Can you imagine if you did not brush your teeth every day? Now think about your pet’s mouth….oral disease in pets can start as early as three years of age Over the years in practice I aided in routine and not so routine dental procedures with cats and dogs.  A majority were not routine cleanings. Often many times pets were coming out of procedures with anywhere from 6 to 20 extractions. Even pets would have to have full mouth extractions at the age of 3 to 4 years old (these pets were often cats). This means longer anesthetic times due to the number of extractions that have to be carefully completed, many times pets get radiographs or other teeth are found to have to be removed when the animal is under complete anesthesia.

     Studies have shown that cats especially do not get to the clinic routinely for veterinary care, this is where dental disease can go undetected and cause pain for your pet. Advanced stages of dental disease can cause serious infections in other areas of the pet’s body such as the liver, kidney, brain, and heart. When discussing proper dental care to clients  I would always advise the owner to “flip that lip” to check and see if there is anything abnormal along with routine brushing on a daily or at least every other day basis.  This can help immensely because cats and dogs can easily hide their pain. In the next blog I will discuss how to check your pet’s mouth for potential issues and give you some tips on how to keep that mouth healthy!