Our warrior princess needs a dental - and to gain weight

[ourempire]

Hi all. This Friday I took Éowyn to her annual vet check (she will be 3 years old, soon) and vaccination. Overall her health is fine, she is her happy, wagging self, but over the past year she has lost almost 2 lbs. /1 kg. She now weighs 15 lbs. /6,8 kg. Molly weighs 18,5 lbs. /8,5 kg. They have always been very different, Molly is heavier built than Éowyn, and we have to take care that Molly doesn’t get choppy. Éowyn is slender and agile, and she is much more active when playing in the garden than Molly is. Éowyn is still within the normal weight range, but we have to fatten her up a bit. Maybe a solution will be to change to high energy food and then feed them differently. We feed them with food from Oliver’s (Danish brand), which several Danish breeders use to.
Another issue was her teeth. She has got some plaque and the beginning of gingivitis. Her vet told us to get that fixed as soon as possible, and I have now booked a time for her on Wednesday. She will get anesthesia, which worries me the most. I know it is a minor thing to get done, and I know it is not a surgery, but I am still worried. Wednesday will be hard. I shall drop her off in the morning, and the vet will call me, when she is awake and tell me when to pick her up. Fingers crossed everything will be well.

[Desrae]

I think being on the thin side is better than being chunky and needing to lose weight. If Eowyn is happy and healthy, I wouldn't worry too much about her weight.
I wonder if there are other alternatives to getting rid of the plaque on her teeth besides having to put her under, etc.? There are doggy gels and toothpastes that are really good and if used regularly, the plaque will go. Amazon.co.uk has this rinse that is HIGHLY recommended by members of this forum. I forget what it is called right now, as I need to order some myself.

I hope Reptigirl is around, she has a thread not too long ago about getting plaque off her cavvies teeth, I looked for it but cannot find it now. Hoping someone else posts to clarify my ramblings.

You and your little doggies are in my thoughts, sending you positive vibes.

[Reptigirl]

CET Oral Hygiene Rinse is AMAZING! My two rescues had BAD teeth. They were almost completely black. My vet had me use it 2X daily.

You can buy it on Amazon or Ebay for around $12.

I have used it on ALL my dogs & cats. You need to use it 2X daily. I also try and brush teeth at least 1-2 times a week with the CET tooth paste. I have found using it in combination with CET dental chews in between brushing this works REALLY well! I noticed a significance reduction of tarter & plague in 2-3 weeks.

I also bought a product called Biotene Antiseptic Oral Gel. It's an Enzymatic Formula for severe mouth infections. I have only ever used this on one cat. He is 9 and had severely inflamed gums on his far back teeth. I used this 2X daily for about 7-10 days. It worked well at reducing the inflammation quickly. 6 Months later his teeth have minimal tarter and his gums are not inflamed or irritated in any way.

I would always recommend talking to your vet. That is how I found out about these products. But my vet was 2X more expensive then buying them myself online. All the products say "for veterinarian use only" but they are easily found online.

Hope that helps!

[Desrae]

CET Oral Hygiene Rinse is AMAZING! My two rescues had BAD teeth. They were almost completely black. My vet had me use it 2X daily.

You can buy it on Amazon or Ebay for around $12.

I have used it on ALL my dogs & cats. You need to use it 2X daily. I also try and brush teeth at least 1-2 times a week with the CET tooth paste. I have found using it in combination with CET dental chews in between brushing this works REALLY well! I noticed a significance reduction of tarter & plague in 2-3 weeks.

I also bought a product called Biotene Antiseptic Oral Gel. It's an Enzymatic Formula for severe mouth infections. I have only ever used this on one cat. He is 9 and had severely inflamed gums on his far back teeth. I used this 2X daily for about 7-10 days. It worked well at reducing the inflammation quickly. 6 Months later his teeth have minimal tarter and his gums are not inflamed or irritated in any way.

I would always recommend talking to your vet. That is how I found out about these products. But my vet was 2X more expensive then buying them myself online. All the products say "for veterinarian use only" but they are easily found online.

Hope that helps!

Yay! Thanks. I tried looking for the thread, but couldn't find it. Much appreciated

[ourempire]

Thank you, Reptigirl and Desrae, for the advice about tooth paste. It may sound naïve, but they are our first dogs, and even though my husband's family had dogs, when he was a child, they never discussed tooth paste for dogs etc. Éowyn still needs a teeth cleaning on Wednesday, but after that I will start the new regime of tooth brushing.
Desrae, thank you also for the comforting words about her weight. We were so worried that the vet thought that we starved her and overfed Molly, but he calmed us down and said that dogs, like humans, have different weight scales and diet needs.

[mommytoClaire]

Charlotte, I think most here prefer to keep their Cavaliers on the thin side. With MVD, it's best to keep them thin. Better for their overall health.

My Claire is fine boned, and weighed in a touch over 11.5 lbs when she was at the Vets in May. The Vet felt if we could keep her in the 11.5-12.5 range that would be best for her because of her bone structure. She sounds like your Eowyn. I wouldn't worry about her weight.

My vet uses a light sedative when cleaning teeth. They use a sedative/gas combo from my understanding, allowing them to arouse the dogs easily after the cleaning, or during should the need arrive.

Wishing you the best.

[ourempire]

Hi all! I just wanted you to know that everything went well. There are so many bad news, that I am so relieved that Éowyn is fine.
I took her to the vet yesterday morning, and the vet told me about a new blood testing machine, they had bought. Since Éowyn had lost so much weight, and she was up for anaethesia, I decided to have her tested. We are so lucky, that her blood tests came out very, very fine. Everything important is within the normal sphere. The only abnormalities are that her red blood corpuscles are larger than normal, and there are less different white blood corpuscles than expected, but none of this affects her health, they said. She is skinny, because she is active, and that's good!
Her teeth have been cleaned, and she kept all of them. I bought some special dental water to add in the water bowl, and some special chewing bones. Both she and Molly can eat those, and that should do it for now.
Phew! I was so happy when we drove home, that I almost cried. Éowyn is just so happy, and the vet threatened to keep her for joy

Molly didn't take her absence well. She kept searching for her at home, and she tried to walk back to the house, when I took her out for a walk. Molly can't fool us, she has started loving Éowyn

[BrooklynMom]

Awe, that is wonderful...thank you for the update! Glad all is well.