Older dogs and their teeth?

I have two senior citizens - a Beagle who is 14 and a Border Collie mix who is 14 or 15. They both eat the same food yet my Beagle has the worst teeth and always has! She had an abscess about two years ago and had several teeth pulled. The rest got cleaned but it didn%26#039;t take long for them to be all nasty again. Today, I noticed some swelling in her face, which looks like another abscess!! I%26#039;m taking her to the vet later and I%26#039;m sure she%26#039;ll need to have more teeth pulled (I don%26#039;t know how many she has left! I%26#039;ll be putting her food through a blender, I guess!). My Border Collie, though, has fine teeth (not perfect, but he still seems to have them all!) Does anyone else have bad teeth issues with their older dogs? How do you deal? Did you have to change their food and all that? Yikes!

Older dogs and their teeth?
Generally, the older dogs I know about, the front teeth go first, and the more solid molars last, and maybe not at all... Which is good from the standpoint of being able to continue eating what they are used to.





Good luck!
Reply:thwy now have specialy formulated foods for specific breeds of dogs by Ukneuba (SP). You can get it at Petco.Mbaye while you%26#039;re at the vet ask about mabey a wet food or something to help. Tell them your situation and I am sure they%26#039;d be glad to help. That is what they are there for after all. Good luck and I%26#039;m sorry about your dog.
Reply:i work at a vet and i see lots of dogs with nasty teeth come in and out of there you are doing the right thing by taking him to the vet ask you vet what you can feed him to help his teeth
Reply:Oftentimes how well a dog%26#039;s teeth hold up over their lifespan is a function of genetics, as well as nutrition/health -- this is why you can have two dogs of similar age and life experience, one with great teeth, one with terrible problems.





Frankly, I%26#039;ve never brushed my dogs%26#039; teeth...partially because we don%26#039;t really need to. We feed a lot of %26quot;meaty bones%26quot; -- raw cow knuckle bones. The dogs love them, and it is a natural way of scraping the crud off their teeth.





I have a 12 year old male who was just in for a checkup -- my vet remarked about how fabulous his teeth were -- he said he%26#039;d guess 5-6 years old, looking only at the teeth. Again, partly genetics -- his mother and aunt had fabulous teeth throughout their lives, too.





But I really do think the meaty bones have played a major role. You might try it!
Reply:Yes, beagles are nasty creatures.
Reply:My two shih tzus were exactly the same story. The older one (who lived to be 19) had marvelous teeth. The younger (who is now 17) has not a tooth left! She started having problems with the abscesses etc. when she was only 6. She eats the Science Diet canned food for seniors. The others have the dry food available at all times and she also eats that. Along with the Puperoni pet treats. The only real issue she has had is that her tongue slides out of the side of her mouth. Makes her look cute and a little demented.


Don%26#039;t worry about her losing her teeth. You won%26#039;t have to puree her food. She%26#039;s better off without them as opposed to having them and being in pain from an infection.


Good luck to all three of you!
Reply:I had a dog she was 14 also. She has passed on now. She had bad teeth also, she never liked to chew on anything not chew bones or toys. Her teeth started to fall out the last few months of her being here I had bought puppy food for her just because the foods are smaller. She was able to eat them. If her teeth did not hurt that day she would chew but if they bothered her the food I got was small enough she could just swallow them. She never lost weight and she was %26quot;healthy%26quot; until she passed away. (She Had a bad Heart ) Good luck with both of your dogs!
Reply:Well food is going to be a big issue. Considering that they are both older it is going to take longer...but worth it. I just switched my old man not a natural diet. His teeth were really bad too. Some of it had to do with the fact that he was racer (greyhound ) and all they feed him on the tract was raw low grad meat. If you are into the natural thing I recommend rushing your dogs teeth, along with doing a wash with echnacha or goldenseal. Just make a strong tea and put some in the mouth of the dog...let sit for a min. and then let the dog spit it out or swallow it. Will not hurt him. Also if his breath is really bad try using chlorophyll ( green stuff from plants ) you can find it at a heath food store.


Going back to my dog, I had his teeth cleaned, and that was the end of that, I brush them once a week and have him on a natural diet. He looks even better now, and his teeth looks wonderful, along with m,uch better breath. (by the way I was feeding really high quality food.
Reply:I use to have an old dog that I had the same problem with him loosing his teeth. All we did was put some warm water in his dog food to soften it up so he could still eat the same food.



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