cat must swallow if they do the same thing you do.
Myth 2: Bad pet breath is normal.
It is not normal to have foul-smelling breath. It’s a sign that something is wrong. Depending on the severity of the disease, it could be gingivitis or periodontitis. There are other possibilities, such as foreign bodies, tooth abscesses, and oral tumors. Detection and therapy of foul-smelling breath should begin right away by a vet. If there are no pet hospitals within your area, you can hit the web and look for “pet hospital near me” to find one.
Myth 3: An anesthesia-free dental is safe for your pet.
The health of your pet is endangered by non-anesthetic dentistry. Seventy-five percent of dental illness in your pet is concealed under the gum line, which indicates it will go undetected unless examined. An anesthetized pet should be used to do an extensive oral examination, consisting of oral radiography. While an oral cleaning and probing might be necessary, a pet should never be limited in this way.
Anesthesia has dangers, but your pet’s anesthetic risks can be lessened with a comprehensive pre-anesthetic assessment and an experienced vet from veterinary internal medicine.
Myth 4: Dry food is preferable to canned food.
This is false for cats. Cats’ oral health isn’t much better when fed dry versus canned cat food. Due to its small size and brittle nature, most dry cat food does not present a substantial difficulty to the cat’s teeth. Dry pellets shatter when they contact a cat’s teeth, minimizing the food’s abrasive properties. When it involves dry food for cats, they ingest it whole.
Final Thoughts
Pet oral health is typically misconstrued, but the truth is that it’s essential to our pets’ overall health and longevity and can even add years to their lives. It is very important to talk about with your veterinarian how you can help keep your furry pal’s teeth and mouth healthy and balanced to stop serious health issues.
