Pet Teeth Cleaning over the Valentine's weekend

Hi! This is Chris, my partner Delanie & I met many of you on our first Rainbow RV event last October at the Palm Springs pride event.  I'll be writing a few tips on pet oral health care in the upcoming week.  Let's start with an overview of oral health problems in dogs and cats:

By the age of 3, 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some form of periodontal disease. Let's just average that out to 75% for convenience sake.  That is 3 of every 4 pets -  affected with oral health problems.  The sad statistic: of those pets needing dental care, only 3% get treatment!  That's according to Pfizer Animal Health, a leading manufacturer/supplier of animal health products.

Why is this so?  Simply put, it's because most veterinarians do not practice preventive dental care for their patients.  The tide is slowly turning, as more vets recognize that dental disease if by far the most prevalent malady suffered by the pets they serve.  Some pet hospitals are able to perform advanced dental procedures, such as dental x-rays, or tooth repair, but most disregard dental health until the pet is in a state of significant peroidontal disease.  This often requires tooth extraction, deep pocket cleaning, and a resulting condition of the mouth that is irreversible.  We can't cure peridontal disease; we can attempt to maintain the oral condition and significantly slow the progress of the disease.

So prevention is the best medicine!  The goal is to keep the pet's mouth healthy, and drastically delay or eliminate the onset pf periodontal disease.  This results in a much happier, healthier pet, free of mouth pain and adding, on average, 2 to 3 years to it's life expectancy!  My next entry, I'll write about the various ways we can accomplish that!