r/cavaliers • u/Leather-Passenger483 • 1d ago
Advice Teeth!
Hey all. I know this doesn’t come as a surprise, but our girl doesn’t have the best teeth. She got her first dental this year at the age of five and had 10 teeth pulled. We were shocked. She had been showing signs that she was sore chewing on the one side so we brought her in and I’m glad that we did. That was in July. Her bad breath cleared up and she seemed much more comfortable.
I’m starting to notice she’s getting a little irritated around the teeth again and her breath is god-awful. She is extremely sensitive to food and barely will even take human food at times. Does anybody have anything reliable they use to take care of the teeth and gums? How often are you brushing? She is so against us touching her face now and is slightly a terror (out of fear) 😵💫
Context: we tried Greenies but of course they make her puke.
Pic of teeth in comments
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u/zebraprincesswarrior 1d ago
This is my distinguished, toothless tri.
He turns 10 on Friday (!!!) and had a full dental extraction 2.5 years ago. His breath was so bad, and only after the procedure did we realize how uncomfortable he had been 😔 we brushed and gave him daily chews, but failed to do annual cleanings. It’s a big regret of mine.
Now he navigates life with a tongue that hangs out, and occasionally gets dry and cracked in the winter. It’s tough for him to lap up water, but we’ve figured out the bowls that make it easiest and cleanest for him.
The good: he loves to play (even with the toys I thought he’d never grip again!) and still eats hard kibble 😂 he’s spunky as ever, is obsessed with food, and can get in peoples faces/give kisses without being told he’s stinky 🩷
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u/elianna7 1d ago
It’s largely genetic. Check out Naomi Wilson on instagram, her owner is very diligent with brushing and she still needed many extractions! Sometimes there’s really nothing you can do to prevent it. Daily brushing is the biggest thing that can help, try to make it a positive experience… Treat before brushing, pets, lots of positive affirmations during. Greenies and that sort of stuff don’t tend to do anything. For dental health, raw bones are the best as far as treats go.
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u/Lionabp1 1d ago
Almost 5 years old and had my Cav since he was 12 weeks old. We brush about 5 or 6 days/week with a finger brush and enzymatic toothpaste. No dental problems at all yet. Primary vet (who also performs dental work) says his teeth are in good shape and none have had to be pulled.
Teeth aside, he has MVD, chronic dry eye, and severe Syringomyelia, so he’s not in the best health. Hoping those chompers stay in good shape for as long as possible.
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u/Opening-Direction241 1d ago
We've been giving ours Whimzees after breakfast - not sure if it helped or not, but he's had no teeth issues, while our neighbor's Cav had a bunch of teeth pulled. Not sure if it'd be too late for yours or not. Good luck.
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u/AncoraBuio 1d ago
Echoing what everyone else said, yeah their adorable little heads lead to some cramped teeth and aggressive plaque.
Our girl Maeby had 3 extractions already. I recommend daily brushing 2x just like we do, it helps especially once their snouts have some space freed up.
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u/Ikkleknitter 1d ago
My older is 7.5 and he’s only had 4 teeth removed, one of which was a duplicate cause he had an extra tooth. His vet(s) are always impressed with his teeth. Our older is 2.5 and she’s had no teeth issues.
Our routine is:
Plaque off in their evening meal. Vetradent in their water (which gets changed as needed and bowl washed). Crumps dental chews. Both of mine LOVE them. Specifically the bacon ones. They are big enough that our pups have to actually chew them and not just gobble them (an issue with the greenies).
We always think about trying to brush their teeth but the older doesn’t like it and we never end up remembering so we tried to find a way to work around it.
But there’s definitely a predisposition to dental issues. So annual or biannual cleaning are probably worth it.
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u/londoncreature 1d ago
Here's my Arthur, almost 5 years old now. We got him at 10 weeks old and he's already has 2 anaesthetic dentals, and we used to pay my groomer £75 to do a deep clean every 6 months. We also brush his teeth nearly every day with a toothbrush and Virbac toothpaste. And despite trying our best, we've been told he needs 4 teeth taking out (luckily ones we can't see!) and am about to drop £1,500 to do it (including x ray, blood test pre anaesthetic, and lasering a tiny growth off his eyelid at the same time).
Honestly feeling a bit upset about the whole thing; I feel like we try so hard! But have been told it's just genetic - the teeth coming out were overlapping with each other and plaque just got into hard to reach spaces. He also hates us opening his mouth to really examine his teeth and gums, so I just do it mostly by feeling and covering each tooth. Think we will just keep doing the expensive annual dentals with the vet until it becomes too dangerous (luckily he has no heart condition for now).
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u/gtk961 1d ago
I didn’t realize other owners have so many of the same issues! My cav is 10 and I’ve always struggled to keep his teeth in good condition, ever since he was young. He’s had 3 professional cleanings with anesthesia, gets brushed twice a day, and I’ve tried so many treats, toppers, powders to help. I’m liking the Fera pet dental support support right now. Also trying to brush with gauze instead of a rubber tooth brush as recommended by our vet. They want to do another professional cleaning for him, but I don’t think it’s worth it considering his age and MVD :( anesthesia can be so risky! Curious what others have done for their seniors
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u/littlemisssunshen 1d ago
We took ours in this year at 6yo and lost all her teeth :( it was devastating for us at the time but she adjusted so quickly and now she just hangs out with her tongue out but it’s adorable. Her breathe was sooo bad before, and she had also just gotten diagnosed with a heart murmur. There was 1 tooth that may have been saveable but it would have meant more dentals (and more risk of going under for her heart) in the future for that one tooth and I’d imagine would have just been lost anyways, so we went for taking everything now.
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u/Life_with_Charliebug 1d ago
We have 2 a mama and a her baby…mama has 6 teeth left…she’s 6
We brush their teeth everyday and give them special chewy treats…it’s genetic
Baby just went for her first adult cleaning (almost 3yo) and they pulled 6 teeth.
We do our best. It is what it is.
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u/Responsible-Listen12 1d ago
We rescued a 5 yr old and on his intake vetting they removed 14 teeth. He was fine and didn't have any trouble eating.
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u/LittleReserve8767 1d ago
I will try to brush his teeth every day instead of every other day—my pup looks like he would need braces if he were my kid.
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u/looptarded 1d ago
We give our boys goat horns and their teeth are super clean. The horns do stink when they’re chewing on them though
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u/WickedGamerYT_nagy 22h ago
That bad breath returning could mean another dental issue. Might be worth getting her checked agian.
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u/Confident-Service256 1d ago
It’s genetic. That’s what my vet told me. We rescued our boy when he was 18 months from a breeder that was awful. He had regular cleanings every year and at 9 years old lost all of his teeth.