Is this normal, or is this dog neglect?

[minnieemouse]

My sister has a 10 year old yorkie. She's recently been for a dental scale and polish and they've taken out more than half of her teeth !

I've only ever owned big dogs, who never required a dental clean or any extractions.

I'm a bit concerned about the welfare of her dog... sis says it's all normal with this bread and at her age etc..

This.

And also don't forget that big dogs tend to have much shorter life spans than smaller dogs, so probably aren't around long enough for it to be as much of a problem.

Of course it's also possible that your big dogs did have dental problems and you just didn't notice...

I currently have a Whippet who {at the moment} has lovely white teeth {18 months} but she loves chewing sticks and wood .

She does get her teeth brushed daily with enzyme paste from vets, and I recently bought ''Plaque off'' hoping it might be a preventer.

I had an elderly Lurcher who had a lower canine removed by a keen trainee...{I'd booked her in for a dental} and the poor Lurcher's jaw broke at the symphysis.
I was horrified.

She was in so much pain.
The chief vet was not pleased, and I wasn't made to pay for overnight stay and morphine...But I'd far rather them not attempt to take the tooth out in the first place.

After that, I am hoping to pre-empt dentals with daily brushing .
Sighthounds tend to have poor teeth, but what is best to help??

Having a ''Chewer'' does seem to help...Last hounds were not chewers.

My old dobie had zero teeth issues whereas my jrt had to have 8 out.

Fed the same diet and cared for in the same way.

You sound like you don't like your sister very much and were hoping it was her fault

I seriously doubt a neglectful owner would bother taking their dog for a dental scale and polish ffs.

I have a rescue terrier who is now 10, last Christmas he had to have many of his teeth removed. He has never let me brush his teeth ( I have several mangled savaged toothbrushes ) and dentastix give him the runs and he's meh about bones so I have run out of ideas for his dental hygiene. By the way, the extraction , arranged as soon as I knew he had an issue,cost me the best part of £600, at christmas, hardly the actions of a neglectful owner.

Is this actually true??
{About wormers being excreted and are 'Harmless'?

I worm regularly as part of a ''Healthy pet club'' the vet promotes, and write on the calendar when doses need doing.

I was concerned about 'overdosing' as mine is on the lower end of the weight ratio, and was worried that she might be getting too much wormer.

I have a friend who never worms his dog ''as I never see any''....but I'm sure she must have some in her body in larval or adult form?

We had a very thin, ill dog from RSPCA who had proglottids wriggling out of her rear end after having had her a week {and sleeping on beds 🙈}...The vet said they ''Only worm for tapeworm if evidence was seen'' in such young dogs ..It was a bit gross, but after an injection, the horrid things were never seen again, and dog improved condition a lot.

Agreed! Brushing is far, far easier introduced at a young age..Not always possible with rescue dogs.
Even with a dog who is ''Used'' to tooth brushing, sometimes they aren't in the mood and bite down on the brush ..it's also quite tricky, as to get to the carnassials at the back, you have to slide your finger under the lips/cheek and definitely are then in the ''Danger zone'' if the dog is chomping away like a furious alligator.

I bought hemp leaf ''Dental sticks'' that dog went absolutely wild for, as in, preferred them to dried liver treats..but I couldn't see how a soft and crumbly hemp leaf shaped chewy could really help.

A feisty Terrier and toothbrushing..I can imagine how that could go down!

Why/how would you possibly know if she's doing it regularly or not? Based on my dog's breed, weight and age it's recommended he be wormed once every 3 months. As far as I recall nobody has ever been in the room when I've given him the worming tablet, so why would you assume she isn't doing the same?

Thank you @thelobsterquadrille I will invest in some body parts!

Ive never told my friends or extended family how often I worm my dog, it’s not a topic of conversation that has ever come up. Is it a normal thing to talk about?

I simply must tell my brothers that I wormed the dog last week!
They will be interested, and it will stop them from accusing me of neglect on MN .

🐾🪱🤔

Probably not something you'd thought you'd be saying on a Friday afternoon 😂

Yes its normal that a yorkie of 10 would need a dental.

Its now normal for dogs of TWO to need dentals if they're fed tinned or dry food that they swallow without crunching, and never get the opportunity to chew on raw meaty bones with plenty of skin/flesh/connective tissue on them.

I do not brush my dogs teeth, they get plaque off, raw bones and chews, and have only needed dentals in old age or due to accidental tooth damage.

I also don't worm my dogs routinely, I worm if we feed game, if we see fleas or I see indications that they have worms. Whilst they eat raw food its all commercial grade stuff so unless they eat something wild or get fleas, worms are not a risk.

Wormers are NOT 'harmless' at all, the need to be pretty strong to kill worms - also if you give a dog with a huge worm burden a strong dose of wormer you can make them very very poorly (or finish them off if they're very weak) as the toxins released into the system with the mass die off of worms are hard for the dog to cope with. They can even cause a gut blockage!

So worm carefully, appropriately, as necessary - but don't assume they're harmless!

Is there a reason you're trying to make a dig at your sister?

I've never told anyone I've wormes my dog. Hope my sister doesn't report me to the RSPCA

If your sister is taking the dog for a scale and polish, she doesn't sound like a neglectful owner.

I know lots of dog owners and would not have a clue when they last wormed their dogs. I worm my dogs every 3 months, but other than DH I don't think I have discussed worming them with anyone.

My dog is 9 and needs another dental, he last had one three years ago plus one extraction. I brush his teeth, give him dried food with a little bit of bone broth, change his water several times a day and add plaque off (seaweed supplement that's meant to soften plaque) to his food and he still needs his teeth cleaned by the vet. He has no human food apart from occasional suitable fruit and veg. Sometimes dogs are just predisposed to such problems.

Re worms..I saw in an old farmer's book on pig keeping a [Post mortem] image of a pig intestine that was literally choked with roundworms.
It was this that killed the pig.

The tapeworms that the RSPCA dog had {4 months old} I was told would be ''Absorbed'' by her system, I definitely didn't see any in her poo.

I wasn't aware that the dead worms themselves could kill a poorly dog by toxin release.

What is a bit concerning, with the import of dogs from overseas, there are concerns of new types of parasites/diseases entering UK that can affect human and domestic dog populations due to fraudulent and faked documentation.
Eastern Europe in particular.

Re the wormer.. I sometimes look after the dog when she goes on holiday and ask her if the dog is wormed and up to date with treatment for flees etc and she sometimes doesn't remember when she wormed her dog. So I assume she's not that diligent with it.

She's also recently had a baby, so she is a bit all over the place with the dog. Sometimes the water needs changing for the dog when I go round and I change it for her etc.

My cats are flea and wormed treated couldn’t tell you the dates randomly. It’s on a calendar in the kitchen and my Amazon shows me buying it but. Yeah it’s done regularly but I couldn’t tell you when till my calendar says so.

I have family who own an 11 year old cockapoo who has half his teeth removed recently. He’s a much happier dog. They had a doggy toothbrush/paste and brushed his teeth every evening from being a pup. It’s 100% normal for an old dog. It’s what happens to old humans too.

Our elderly cat had seven bad teeth taken out in one go. We only found out and took her to the vets because she went off her food. We felt bad initially that she had so many rotten teeth but the vet assured us that animals are brilliant at masking pain, and it is common for the problem not to be noticed until they get so bad that they cannot eat.

A baby. Better get round there with your advice quickly sis. Someone as feckless as she is reported to be will need a good friend. Hope she finds one.

Akso, how do you know she is not changing the water. I have to change my dog's water two to three times a day. I change it in the morning, I don't know what the heck she does with it but by lunchtime by lunch time, there is all sorts floating in it.

I don't worm my dog regularly either - I couldn't tell you the last time it was done - maybe around April? We don't flea treat either unless he has symptoms which he never has in almost five years of dog ownership. We don't flea or worm the indoor cats either - it doesn't make us neglectful.

My dogs' water gets changed 3-4 times a day depending on how much he drinks and what we've been doing. Sometimes I don't realise it's empty straight away - it's hardly a big deal.

I suggest you stop being so judgemental.