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Have you ever thought of oral and dental care for your pet? Apart from the usual care offered by you, your pet needs specific oral and dental care from a qualified veterinary surgeon. This is so because, when they attain at the age of three to four years, more than 70% of cats and 80% of dogs show signs of oral diseases. If you notice any deviation from the normal hygiene, you must take your pet to the vet for complete check up rather than waiting for the regular annual or bi-annual check.

You might already be aware of this but if you brush your pet's teeth every day you will minimize the risk substantially for getting diseases such as tartar or plaque. If you don't know what that is then here is a brief explanation:

Oral and dental diseases in our pets

1. Tartar

Pets salivate frequently. If there oral hygiene is poor, some minerals present in their saliva combines with it and gets deposited to the teeth. This is what we call tartar (or calculus). It adheres strongly with the teeth. It causes immense irritation to the gums, thus causing an inflammation named as 'gingivitis'. This can be observed as reddening of the gums, which are close to teeth. There is foul smelling breath. The tartar must be removed as soon as possible to get a better tooth of your pet.

2. Plaque

Pets cannot cleanse their teeth as we do. So the food materials present inside their mouth are exposed to the action of bacteria. This causes formation of plaque around the gum line. If you have a dog that likes to chew a bone or other type of toys that might also help cleanse the teeth somewhat but it usually isn't enough.

3. Periodontal disease

If the plaque and the tartar are not removed promptly, they accumulate inside the oral cavity. Bacterial action up on them causes numerous types of inflammatory diseases around their oral cavity. There may be abscess inside their tooth or gum causing loosening of teeth, it may affect the jaw bones and rarely does it go further down to the bloodstream causing generalized infection in the liver, heart, kidney or brain. This is an emergency condition for your pet and it must be aggressively treated.

As the master of your pet, you have to take extra care. You must brush their teeth on a regular basis. Try to remove any plaque or tartar in your home using available instruments. However, do not force yourself if you find it difficult. The next time your pet get a check at the vet make sure you remember to ask what you can do to best cleanse and remove plaque. Your vet might have just the trick that can help your pet avoid most plague.

Tinned foods, which carry sticky materials, should be avoided as far as possible. Natural food is always preferred. Your veterinary surgeon will help you getting better alternative for your pet.