Question:
before you read this do not flame me, i am merely seeking help.






















okay, my dog is six years old, has never brushed her teeth, and now i'm worried...

she has like this black build up around the root of her teeth, and when i poked with a toothpick, it moved...i didn't dare go on fearing it would cave in to the core of her teeth and hurt her badly and have a stream of blood follow.

now, i know what you're going to say...take her to the vet.

can't, i cannot work, and i live in the US. my parents come from third world countries as political refugees. the language barrier hinders their ability for a "good" job, so they work manua labor. yes,yes, i know...*let me play you a song on the world's smallest violen(sp)* but, as i said, live in the US and they worry enough about my health and my sisters, and then they put themselves as second priority and my dog as third...

so, that said,what can i do to get my dog's teeth back in shape? is all hope lost? should i wait until it starts to hurt her and euthenise her? is there anything I can do to help? some fluoride in her water or something???or brush her teeth with colgate? or grab a knife, scrape the build up off her teeth and hope that i don't end up scraping off her teeth?

please, do not say a vet...anything that is healthcare in this country is through the roof, especially if your not medium class nor are you poor...it's a very awkward position to be a working class family since nothing in the US favors such a status.

please help, i want to stop this now, my parents only laugh at me when i say i'll brush her teeth, but i don't care, i don't want my dog to die from such neglect.

i am not totally closed to sending her to the vet, since...maybe i can find a way to get money...but will even veterinary assistence rid my dog of the tooth decay???

Answer:
A few things are very possible here:

1) call your local animal shelter/rescue organization - there should be a listing in the phone book somewhere, and ask them if there's a low cost vet they can refer you to, or provide financial assistance with.

2) walmart carries a doggie toothpaste in the pet section that's specially for dogs, colgate is poisonous to pets, so please don't use anything you'd use on yourself. the cost of a tube and brush at walmart or target is about 6.00 USD. give them a good brushing first and if you run into problems, then go to step 1 good luck, i understand what it's like to be completely broke and have 2 dogs go sick on me at once, but there's always hope and there are ALWAYS options for med care for them

Answer:
Ditto to everything Jawert said, but wanted to add that you could always look for a vet that accepts payment plans or something like creditcare. We both live in the US and I wanted to point out that it's not as bad as you make it out to be. There's always something. Just keep your chin up and look to some of the options we put out there for you. Euthinazation should not be an option for a tooth decay. I know you don't want to hear go to a vet, but after you try brushing to get some of the decay off you probably will need to go to the vet and have some teeth extracted. Is there anyway you can get a picture and post it here? Some members have had doggies with teeth problem and may be able to help with how far along the decay is compared to their dog, but remember we are not vets here so they can just pass on their experiences. Hopefully that helps.

Answer:
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. There are many people in similar situations as your self that have a hard time getting your dog to the vet.

THere is an orginization in my city that raises money to help low income families keep their pets, buy helping to buy food and meds and vetrinary care. Unfortunately I'm in Canada so this agency wont be able to help (because there not in your area), However their maybe one in your area. I found out about them from my local humane society. Try giving them a call they may have some help for you

Answer:
wow, thanks guys, you've all been a big help, this site as whole*thanks google*

anyway, yeah, i'll definetely try to see if i can find something like that down here in miami. if not, then i hope the toothpaste works...but i've read on some articles, that brushing a dogs teeth after such tooth decays shouldn't even be attempted since the bristles may end up hurting the dogs gumline...

Answer:
Is there any way at all that your dog can see a vet. Like others have suggested maybe a payment plan or something. My dog is six too and had major tooth decay - the vet ended up sedating him scraping off all the tarter and removing 12 teeth - we now brush his teeth and I have started giving him charcoal biscuts twice a day that are supposed to be good for his teeth.

Just to give you an idea Joeys teeth cleaning and extractions cost us around 450 Canadian dollars. The cost of my new dryer which I dont have yet -oh well rather have a healthy fur baby anyways.

Good luck to you

Answer:
If you are in Miami Dade county area you might be able to get some help oer advice through the Mobile Animal Clinic they offer spay/neuters, reduced cost vaccines even if they cannot do themselves they may know where you can get a dental done at a low cost.

http://animals.miamidade.gov/mac.asp

I have no idea now old you are, but if you can find a place that will do at a reduced cost you might be able to earn that amount yourself,

unless the dog has an abcessed tooth( the face would be swollen) it is not an immediate emergency, so can hold off for a few months till you can earn some money for it, once it is done it is importance to brush those teeth 3 or 4 times a week (every day is better) with a toothbrush, to get left over food off before it has a chance harden on, the tooth paste is not really a necessity, it mostly just tastes good for the dog and acts as a gentle polish, but getting the food off is the most important part of preventing it from coming back , and a cheap childs tooth brush can be used, you don't need a special type just for dogs.

you seem to have a great love for animals, so one idea find a local vet that is near your area, see if they may have job for you like to clean kennels and cages out for a peroid of time in exchange for doing a dental.

A lot of pet owners work, and some will hire someone to walk their dogs part way thru their work day, so check with some of the local dog adoption groups in the area or someone may need a dog sitting if they need to go away for couple of days

Some dog owners hate poop clean up and may be willing to pay some a few dollars a week to clean up their yards for them.

There is the Flagler Greyhound Park in Miami maybe a trainer could use some help with cleaning kennels, washing dogs, preparing meals, or cleaning poop from the turnout areas or the adoption kennel there can use a helper, or they know of a greyhound farmer near by that could use some kennel help.

http://www.flaglerdogs.com/home.cfm

When people know why you are looking for working they will often be more willing to give you a chance.

When I was not old enough to get a regular job I asked at saturday farmers markets to see if they needed anybody to help sell fruits and vegetables in the market stalls

The other option may be babysitting, I did this myself on top of my regular job in order to be able to buy a used car.

Answer:
haha, babysitting, that's an urban myth down here in miami

anyway, yeah, definetely, i'll check out those links. also, i did use the free spay service it was a relief though for two reasons...no puppies and no blood on the floor...

oh, and funny you should mention the vets and stuff, i'm actually due for some community service...like 180hours of it. and i need to complete it in Community, Action and Service, and each has to be 50hrs, and the other 30 are state required...and i have done neither since this summer was my first summer i could actually do community service and it would go to my CAS hours. but...i opted for studying japanese since i couldn't get dual-enrollment, i'm teaching myself...

ANYWAY, again, thanks for the links and maybe if i volunteer i might be able to ask the vet while i'm working some questions on my dog everyone wins!!!

Answer:
I do understand where you are coming from, you are not the only refugee in to world, my family came to Canada as refugees in 1959, there hardly any job as so many other families were coming out of Europe as well because of wars there, there was no medicare then either, and no goverment assistance if you did not work you starved and you died, it was far worse then even you have it now, there was little to no jobs for women, so men had to find enough work alone to support their families so in the early years I was lucky to see my dad a few minutes a day when he stopped into eat. And I grew up surround by families just like mine.

Nearly 250,000 displaced persons and other refugees were admitted to Canada between 1947 and 1962. Of the 165,000 refugees who entered this country between 1947 and 1953, Poles comprised the largest group (23 percent of all those refugees admitted). In descending order of numerical strength were Ukrainians (16 percent), Germans and Austrians (11 percent), Jews (10 percent), Latvians (6 percent), Lithuanians (6 percent), Magyars (Hungarians; 5 percent), Czechs (3 percent), Dutch (3 percent), and Russians (3 percent). All told, these groups comprised 86 percent of the Europeans allowed to enter Canada in this period.

one of my dads first jobs in Canada was working as a shoeshine boy just so he could buy some food, he bought shoe polish and a brush and peddled the streets in Toronto polishing peoples shoes until he could find a factory job. I still remember all the suppers of just oatmeal, or just potatoes and fried onions, and the main meat source came from fish my dad caught himself and wild game my dad hunted for , so yes I understand about poverty. and later due to a divorce I raised a child for a number of years in poverty. But one thing my parents installed in me was that if I wanted something, that I had to work for it, when I turned 15, I was expected to work parttime after school and weekends, I was responsible from that point on for bying my own clothes, shoes and school supplies, entermainment etc and save money for my own college educations, my dad told me if I did not want to work, then too bad I could go naked and do without, they would provide the food and the roof over my head and that was all, if I quit or finished I would be out the door and would have to fend for myself without help from them. And it was a good thing too, because in those day there was no free handouts by the government, the was no such thing as free spays and neuters, there was no free childcare etc, Today too many people think things should be handed to them on silver platters for free, yet they have more than I ever had during my tough times, for example you have a computer and a digital camera, as a single mom with a child to care for, my bed was the floor, a large cardboard box was my table and no TV, my luxury was an am/fm radio, I made sure my son always had food and meds but their were days I did without food because there simply was not enough money. I worked in a factory which was near minimum wage in the daytime and babysat night and weekends, and did income tax form for others as a way to keep me afloat and buy the things I needed and wanted, as time went along I got better paying manual labor jobs but still often babysat or took other parttime jobs to better my life, today I still do manual labour, I work in the weld shop in a car factory loading parts the pay just happens to be a lot better, I still work parttime, instead at my own business I started 4 years ago, I raised my child mostly alone and taught him the same as I was taught "if you want something bad enough you work for it, if you want to get ahead you have to work for it" now I am a grandmother of 2, I have my own house which I bought on my own, I have 2 cars sitting in my driveway, which I bought for myself, I have 3 dogs and 2 cats, all get regular vet care and high quality food, I now have one years income set aside as savings, made by simply banking a bit of money from each pay. None of this happened over night, it took years of hard work to achieve, all the complaining in the world of how bad your life is, is not going to make it better. Today you have a lot more options and advantages available to you to get ahead in life than I ever had when I was young, you can go to college and be whatever you want to be(in my day women were not allowed to becomes doctors lawyers,engineers or vets etc) and there are grants and funding available to allow you to go to school and have a good paying career, there is no longer one wage for women and a bigger wage for men when doing the exact same job.

So yes, you have it tough, even today I have it tough if I were to compare my life to other people but I also know I have it far better than others, so I learned to appreciate what I have. You have a choice, you can sit back complain about how tough life is and sit back doing nothing and let life keep slapping you in the face , or you can fight back and find ways to make your life better. Your parents are struggling to provide for the family, I can understand them saying the family needs have to come first over the dog, but when you keep approaching them, you are only making them feel guilty for not being able to do more. from what you have posted I see you are of an age where "you" can make a difference for your dogs life, if you truly care about it and are not just talking . I did not get where I am now expecting others to take care of things, sometimes the road getting there is very bumpy and I had to make tough decisions and in life you will have setbacks, you have to make sacrifices like giving up spare time to be with friends, but unless you are willing to fight back and make those sacrifices, life will stay as it is and you will remain poor and your dog will likely in time suffer from cardiac disease or liver failure due to the infections caused by his bad teeth.


There poor people here in Canada today too, some live in tents, some in abandoned cars or buildings, imagine what living in these condtions is like with no heat at 30 below, some do die of starvation and from freezing to death. Appreciate what you do have and work hard strive for better, never quit one job no matter how much you hate it, until you have first found another one that is better to replace it, that is how you get ahead in life. You also seem to be very intelligent and have a bright mind so don't waste it, make sure to get good post secondary education, even if it means working fulltime and going to school at night to earn a degree, in the end it will pay off especially if you have researched wages first for careers that you can get with that degrees, some pay very poorly for example a vet tech, does not earn enough to live off. I know one girl in florida who is a vet tech, in the day she works for a vet and at night stocks shelves in a grocery store, so she can pay her rent,eat and provide for her dog. Don't think marriage is an anwer to get ahead either, my marriage fell apart a few months after I had my child, during the marriage he spent all my savings and racked up several bills so I was poorer after my marriage then I was going into it, plus I had the responsibilities of looking after a child when he took off and left me holding the bag

I met a lot of people who were poor just like me, many were angry and jealous when they seen me get new stuff, or get a better job, but most I never felt sorry for most , simply because they were too lazy to even bother doing anything about it other than complain and feel sorry for themselves and many of them have had to move in with their children and their children are now stuck supporting them.

As the saying goes.... Life is what you make it. You can sit back and leat you dog slowly die as a result of tooth infection or you can figure out a way to earn the money to get him to a vet, the choice is in your hands. You can also help your parents out by taking some of the responsibilities off of them by trying to take care of some of your own needs like buying your own clothing or putting away money so you can go to college that frees them to bank some money away inorder to have a medical plan or some other important need.

Answer:
OG... WHAT a POST! and and best of all... everyone of us who had a hard childhood knows exactly what you mean...

Answer:
wow, what a post!

well, like i said, i'm not poor...i didn't have as bad as you did. and if i came off as trying to be pitiful or anything like that, in anyway, i'm sorry.

my family is from nicaragua, i've been there, and i understand what true poverty is. people could care a lick about a dog, infact some eat them! i know i don't have it bad...infact...i never really said i had it bad...i just said that...i'm in a weird position to get a substantial amount of help from others, as in, the government, or other organizations that as a prerequisite(sp) you need to be "poor" and have medicaid(it's a health plan for poor families in the US) and what not. in addition, my family had it even better than yours did, since we had foodstamps and medicaid. but, my dad worked very hard. before we had nothing to our name, luckily an old man, who is now my godfather, knew my dad's family name, so he gave let us live in an apartment he had reserved for visitors,for a low monthly fee until we could move out and rent an apartment in a "better" neighborhood. now, after we moved to another apartment, and after years of my dad going out on his bike to work in construction, under the hot miami sun, we have our own house and two cars(the government took away medicaid once we got a car...but, we still have food, and roof over our head and many commodities(sp)). and since work in miami is great(by great i mean there's alot if it...not that it pays well), like you said, if you want and work for it, you can have it, and with all that work available, it can be done, even if it involves double-shifts and night hours. i too only see my dad a few hours a day, but, like you said, it needs to be done. my family isn't the first family to go through this, nor will it be the last. immigrants from central america pour in by the thousands every year and a whole family has to live in a one room apartment since they can't afford mansions.

i was merely trying to set the mood so i don't get responses like, "go to the vet." which i know is the best solution...but...i don't want to generalize or anything...but, sometimes i see reports of people who "uber" love their pets and dress them, and feed them a 100usd bag of food with bottled water and my parents say "eh, ni a mi" which mean, "eh, not even I," by that she means, she doesn't even pamper herself like that. so, i thought maybe most of you would be like that...and yeah, i know the old addage "when you assume, you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me". thus, i just wanted to let people know, before they posted, that i'm not uber rich and can take my dog to the vet in a heart beat.

anyway, i am 15...and can't work yet under florida law(need to be 16, and that's for the some stores, since they don't trust 16year olds). even if i could...my parents won't let me. they tell me to study so that i don't have a hard life like they did here in the US. so, i try to keep my grades up, and yes...i think i may have a scholorship i'm a program that's called IB, and once i graduate, "florida bright futures," a state lottery funded program will fund 100% of my tuition. so, heh, yeah...i try to do my part. and, i said "i think" because the program is very hard, and if i don't graduate with an "ib diploma" i may only get 75% off.

back, on topic, yeah, i realise now, that i may make my parents feel bad...but, they don't let me work!!! they're a typical central american family that never wants the child to leave the nest.hec, my sister is about...let's see...twenty-something...and she still hasn't left...but, she's still doing something, she's getting her masters in public administration from fiu(a university in florida. btw, she got student aid, and scholarships too). so, maybe you can understand what...i wouldn't say underprivaleged(sp), but working class family's go through, but, our family is a little weird in that aspect. so i don't think you could FULLY understand, but i know where your coming from and what your trying to say.

after all of what you've given me to consider, what i can do is, find financial assistance liket he humane society or, maybe if i help out at a veterinarian clinic, i can get discounted check-ups, or maybe just talk to the vet while i'm there like i said...i got 180hrs to go @_@, so...yeah...thanks for all the help! and what an enlightening story!!!

Answer:
it was nice to get more info

back to the subject... your girl has periodontal disease, pretty bad case actually :( . you can see more info here & photos of similar cases: petdental.com.au/ perio.htm

you need to get her teeth professionally cleaned, or in a short period of time, her gums will ooze pus, get inflamed, the tooth root will detach from the bone and eventually fall. but the worst is the bacteria which enters her bloodstream and can damage her vital organs. a toothbrush cannot scrape off the tartar, you really need a vet to do it at this point, with specialized equipment, under anaesthesia. her back teeth, i assume, look no better... a painful mouth is no fun, imagine if it was you

i that you somehow find a solution... your girl, in return, still has many loving years to give you

Answer:
Before I let my pet die an agonizing death due to dental disease, I would relinquish her to a no-kill shelter, in hopes that she would get the care that she needs. Euthanaisa should not be an option. Good luck.

Answer:
Her teeth are not great but not really, really bad, best thing to do for now is brush regularly to keep the gumline as healthy as possible until a proper dental cleaning be done, concentrate on the outside of the teeth, brushing in a sweeping motion to pull food particles away food the gums there will be some bleeding from the gums, which will be normal which may improve with regular brushing, the brown tarter won't come off, you are simply trying to prevent food from rotting at the gumline and being absorbed into the bloodstream by doing the brushing 3 or more times a week

Answer:
periodontal disease!!!

wow, that sounds serious!!! so...what...are teeth going to fall off and bacteria go into her bloodstream!!!

does it look safe for a scraping??? or does it look like the whole root is infected??? and if i stick a tooth pick in the canine, that it'll go through!!!if so...what would be the best thing to do? if she can't even eat...

does it look okay to brush??? or will i make it be worse and end up making her canines fall off?

[edit]
ahhhhh!!!!this is horrible!!! it's not reversible!!! and now my dog will be in extreme pain!!!:(

here's a pic of what i found on the web:

Answer:
that is an extreme case, sick to see how a person can neglect their dog to this point i doubt very much your girl has such bad teeth! can you post a photo of her back teeth?

as OG said, brush her teeth now, every day if you can, until you can get her teeth professionaly cleaned. if you do nothing, the tartar will only accumulate, the gum will get more infected and you will have greater problems. "better late than never" You can try feeding raw turkey necks, or a big raw beef knucklebone, they do a good job of scraping off plaque and some tartar, massaging the gums, etc, but it won't fix the accumulation on her canines though as dogs mostly use their back teeth to gnaw on bones.

i'm sure you'll work it out, in the end, you came here for a reason! how about a photo of your lovely girl!

Answer:
her canines are worse than the back...

Answer:
that's not bad at all, for a 6-yr old girl who never had her teeth brushed! i would follow OG's advice... brush now, and get her to the vet for a cleaning when you can. does she chew on bones, toys, treats?

we need a photo of her face now, we really do! what is her name?

Answer:
her name is sussy. and no she doesn't chew on chew toys...but when my mom makes soup...she gives her bones...(is that ok? like an actual bone?) well, sometimes she bury's it...i tried buying her one of those bones they sell for dogs but she doesn't chew them...before she did...oh, and she get's mad if i try to take her bone away...maybe it's because her teeth hurt...i don't know...but she seems to like the "real bones" since, like i said, she gets mad if i try to take it away.

Answer:
The back teeth and gums are good and very healthy, the only problem is in the first picture on the canine, she actually has pretty good teeth, she has a bit swelling and redness around the gums so brushing will make the gums healthier, some butchers will give away beef knuckle bones or sell them very cheaply,
(you have to give the bone uncooked, if you cook it would become too hard and she could break her teeth on) the chewing on the bone will help to scrape away some of that tartar off the tooth, and if you take good care she may not really need a dental for a couple years yet, her teeth really are not that bad.

Just be very careful taking bones away, better to feed when she is outside, then when she comesd inside go out and pick them up, so she is not protecting them

Answer:
I have two rescue dogs that both had bad teeth when I got them. We brush their teeth, but the big difference in them has come from eating raw bones. I have found some local grocery stores/butchers where you can get some raw meaty bones or chicken parts for pretty cheap (less than 1 dollar/pound). Be careful not to give leg bones as they are load bearing bones and can break a dogs teeth. We give chicken necks and chicken backs (uncooked), which are meaty, so they act as a meal too! Beef ribs (uncooked) don't usually have meat on them, but the dogs love the marrow and will gnaw on them lots! If you can find ribs with meat left on them, that's perfect since the meat that they tear off the bones kind of acts as a doggy dental floss.

Watch your pup every time he is chewing on a bone just to be sure he will not eat too much too fast or just go bury it somewhere or he chokes on a piece. I started my dogs by giving it to them for 5 minutes at a time or so. This way they won't get sick since their stomachs need to get used to the raw meat and marrow. Make sure that you praise the dog (and maybe give him another treat) when he lets you take the bone. He will know that giving you the bone is a good thing!

It has prevented my dogs from having to be put under to have their teeth cleaned and possibly have teeth removed.

Search around a little bit to see if you can find a butcher that has these things for cheap.

Good luck with the pup and don't let anyone make you feel silly or bad for doing everything you can to take good care of your dog! You obviously love your dog!

Answer:
i gave my dog some of these dentix from pedigree i think. and the tartar from the top of the teeth came right off. her teeth are still stained, but, it doesn't look so rotten...

thanks for the tips, i'm going to see if i get her more bones. as in, real bones the dentix worked great though, and she like them.

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