Raw Vs Kibble!

[luvsdogs]

I know there are lots of similar topics but I need to vent a little. I have had my little Japanese Spitz on a raw meaty bone diet for most of the year. He has an overbite problem & it's hard to get his teeth nice & white. Even with chewing on bones his, mostly, k9 teeth have brown plaque near the gums. First off I tried Plaque off on his food after reading all the good reports on DOL. After many months on the product there was no real difference. That's when I decided to go RMB's.

I found that if I got a bit lazy or forgot to defrost his bones & gave him a kibble meal the plaque would get a lot worse, like a child eating too many lollies. He gets a very small amount of kibble now only when we go out, so he mostly has the raw diet. But, alas, his teeth aren't as white & clean as I'd hoped or expected. To make matters worse my granddaughter's little Chihuahua, who is 1/2 the size of my JS has the whitest, cleanest teeth I've seen on any dog, and she gets My Dog trays & the cheapest supermarket kibbles. It's just so unfair.

I'm at a loss on what to do about it. Don't want to send him to the vets for a clean, could try brushing them myself? The only other thing I can think of is to buy him the biggest bones like lamb/turkey legs (not any beef bones) something that makes him spend more time eating his bones. From what I've seen he only chews on the sides of his mouth & doesn't spend time ripping the meat off the bones with his front teeth.

Anyone else have the same problem?

[julesluvscavs]

Even tho we have fed some raw bones to our Cavs, and also fed them dental specific dry food they still have had teeth problems .. vets say it can be different types of mouth structures too that cause more problems in some breeds of dogs (no matter what you do..)

We brush their teeth and remove some of the plague if its not too set in. We also use a oral spray called Petzlife but there are similar ones on the market (theres been threads on this subject)

With our young Miah, we have been trying to get her to chew on more longer lasting bones and she's on a mostly raw diet.. will be interesting to see how her teeth go later on..

Edited October 15, 2013 by Jules❤3Cavs

[Dobecrazy]

Have you tried scaling them and brushing them yourself?? if the plaque isn't really hard yet it is very simple..I've never had a dog with hard plaque so I wouldn't know what works on it.

[trinabean]

Have you tried giving her pieces of roo tail? My dog is on a mushy restricted diet, but I give him a chunk of roo tail every couple of days to keep his teeth clean (I don't think I can train him to accept me brushing his teeth ). It's a lean, sinewy meat, and the vertebrae bones are consumable. You can get roo tail in varying sizes. :)

[Yonjuro]

If there is a reasonable amount of plaque and scale present from the previous diet, it probably needs removal under sedation by the vet. Once they are clean the RMBs should keep the plaque and scale off.

[Malakita]

My puppy recently had his teeth cleaned and scaled whilst he was under general anaesthetic (for something else). As they need to go under GA, it is very expensive to clean and scale.

A month on and brushing his teeth each night, the tartar still builds up. He is on a kibble diet and eats frozen chicken carcasses. His main issue is he won 't chew hard things, eg dentastix, pigs ears etc. I try him with greenies, and I have to hold one end for him so he has a good grip with his mouth.

So I am also in the same boat. I am also at a loss about what else to do. He is a large breed puppy.

[luvsdogs]

trinabean I've heard good & bad about roo tails & wouldn't know where to get them, never seen them in a supermarket or butchers.

Yonjuro I read on Tom Lonsdale's site once that the plaque returns straight away after a vet clean but for the life of me can't find it. Plus I don't think Panda's is that bad, it's mainly the top of his top k9s. I know many years ago when my 1st Border Collie was aging the vet said she needed a clean before she got too much older. I didn't do it & started feeding her chicken pieces with her regular dog food & a year later the vet said her teeth were ok for her age.

Malakita my vet recommended greenies but I don't think they make a scrap of difference, same as dentastix. He finishes them in seconds flat & I've heard they are rubbish for dogs. I've given him a small turkey leg for his dinner tonight & he's making short work of the meat on it, still chewing on the sides of his mouth.

Looks like he needs a side of lamb etc. :laugh:

[bianca.a]

What about trying antlers? One of my dogs can no longer have bones and I bought antlers and so far so good.

[teekay]

Exact same problem here luvsdogs. I watch mine eat their RMBs and they all use the sides of their mouths. Occasionally they may rip bits off with the very front teeth, but the canines do not get a work out at all.

Just paid for a dental for Mya and, yes, it is very espensive and would like to avoid it with the other 2 if possible.

I too have bought some Plaque off but not sure it has made a difference yet and they all hate the taste of it:(

[teekay]

What about trying antlers? One of my dogs can no longer have bones and I bought antlers and so far so good.

Luka loves his deer antler but, again. only uses his back teeth

Short of getting a whole animal carcass, I can't see how the canines will ever get used

[Daisys Mum]

I brush my dogs teeth every day .. I also use a plaque remover in their water similar to what Jules uses. After about a week or so of brushing and them drinking the water they now have nice pearly whites :)

[Salukifan]

I know there are lots of similar topics but I need to vent a little. I have had my little Japanese Spitz on a raw meaty bone diet for most of the year. He has an overbite problem & it's hard to get his teeth nice & white. Even with chewing on bones his, mostly, k9 teeth have brown plaque near the gums. First off I tried Plaque off on his food after reading all the good reports on DOL. After many months on the product there was no real difference. That's when I decided to go RMB's.

Does he have an overshot jaw? Dogs with bite issues are pretty much always going to have tartar build up because their teeth don't work as efficiently on bones as dogs with normal bites.

You are better off having the dog's teeth cleaned regularly by the vet than to see him lose them to gum disease.

The only other option would be to try brushing them.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Haredown Whippets

[Dory the Doted One]

If getting within an inch of him with a toothbrush sounds difficult, you could try one of those finger brushes...or...just a good old facewasher...(and a bit of doggy toothpaste).

[luvsdogs]

Yes I think that's what I'm going to have to do. He's a very patient little dog as far as grooming goes & I did brush his teeth once to see how he'd go. He didn't protest too much, so I'll have a go at doing it daily.

To think that all the dogs I had as a child tooth brushing & nail clipping was unheard of. Something to my knowledge has only been around in the last few decades.

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

I'm thinking of buying this stuff called Petzlife Oral Care Gel, which has been recommended to me by about 500 people.

Have you ever tried that?

http://www.petzlife.com/catalog/oral-care-products/oral-care-gel-peppermint.html

(My Pug is booked in for a dental examination next Monday)

Edited October 15, 2013 by Maeby Fünke

[julesluvscavs]

I'm thinking of buying this stuff called Petzlife Oral Care Gel, which has been recommended to me by about 500 people.

Have you ever tried that?

http://www.petzlife....peppermint.html

(My Pug is booked in for a dental examination next Monday)

i mentioned that in my comment ;-))

We use the spray tho, and you still have to scrape of the plague we have found but it does help if done regularly

Edited October 15, 2013 by Jules❤3Cavs

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

I'm thinking of buying this stuff called Petzlife Oral Care Gel, which has been recommended to me by about 500 people.

Have you ever tried that?

http://www.petzlife....peppermint.html

(My Pug is booked in for a dental examination next Monday)

i mentioned that in my comment ;-))

We use the spray tho, and you still have to scrape of the plague we have found but it does help if done regularly

Oh so you did, sorry

I'm thinking of giving it a go. My Pug's teeth are so tiny it seems like scaling them would be a waste of money. He's only got these crooked little stumps :laugh:

His teeth are in pretty good nick though.

[julesluvscavs]

I think you will find you have to still have yo give them a bit of a brush/scaling on top of it tho when it loosens up (we have too). You can get a scaling tool from a doler on here or on ebay :)

[Guest Maeby Fünke]

Sorry I mean paying to have it done professionally :)