Posts tagged "teeth"

Just hanging around, chewing cud. A cow's life sounds pretty easy. But it's not all bovine bliss.

A 1,000-pound cow swallows about 40 pounds of food a day, says the Daily Herald, and the average cow spends 15 hours a day chewing. The grass is only for starters. After swallowing, the cow's lunch begins to break down in the first of her four stomachs. Later, that food is regurgitated for still more chewing. All that chomping improves cattle digestion, but it takes a toll on a girl's pearly whites.

By 8 years old or so, a cow's teeth are often so worn down that the animal can't eat properly. Without enough calories, mother cows can't provide enough milk for their young. Once a cow reaches that point, it is shipped off to the slaughterhouse.

Enter Osvaldo Errobidart, a dentist in Argentina (the world's most beef-loving country). The semi-retired dentist has designed a special stainless steel prosthesis that replaces a cow's worn-down choppers, according to KENS-TV. The device is cheap, and can be installed in a cow's mouth with simple pliers in less than 30 seconds.

Your vet has bombarded you with messages about the importance of maintaining your pet's oral hygiene, but you can't seem to get a toothbrush near the little furball's teeth without a struggle. So what you do when your cat or dog suddenly develops a case of lockjaw every time you appear with a toothbrush in your hand? Here are few ideas to help you get on track:

1. Start Slowly. "Get puppies and kittens used to having their mouths opened and work on rubbing their gums with your fingers," says Dr. Michael Farber, Practice Owner and Chief of Staff at West Chelsea Veterinary. "Do a little at a time and gradually build up to a soft brush."

With older animals, "start with just brushing one or two teeth at a time. Try to keep them distracted and always reward them," says Farber.

2. Work With the Animal's Instincts. Pets will often want to shut their mouths, so let them. Dr. Stephen Riback, expert in veterinary dentistry at The Animal Medical Center suggests that brushing will be more effective if you hold your pet's muzzle shut, rather than trying to open it, "For me, the easiest method is to hold their muzzle shut with one hand, lift the lip with the index finger of the same hand and then brush the outer surface of their teeth with a soft bristled toothbrush or finger brush using the other hand," he says. Pets mainly develop plaque and tartar on the outer surfaces of their teeth, says Riback, so this method will allow you to tackle the main problem areas.

Humans aren't the only mammals that need to brush their teeth to maintain their oral health. Dogs are at risk for developing many of the same oral diseases, such as plaque and tartar, that can develop in the human mouth as a result of neglected dental hygiene. Tartar causes gingivitis, an inflammation that hurts your dog's gums and eventually progresses to irreversible periodontal disease. At this stage, bacteria growth may be so rampant that it spreads beyond your dog's mouth and into his vital organs via the bloodstream, causing critical -- and often irreparable -- damage.

However, the good news is that with a little home oral care provided by you, plaque build-up can be controlled and reduced before it ever has a chance to cause severe health problems in your pooch. Just follow these simple steps to cleaning your dog's pearly whites:

1. Only use toothpaste sold specifically for dogs. Dogs can't spit and will happily swallow any gunk squirted into their mouths, so never use human toothpaste; it isn't edible for dogs or humans (as many have figured out the hard way).

2. Depending on which tool is the easiest for you to work with, brush your dog's teeth with either a regular human toothbrush, fingerbrush, or a piece of gauze wrapped around your finger. This may take a few sessions of experimenting.

These days, Cotton's bark may actually be bigger than his bite.

The aggressive six-year-old American Eskimo dog recently underwent a highly controversial dental treatment known as canine disarming to trim and smooth his teeth.

Cotton's owner Diane Krieger had tried just about everything -- puppy training classes, self-help books, and even assistance from "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan -- to tame her pup's dangerous bad habit, but the biting persisted. She even looked into dog rescue groups, but most refused to take pets with a history of biting.

Last month, as an alternative to euthanization, Krieger resorted to the $1,600 treatment. Veterinary dentist Dr. David Nielsen performed the canine disarming procedure in hopes of making Cotton more obedient -- or at least, less harmful.

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