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These days our pets truly are members of the family. In fact, their daily routines are very similar to ours. They get out of bed (sometimes our beds!) when we do, share breakfast time, go do whatever it is they do during the day, eat dinner, and go to bed when we do. However, there is one aspect of our lives that our pets don’t always share. I’m talking about personal hygiene. Bathing and grooming are subjects for another article. Today I would like to talk about dental care for our pets.
Like many problems with today’s pets, the domestication of dogs and cats from wild carnivorous animals to a more tame lifestyle has led to poorer overall dental health. Our pets’ ancestors, as well as the modern day wild wolf and tiger, had a diet consisting mainly of dead animals. While most of the nutrition came from the muscles and other organs, the fur, skin, and bones of the prey acted as a sort of tooth brush and flossing system for these animals. Thus, their teeth stayed cleaner. While today’s dry dog foods do a good job at plaque and tartar control, it is hard to replace the tugging and tearing action of an eating predator. The "scissors-bite" you see in longer nosed breeds, such as Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds, allows the teeth to brush themselves as they rub against each other. Domesticated breeds, specifically smaller brachycephalic, or "smooshed nosed" breeds, tend to not have perfectly aligned tooth position. Thus, their teeth do not clean themselves as they chew.
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