By the third night, our foster girl, Bella was at home with us, I started to brush her teeth. At the beginning, all I did was put a bit of doggie toothpaste on a toothbrush so she could get used to it. As days went by, I was able to start brushing her teeth followed by a snack, which she loved. Between you and me, I think she just let me brush her teeth for the treat. Smart girl!
A couple of days ago, I was finally able to brush her molars and I could not believe what I saw. There was a black hole not on the tooth, but rather on the gums. I had never seen anything like that before so I contacted BARCS right away and I took Bella to their vet so he can check her out.
I told the vet that she had a black hole on both sides/gums, and that although her breath was not as stinky as before we could still smell something funky. He would have had to sedate her to see this, so I suggested to him that Cynthia and I hold Bella and show him what we were talking about. We did so and he gave Bella antibiotics and a referral to another vet with experience in this sort of problem.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, we’ll be dropping Bella off at the vet we were referred to so he/she can take care of Bella’s teeth.
And, the above picture is why it is extremely important that you brush your furry kid’s teeth. I brush Alex’s teeth almost every night, I am not a perfect pet parent, and there are nights when I am too lazy or I just forget, but 9 out of 10 times she gets her teeth brushed and I ask Cynthia, at least once a month, to check her mouth since she is a dental hygienist. The first time I asked her to do that, she just laughed and looked a little puzzled. Right now checking Alex’s teeth and gums is just something she does at least once a month for our girl.
Alex will be turning 12 years old in May, and so far, she’s only had a dental cleaning once. That, I think, is pretty good. If you do not brush your furry kid’s teeth, bacteria will grow and because of it organs such as her heart, kidney, and liver can be affected. Please, take a couple of minutes every night and brush her teeth. Cynthia knows a lot about it since she is a dental hygienist and she uses a lot of terminology that honestly speaking sounds like another language to me, but so far what I gathered from what she tells me is that plaque grows faster at night-time when we produce less saliva and that is why she is really adamant about having everybody brush their teeth before going to bed.
