BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Most people are aware of the importance of routine dental cleanings to their overall health, but for many, it comes as a surprise to learn that the same holds true for our beloved furry friends.
Local 10 News recently spoke with Dr. Jan Bellows, who usually has a full day of dental appointments that focus on the oral hygiene of pets of all sizes considering that 50 percent of cats and dogs have diseased teeth.
“They need to have some sort of dental care every single day,” said Bellows.
Bellows is a strong believer that animals need strong dental hygiene and that teeth cleanings for fur babies should happen as often as pet parents scrub their own teeth, but in a bit of a different way.
“We use dental wipes -- not tooth brushing -- dental wipes, and they are very easy to use,” he said. “You just wrap it around your finger, flip the lips and you just rub the outside of the teeth.”
Bellows said pet owners may see some yellow on the wipes that were used when finished, which is the excess plaque they have rubbed off their pet’s teeth.
Animal experts say a pet’s dental needs are almost the same as humans.
As the team at Hometown Animal Hospital in Weston prepared to put a dog named Fatush under for his oral surgery, many pets were waiting for their twice-a-year teeth cleaning. Plenty of pet parents also worried about their loved ones being put under anesthesia.
“Even when they go into the cages in recovery, we still have team members that are constantly assessing their pulse quality, their temperature and looking at their mucous membranes,” said Jennifer Dupree-Welsh, a veterinarian technician specialist/anesthesiologist.
Dupree-Welsh took Local 10 News into the operating room to show the proper safety measures and how far the technology has evolved in the drug used in oral hygiene surgery.
When it comes to fear of anesthesia, dog dad Yonas Kebede was at the top of that list.
Kebede was worried his 13-year-old Maltipoo Vinnie would not fare well with a teeth cleaning due to his underlying disease.
“Because we were working with his insulin levels, we didn’t want to use anesthesia while we were figuring out his insulin. There could be complications with that,” said Dupree-Welsh. “It was just a really long journey to regulate his diabetes before working on his dental.”
It has been five years since Vinnie had his last teeth cleaned so doctors learned the decay had wreaked havoc inside his mouth and one-third of his teeth were rotten.
“All in all, it was 14 teeth, which I know is a lot!” said Kabede. “I’m sure he doesn’t necessarily love it, but it’s pretty good for what we were kind of expecting.”
Bellows also suggested that anyone who is looking to preserve as many of their pet’s teeth as possible, in addition to cleaning them with wipes, should avoid giving them dangerous treats.
“Don’t give your dog bad things like bones or antlers or bully sticks or nylon products, because they just fracture teeth,” she said.
Pet owners can find Doggy dental wipes for their teeth at any local veterinarian’s office or even online on websites like Chewy or Amazon.com. The average pack of 60 will cost around $20.