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Gerard Judd is the chemist who recommends brushing with bar soap [1]. It's cheap, readily available, and works better than anything else. And when combined with
by taxicabjesus 10y ago
Gerard Judd is the chemist who recommends brushing with bar soap [1]. It's cheap, readily available, and works better than anything else. And when combined with a second round of brushing with baking soda, my teeth stay squeaky-clean for longer than any toothpaste I've ever used.
[1] http://www.fixyourteeth.org/ http://www.fixyourteeth.org/
Just yesterday my brother & his wife were commenting on how good my 8-year old dog's teeth are. They've never been professionally cleaned. When she was a puppy, we fed her raw chicken with bones. When she got to be full sized this was too expensive, so she now she eats dog food. I think the main reason she has such good teeth now is because she had adequate calcium and other nutrients when her teeth were forming.
- xyzzy_plugh 10y agoDoes your veterinarian not recommend having her teeth professionally cleaned? Humans who have perfectly healthy and well taken care of teeth still go to the dentist, and for dogs it is no different. You should still be getting her once a year! There are more issues than not which could be happening that are not visible to the untrained eye.
- taxicabjesus 10y agoShe got her puppy vaccinations, but didn't go to the vet for a very long time after that - it wasn't in my budget, and wasn't necessary. My dad needed a dog, so he takes care of her now, and I'm sure he'd have her teeth cleaned if the new vet had recommended it.
- Retric 10y agoDogs have a much shorter lifespan so tooth decay is normally only really a problem if they eat processed foods.
- MustardTiger 10y agoThe veterinary business has a huge problem with dishonest upselling and recommending unnecessary treatments. "A vet recommends X" doesn't care the same kind of weight as "a doctor recommends X", and won't until the veterinary profession gets real ethics standards imposed.
- ThinkBeat 10y agoYou really should not feed chicken bones to a day. The fragments can be very sharp and cause medical problems. http://www.vetblog.net/2013/07/dog.swallowed.chicken.bone.problem.html http://www.vetblog.net/2013/07/dog.swallowed.chicken.bone.pr... http://keepthetailwagging.com/dont-panic-when-a-dog-eats-a-cooked-chicken-bone/ http://keepthetailwagging.com/dont-panic-when-a-dog-eats-a-c...
- lj3 10y agoThat only applies to cooked chicken bones, not raw ones.
- taxicabjesus 10y agoShe did fine with the bones when she was a puppy. In theory, raw chicken bones shatter less than cooked chicken bones. As I said elsewhere, she now eats regular dog food. When I'm visiting, I'll cut the cartilage off the end of a cooked chicken bone and give that to her. Sometimes she still helps herself to whatever bones she finds, and she hasn't had any problems. Size might be a factor - she is about 75 pounds. My dad's previous dog ate corn cobs. After years of this, a corn cob got stuck in his throat, leading to a big vet bill, so our dogs don't get corn cobs anymore.
- MustardTiger 10y agoThis is a misconception largely born from thanksgiving and christmas time warnings. The issue is cooked bones from anything, not just poultry. Cooked cattle or pig or goat or sheep or lizard or whatever all post the exact same hazard. In much searching, I was not able to find any credible evidence that raw bones pose a threat.
- danieltillett 10y agoChickens don’t have bones anymore - they grow so fast that there is not time for the bones to mineralise. My brother and I used to always break the wishbone with each other whenever we had a roast chicken when we were kids. I tried about a year ago to do this with my kids and it was impossible.
- 10y ago
- iends 10y agoCavities are formed when sugar reacts with bacteria in the mouth. Normal dog food has very little sugar in it, especially if you avoid feeding your dog human food. (This is why your dog prefers human food. It's generally full of tasty sugar.) Most dogs do have calculus in their mouth even if there is not active decay. There is also subgingival calculus (below the gum line, not visible to the human eye). Taking your dog to annual vet visits is important because they can help diagnose dental issues.
- MustardTiger 10y ago>Cavities are formed when sugar reacts with bacteria in the mouth. Normal dog food has very little sugar in it, especially if you avoid feeding your dog human food Lots of dog foods contains sugars, and even more contain a ton of more complex carbs, which the bacteria do still feed on. This is why species appropriate raw fed dogs don't have calculus, they don't eat carbs.
- MrJagil 10y ago> Cavities are formed when sugar reacts with bacteria in the mouth. The link provided argues otherwise: "Bacteria cannot damage the enamel (calcium hydroxy phosphate). There is no such thing as decay of the enamel since bacteria require carbon and hydrogen to live. Billions of human and animal remains show teeth and bones are resistant to earth-bound organisms." and "acids alone eat the enamel..." - http://www.fixyourteeth.org/Gerard-Judd/summary-teeth.htm http://www.fixyourteeth.org/Gerard-Judd/summary-teeth.htm
- hooloovoo_zoo 10y agoThis some time cube level nonsense.