Pet Smile Month Its Pets Smile month and its not just about giving us an idea for the new Pet idol competition. In the UK thousands of cats and dogs and other pets too are suffering needlessly with dental related disease. Pet Smile Month, running this month aims to reduce their suffering by working with hundreds of veterinary practices across the UK to provide free dental checks for pets. If your pet has gone off its food, seems to lack energy or has bad breath, a dental check up may reveal the cause of the problem. Dental disease not only causes bad breath, pain, discomfort, and bleeding gums and infected teeth but can affect the whole body, particularly the heart valves and the kidneys, as bacteria spread from the mouth into the pet’s bloodstream. It is estimated that 80 per cent of pets over three years of age need some form of dental treatment. Pet Smile Month is the largest veterinary run pet health campaign in the world. Pet owners will be able to take their dogs and cats for a free check up with participating practices in September. The veterinary practice will provide an oral assessment and offer guidance on both prevention and treatment of dental disease. To find a participating local veterinary practice simply use the ‘Find-a-PSM-Vet’ button at www.petsmile.uk.com and enter your post code. Along with some toothy facts and figures, more information can be found on this site on dental care and treatment including advice on diet and tooth brushing techniques.  Comments Write a comment to this story 07 Sep 2008 19:45  Dental care for our pets is very important, did you know that 80% of cats and dogs over the age of 3 have some degree of dental disease?! Think what your teeth would be like if you hadn´t brushed them in years! There are lots of different ways to help keep your pets teeth clean; ** Brushing - the best way by far to clean teeth ( which is why we do it!), animals can be trained to allow you to brush their teeth but it can be a challenge, which is why there are so many other ways available to keep their gnashers pearly white! ** Teeth cleaning chews, there are lots of these on the market now. They are usually specially shaped to help scrape tartar off the teeth and some have enzymes in them which help to break the tartar and plaque down, making it softer and more easily removed. ***Teeth cleaning biscuits. These are good for dogs who don´t chew and cats. The best kinds are available from your vet. You should only need to feed a handful a day to notice a change. **Plaque-off. This powder is a natural seaweed derivative and is available from your vet. It makes plaque and tartar build up softer, therefore allowing brushing, chews or biscuits to clean the teeth more effectively. The same ingredients are used in human dentistry. You only need to use a tiny amount on the food once a day and it is very cost effective, a pot costing around £12 will last a cat a year or a small dog 6 months. Look out for my dental care factsheet which will be posted soon for more advice! Cat 06 Sep 2008 20:50  Two of my cats had to have loads of teeth extracted this year - by the time I arranged for their teeth to be cleaned, there were already several problems. I feel really guilty that I didn´t keep on top of their dental care! 06 Sep 2008 11:47  my older cat Tig had his teeth cleaned a couple of years ago and he has lovely teeth and I do think It keeps them healthy. 05 Sep 2008 15:03  beth had 5 teeth out and we now give all 3 dogs bones to clean there teeth. 05 Sep 2008 13:42 Member Removed true I brush Lucy´s teeth and Benji has none great stuff 05 Sep 2008 11:35  This is a great idea! I try to give my boys those dental bisuit things from time to time to keep their teeth pearly white (they are both young, and I want them to be popular with the ladies- ha ha). I´ll enter my postcode into the website.... |
Want to Join?
Enter your e-mail address below and press ´Register´. We´ll send you a password and you can Log-in.
email address:
email address:
Advertisement
Need Help?
Buy Now!
©Petstreet 2008 Website built and designed by Kinship Networking.