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Subject: OMG...The BREATH! It's GOT to go!

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susannasmommy

Ratastic

07/06/2008 5:31 AM
Pixie has had a horrible case of bad breath since we found her. She could slay a dragon from 50 feet... I'd been putting acidopholus in her food and it helped a bit, but then I wondered if it was safe. The vet won't say...just wants to sell us some really expensive enzyme toothpaste that's not going to work. If the stench came from her teeth, I could see buying it. But this stuff comes straight from the pits of h...err...straight from the pits of Pixie's stomach. Otherwise known as...well...you know. What do you guys do for the dragon breath?!??????????? Its absolutely sickening!

Tabitha www.myspace.com/susannasmommy

kp_in_scott

Bratty Ratty

07/06/2008 5:39 AM
Are her teeth ok? Sometimes dogs have imbedded baby teeth that never fell out and they are gross! My granny's poodle used to have to have his teeth cleaned by the vet because he'd never chew on bones and his breath was so bad that you just HAD to have it done. So far, no stinky breath from Amos.

Kim, owned by one sweet Rattie mix and one sweet Toy Rattie and a house full of parrots

Mitzy's Mom

Alpha Feist

07/06/2008 5:56 AM
How old is she? Kim's right about the teeth...and if she has an infected tooth or just really "gunked" up teeth her breath can stink. My rescue Skipper came like that...no one ever took care of his teeth...he was fine after a dental cleaning. If it's from the tummy then probiotics are fine for dogs...don't know about the asidophilus but plain yogurt works great. What are you feeding her? When little Morgandy came from the shelter she had HORRIBLE breath. After a couple of weeks of Petzime and bully sticks for her teeth they turned to puppy white and her teeth were nice BUT also they were feeding her crap in the shelter (when they fed...she was very thin) and after a couple of weeks on decent food no more nasty breath.

Mary Beth, mom to the Lollipop Kids Georgia Foster Mom www.ratbonerescues.com; www.newrattitude.org

Philo

Terrier Terror

07/06/2008 5:58 AM
Might be a sign of some deeper problem?

Rattie Daddy to Cameo, Nala Belle, Cutter & Rattagan Foster Dad to Cricket (aka Philo) "Beauty such as this is a gift, and I'm often in awe of this world we've been given." Mrs Bonnie

buttonbutt

Firehouse Big Dog

07/06/2008 9:34 AM
Letting her chew on raw beef and pork rib bones a couple times a week really helps, too. I stress they must be RAW and not cooked bones. Cooked bones splinter!!! Gnawing them really cleans off a lot of tartar, the main cause of bad breath. Button's breath gets bad whenever I let up on the bones for a couple weeks. As soon as she starts getting them again, the breath immediately improves.

Peggy Mom to Button & Zipper My sweet RatTexans

Mitzy's Mom

Alpha Feist

07/06/2008 1:19 PM
Peggy, do you just buy those at the grocery store?

Mary Beth, mom to the Lollipop Kids Georgia Foster Mom www.ratbonerescues.com; www.newrattitude.org

susannasmommy

Ratastic

07/06/2008 6:12 PM
Thanks everyone!! Her teeth have a very small amount of tartar on them. Nothing I would normally worry about, but the stench is just rancid. I don't know about the baby teeth. I do know that our black lab has a baby tooth that never came out and the vet said not to worry about it unless it started giving her trouble. But we can actually see it. Would I be able to see Pixie's? If so, then I know for a fact that there aren't baby teeth. If not, I'll take her to the vet, see what he says and go from there. I wish I knew how old Pixie was. Since we found her, we really have no way of knowing. And like someone brought up before, its hard to tell by looking at her teeth since a lot of small dogs have problematic teeth. She's REALLY active, but unfortunately, that's no indicator of age in a rat terrier either, LOL. She's just getting a lot of her ticking in, and from what I understand, that can happen anytime up until they're about 3 years old, and rarely, even up to the age of 7. So all I can assume is that Pixie is probably between 1-7 years old, which is a pretty big stretch. I've never heard of Petzime, but you can bet that the next time I'm in Memphis, I'll be getting some of that!! At least we KNOW that's safe! Acidopholus was all I could think of to do and though it worked, the last thing I wanted to do is hurt Pixie...so I stopped giving it to her just in case. Thanks so much for all your help, and if you think of anything else, please tell me!!

Tabitha www.myspace.com/susannasmommy

Mitzy's Mom

Alpha Feist

07/07/2008 4:31 AM
Sorry, it's "Petzlife" not petzime....I'm a dunce. www.petzlife.com

Mary Beth, mom to the Lollipop Kids Georgia Foster Mom www.ratbonerescues.com; www.newrattitude.org

Rattermom

Rat Royalty

07/07/2008 7:12 AM
I would also have my vet do a blood work up on her, just a basic panel. Bad breath can be a symptom of other things besides teeth problems in dogs. And, I'd also put her on a good food (we use Blue Buffalo), chew items (raw bones), and probiotics. I use Prozyme, which is a powdered product and put it on their food daily. Plus, ours get a vitamin/mineral supplement. Petzlife does work, as does a product called Enzadent. Both of them evidently don't taste very good to the dogs, though. We also have our dogs' teeth cleaned by our vet about once a year (if they need it).

Patti in Georgia Transport Volunteer, Temp Foster Mom & Georgia Shelter Surfer www.newrattitude.org www.ratterrierjamboree.com

rattagan's mom

Terrier Terror

07/07/2008 8:12 AM
Ratty had his teeth cleaned about 6-7 months ago because of really bad breath, he had a bad infection in his gums and also lost 8 of his teeth. He goes back to the vet on the 15th for another cleaning and will probably loose more teeth if not all of them. How old is your rattie? Rattagan is 11 years old and I never knew until 2 years ago that dogs need dental work too. We never had that done when I was young to any of the farm dogs we had. My vet in NC is the reason for the infection. I took Ratty to him when his breath started getting bad but he said Ratty was fine just to give him dental bones. I did but it still kept getting worse so when I got a vet in Miami I took him there to find out a lot of things I didn't know before. Please have your vet do a complete work up just in case your dog has an infection like Ratty did. My vet in Miami told me that I would have lost Ratty in just a few weeks if I hadn't gotten him treated when I did, the infection had progressed so far because it was 3 years from following my NC vets advice to finding my Miami vet and discovering the truth. The country vet in NC just doesn't do things like cleaning their teeth. He's just not a good vet. Ratty gets greenies and bully sticks and gets his teeth brushed but he is still having trouble so it's more dental work for my poor baby.

Janie, Ratty,Cameo,Cutter and Nala Belle's Mom Show your furbaby how much you love them brush their teeth today! It saves them pain "tomorrow." Janie L.

Mitzy's Mom

Alpha Feist

07/07/2008 8:25 AM
Janie, Skipper's teeth are like Ratty's...I think some small dogs just have bad teeth no matter what you do. Skipper gets bully sticks, I brush his teeth, etc. but although his are ok now he's lost a few in the past and will need another cleaning by next year.

Mary Beth, mom to the Lollipop Kids Georgia Foster Mom www.ratbonerescues.com; www.newrattitude.org

buttonbutt

Firehouse Big Dog

07/07/2008 8:41 AM
Posted By Mitzy's Mom on 07/06/2008 1:19 PM Peggy, do you just buy those at the grocery store? Yeah, MB, whenever the store run a special on them for $.99/lb, I get a couple racks, separate & wrap them, place in ziploc bag in freezer. When I give to the girls, I just MW on defrost for 10 seconds to just partially thaw them. Therre's a meat market a few miles from here that will selll me a whole box of beef bones for even less, but I don't want to store that many in my chest freezer.

Peggy Mom to Button & Zipper My sweet RatTexans

rattagan's mom

Terrier Terror

07/07/2008 8:41 AM
Posted By Mitzy's Mom on 07/07/2008 8:25 AM Janie, Skipper's teeth are like Ratty's...I think some small dogs just have bad teeth no matter what you do. Skipper gets bully sticks, I brush his teeth, etc. but although his are ok now he's lost a few in the past and will need another cleaning by next year. Hey MB, any ideas on how I can keep Ratty's breath fresh and clean? Even if he does lose his teeth? I guess if he looses all of them I won't have to worry to cleanings but I really hate the thought of him being toothless.

Janie, Ratty,Cameo,Cutter and Nala Belle's Mom Show your furbaby how much you love them brush their teeth today! It saves them pain "tomorrow." Janie L.

Mitzy's Mom

Alpha Feist

07/07/2008 8:53 AM
Thanks Peggy, I was wondering if they could be frozen, too. I know my pack would love them. Janie - not sure about the breath with no teeth...have gotten to that point yet with Skipper. I would guess you could still wipe the gums with something? Wonder what people do that have no teeth???

Mary Beth, mom to the Lollipop Kids Georgia Foster Mom www.ratbonerescues.com; www.newrattitude.org

rattagan's mom

Terrier Terror

07/07/2008 8:55 AM
Posted By Mitzy's Mom on 07/07/2008 8:53 AM Thanks Peggy, I was wondering if they could be frozen, too. I know my pack would love them. Janie - not sure about the breath with no teeth...have gotten to that point yet with Skipper. I would guess you could still wipe the gums with something? Wonder what people do that have no teeth??? My ex husband didn't do much, just put his teeth in soak stuff for cleaning and brushed his gums, guess I'll just keep brushing Ratty's gums after he heals just to keep his gums clean and healthy.

Janie, Ratty,Cameo,Cutter and Nala Belle's Mom Show your furbaby how much you love them brush their teeth today! It saves them pain "tomorrow." Janie L.

susannasmommy

Ratastic

07/08/2008 2:13 AM
There was a sign on the door of Sue's exam room this morning with a picture of an English bulldog with a caption that read something like, "His breath could stop a train. And his heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver. Don't forget the routine dental work your dog needs!!" So I took that as a sign that we've got to get Pix checked out ASAP!! It may be nothing, but it may be something huge. Until we get her in, I will just do what you guys suggested. Thanks!!

Tabitha www.myspace.com/susannasmommy

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