Strong teeth and a healthy mouth are important not just for you and your immediate family, but also for the non-human family members you cherish.
Many of the same dental and oral problems that threaten humans can also affect dogs, cats and other animals. Your pets depend on you to take the necessary steps to help them enjoy a lifetime of dental health. Fortunately, you have someone you can depend on too — our Eaton Rapids veterinarian here at Snow Animal Health Care!
Dental problems in pets can take a variety of forms. The most obvious problem is a broken or infected tooth that is causing your pet acute pain. If your pet have obvious tooth damage, refuses to eat, chews with difficulty or refuses to be touched on the head or face, we may need to perform dental extractions or other treatments to resolve the issue. Dental extractions not only end your pet’s discomfort, but the extraction of a diseased tooth can help preserve the health of surrounding teeth.
The most common threat to pets’ dental health is periodontal disease — in fact, most cats and dogs aged 3 or older have at least some periodontal disease. This inflammatory condition of the gum tissue is caused by the buildup of a sticky substance called plaque on the teeth, both above and below the gum line. The plaque, which eventually hardens into a stubborn material called tartar, attracts bacteria, creating an inflammatory response that eats away at the gums and bone that hold the teeth in place. Not only can pets lose their teeth to this painful condition, but the bacteria can also move on to other parts of the body, including the vital organs, to create a serious systemic infection. Oral cancer is another serious danger. This aggressive, ultimately deadly cancer may not show any obvious symptoms to owners until it has already become highly advanced.