Follow up on dental work caused by hard chews and toys

[Ken Seversen]

 

We saw the dental vet today and she said that we would have to have both teeth extracted for around 1.5k.   For 3.5 they could do root canal work and caps and guarantees on abscess development.   She figured she broke both teeth at the same time chewing on something hard as the breaks were identical.

She also said that every time she sees hard chew toys in stores it makes her mad.   Her line was:  "if you slap you knee with it and it hurts, it's too hard."

[Ken Seversen]

Do you mean for fetching or just to have to chew on?   I don't believe that the fuzz will wear their teeth while fetching.  I have some I buy at Target that are made by Kong and have a squeaker in them.  Tess occasionally will squeak it so I guess she does bite down on them but mostly it's just in her mouth until she drops it in my gloved hand!   I frequently switch balls to cut down on the wetness, but we are playing inside in the basement on carpeting.

[Ken Seversen]

One thing as a puppy that she loved chewing on was thick nylon ropes that I tied around rubber bones and such. She'd chew on the knots and shred them, and I'd retie another and larger knot. We played tug with that and she'd also lay and chew on it. Nylon is an inert material which is why it is used for sutures. And I'm guessing Nylabones are nylon but that was one product the vet pointed out as particularly bad except for the ones that were flexible.....which Tess would shred in no time. I like my home made rope knots better and she would also chase it as I swung it around. Even at 7 years, she'll still chew on that.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Ken,

In the do-it-yourself group, I have a discussion post about home made ropes I make out of t-shirt material.  I wonder if that would be safer?   The store bought ropes always shred on us.  There was a discussion last week about a sick dog from shredded ropes. 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/diydoityourself/forum/topics/tug-...

[Ken Seversen]

Braiding is a foreign concept to me!   Tess isn't so much for tug of war at 7 years.   However, that looks like a great invention.    Those nylon ropes tied to different toys:  donuts, bones,  were some of the best toys for her.   I never left her alone with them, however, and that's the problem everyone has.   I don't think nylon could hurt a dog unless they swallowed a knot or something like that.   The store bought ones weren't as good as the ones I made out of nylon "rope" about 3/4" thick .

[shelly]

Oh boy... I feel so bad for you and Tess.  Tori too loves her nylabones.... She tears EVERYHING apart - even the firehose material toys.  I now will be more leery of these.  They also help to clean her teeth as she eats mostly canned food... yikes!  I hope Tess is better soon!

[Ken Seversen]

Thanks.  The vet says they have to hurt but she shows no sign of discomfort.  But, then, she doesn't react when I give her her allergy shot either.   I have her wear a bell b/c she's prone to lay down near us and we've almost stepped on her a few times.  I stepped on her paw on carpeting and she didn't make a sound.  Made me feel horrible.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Mitzi has a weird habit of chewing ,or trying to chew, on the interior bricks on the wall she rests  next to.  Other times she  chews on the wood frame to a bedroom door  she likes to sleep by.  So it doesn't seem to make any difference if she has hard chew toys or not I guess.  When we first got her and took her for her vet check up, a veterinary dental specialist came out to me to tell me she needed braces!   We then went to our regular vet (the first visit was given from the place we got her) and our good vet laughed about her needing braces and said she absolutely did not need them! 

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

LOL! Years ago I worked for an orthodontist and he put braces on his friend's dobie!! They lasted about a day!! I have a hard time imagining the canine version...