Dog Dental Care

Yes, it's pretty amazing what we can do when we're motivated by life or death, isn't it?

 

yea I heard something similiar to that before about rawhides too. But, don'T think I am totally stupid but are the rawhides the white bones, the red bones or both? or whatever they are not bones. Because I one time heard never to buy the white ones because of something it's a little fuzzy in my head (this was 10 years ago when I heard it) but it was something along the lines of they put something that is bad for dogs in them and they are made in sout america so that they don'T have to follow the same guidelines. Does in one know anything about this? Like I said it was along time ago when someone told me so I can'T remember, I just stopped getting them.

 

Yes, if you do buy rawhide, you should make sure they were made in America. In the U.S. they are considered a food item and therefore are regulated. In other places, apparently they put nasty stuff in them - what was it again? Formaldehyde? Arsenic?

I'll look it up.

Some of the chews in the store say to wash your hands after touching it. I showed my vet and he had the same concern - if it's bad for humans to touch it, why should I feed it to my dog??

Although I wash my hands after handling their raw meat (duh).

It's so hard to find chews that are safe. I wish that anything you buy in a petstore means it is safe, but that's not the case.


Jamiya

 

It was arsenic. Here's a short article: http://nmnm.essortment.com/rawhidechew_rbzt.htm

And a quote from another board (source unknown):

Jamiya

 

Aw, geeze!!! If it's not one thing, it's another! I wish we could depend on what we buy to be healthy and safe for our pets! But then there are a lot of companies out there that produce things that aren't even safe for our children to eat, and don't seem to care that they are killing the kids... So I guess why should I expect them to care about our pets, I guess :x
I guess I'll have to confiscate Rusty's rawhide bone tonight :roll:
Thanks for the good info, Jamiya.

 

Isn't it depressing?! I get so frustrated every time I find out that yet another thing I am doing is wrong or dangerous. Sometimes it seems like there is NOTHING that is safe. I guess it's partly a product of making dogs live in a city. Out in the less civilized parts they would be getting exercise and mental stimulation the old-fashioned way. Of course, then they get eaten by a bear. :|


Jamiya

 

Yep, he's going to be really sad when I take "the Giant Bone" away from him.... he loves it. Takes it every where with him, carefully hides it before he occasionally does leave it.


This is him carefully hiding it under his blanket before we left the other day.

:

 

Okay.... so I went to the store on my lunch break today, and bought Rusty an extra soft "Masters of the Universe!" childrens toothbrush (I'm sure he'll be excited about the cartoon character on his toothbrush :lol: )
Then, I ran over to the pet store and bought a tube of poultry flavored doggy toothpaste, and a teeth cleaning green chewy to swap him for "The Giant Bone". So.... we'll soon see how he takes to the brushing thing! :mrgreen:

 

They also make toothbrushy thingies for dogs that you slip onto your finger. Some people find these easier to use than a toothbrush.


Jamiya