NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — October is National Pet Wellness Month. It's important to pay attention to your pet to minimize oral pain, as that can reduce their quality of life.
"Dental disease and oral pain is the number one cause of pain and suffering in our pets," said Erica Miller, DVM with Apple Lane Animal Hospital. "All the time, we'll have people coming in and asking about that. They'll be like, their breath smells really bad, right? If you could imagine, most pet owners don't brush their pets teeth every day. If we didn't brush our teeth every day, same thing."
That's one of the reasons to make sure you see your veterinarian on at least a yearly basis.
"If you're going to a veterinarian for yearly exams, they're going to be checking on that and telling you, it's time for your pet to have a dental cleaning," Miller said. "I want to do it when there's just a little bit of tartar and plaque as opposed to, I don't want to get in there at stage four periodontal disease, and I'm pulling the majority of the teeth."
There are some signs to watch for that may indicate pain in your pet's mouth.
"Is your pet eating and drinking normally?" Miller said. "Are they rubbing at their face? Sometimes we'll see dogs that maybe have loose, bad teeth that are pawing at their face because that tooth is in there and wiggling and bothering them. Once a tooth is wiggly, it's got to come out. A lot of times, our pets will kind of paw at the face."
Also, if your pet's sleeping habits change dramatically, there may be pain somewhere. That's worth a call to your veterinarian to check on what's happening.
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