National Pet Dental Health Month?

In doing some reading for this month’s posts, I came across a listing of National Pet Holidays.  Did you know January 14 was National Dress Up Your Pet Day, February 23 is National Dog Biscuit Day, and May 30 is Hug Your Cat Day?  These may seem silly or trivial, but there are many national pet “holidays” focused on more serious problems, too:  May 13 to 19 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week and all of April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.  What I was after, and what I think is really important – so important we’re going to devote several posts to it – is Pet Dental Health Month. Pet Dental Health Month is just around the corner in February. When I was in veterinary school, teeth and the oral health of animals was virtually ignored.  Our dental course was an elective – we weren’t required to take it – and lasted a mere 4 hours.  Compare that to the 70 hours spent studying in fine detail the Krebs or Calvin cycle and other minutia of biochemistry, information I rarely draw on in day to day decision making as a practicing veterinarian.  Fortunately, times have changed and we now recognize how common dental disease is and how significantly disease in the mouth impacts your pet’s overall health.  

So, why do we care about the teeth and disease in the mouth?

The simple answer is, without proper dental care EVERY SINGLE pet we see will develop dental disease at some point in their life.  In fact, according to the American Veterinary Dental Society, up to 85% of dogs have some degree of dental disease by 4 years of age.  Even this young, I have seen advanced periodontal disease in many of our patients.  That means that at what should be the prime of their life, many dogs and cats are already experiencing the discomfort that is common with dental disease.  We also care because of how dental disease can affect your pet as a whole.  A report released by the Surgeon General back in 2000 sums it up nicely: “The terms oral health and general health should not be interpreted as separate entities” and “you cannot be healthy without oral health.”  While the report was aimed at humans, the same holds just as true for our pets. Bacteria from inflamed, infected gums don’t stay in the mouth; they enter the blood stream and travel throughout the body.  Caught in time, this infection is treatable, but over time, potentially irreversible damage can occur to your pet’s vital organs.  Evidence is mounting about the association between infection and inflammation in the mouth and diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease.  Since these three diseases are common in pets as they age, it makes sense to take care of the mouth as best we can.  

Last week, Dr. Mike extracted nine teeth from an older cat.  

We call clients the night of the procedure to answer questions and address concerns they may have; when our technician followed up with this cat’s owner, the owner was thrilled.  After a long day of anesthesia and oral surgery, the cat had arrived home, ate an entire can of food, and was resting comfortably.  When I called her the next day, she said “I have a kitten again!”  The cat was more playful than the owner had seen in years.  I love hearing these stories!  It’s exactly why I care about teeth and disease in the mouth.  By improving the health of the mouth, we can dramatically improve our patient’s quality of life. Behavioral changes caused by dental pain often go unnoticed because of the gradual onset of dental disease. Once we eliminate the dental pain, the changes can be very dramatic!

Stay tuned and next week we’ll talk about dental disease and prevention!

Cigarettes and Pets

by John Hallett, DVM

When I examine a dog or cat in our treatment room, away from the owner, I can almost always tell if the pet is from a smoking household. The smell of cigarettes lingers on their fur. That's not all that is lingering on their fur though. 

Most people understand that secondhand smoke from cigarettes contains an incredible number of hazardous substances and many of them can cause cancer. These chemicals are found in high concentrations on carpets and furniture around the home. Pets sharing this environment will get these toxins on their fur and then ingest them during normal grooming.

Cats may actually be at higher risk for serious disease when they live in a smoking environment.   Because of their fastidious grooming habits, cats end up ingesting a higher level of chemicals and this leads to a greater chance of several types of cancer.

Lymphoma is a cancer of white blood cells and is one of the most common cancers seen in our pet cats. When smokers are present in the cat’s household, the risk for this killer is increased by two or three times over cats living in non-smoking homes.  Sadly, when our feline friends are diagnosed with lymphoma, the prognosis can be poor.

Another serious cancer with links to secondhand smoke is a cancer of the mouth known as squamous cell carcinoma. Studies have linked a higher risk for squamous cell carcinoma in cats living in smoking homes. Again, the prognosis is very grave and most pets won’t survive another year.

Dogs are affected too.  In the early 1990s, researchers found correlations between nasal cancers in dogs and the presence of smokers in the home.  There is a concern that environmental tobacco smoke may increase the incidence of lung cancer in our canine friends as well.

Pets who are developing illnesses from secondhand smoke may exhibit symptoms ranging from lethargy to coughing to the appearance of masses in the mouth.  It’s important to have your pet seen by a veterinarian if any of these signs are noted.

Of course, the best course of action is to give up the tobacco habit entirely.  It’s not only best for the health of the smoker, it will also greatly reduce risks for pets. Understanding that it’s not easy to quit this addictive habit, people who smoke and have pets should attempt to minimize their pets’ exposure by smoking outdoors.

Smoking in the car with pets can create a toxic environment, even with the windows open.  Some states and Canadian provinces even ban smoking in cars when children are passengers.  If you must smoke when you drive, leave your pets and kids at home.

In the past 45 years, the number of smokers in the United States has decreased to less than 20% of the population and almost 70% of those current smokers want to kick the habit. Could an understanding of how secondhand smoke affects our pets help encourage more people to quit? When I practiced in Connecticut, I do remember one client who quit smoking when her cat was diagnosed with feline asthma which was aggravated by cigarette smoke!