Bad breath - is a vet visit necessary?

greenpenquills

My dog has had two check-ups in the past six weeks since I adopted him. First the initial check-up after he was rescued from the shelter and then the vet also looked him over when I thought he had weird moles pop up that turned out just to be his nipples, which I hadn't noticed until I got him groomed.

Anyway, I had his teeth professionally cleaned at the groomer's (as in a full cleaning with plaque removal) and for a couple weeks his breath was better, but now it's bad again. I've read that a vet visit may be recommended but he's already been so recently and has no other symptoms that may accompany these other diseases. I've been giving him Nutri-dent dog chews, but they haven't been doing anything. Should I try brushing his teeth? Is there anything else I can do? I really don't want to keep taking him in unnecessarily. I tend to be trigger happy in terms of seeing doctors about my own health and it's always nothing, so I don't want to do the same with my dog. That's going to get very expensive.

Oh, if it matters, I feed him Wellness Small Breed. I read certain dog foods can make the smell worse as well. Thanks!

kmes

I'm assuming that his teeth are still pretty clean since he just had it done???
I also am assuming there are no medical issues that would cause bad breath!

I do several things to help keep my dogs' teeth fresh and their teeth clean.
I put Dental Fresh in their drinking water. Its a green liquid that freshens breath and helps to break down plaque.
I give them dental chews (my favorite is Twistix) and provide plenty of chew toys.
I also brush teeth atleast once a week.

Criosphynx

this is my suggestion also. This stuff is awesome

Mikey

And...if this stuff doesn't work-a vet visit may be in order. Bad breath-the kind not caused by garlic and coffee (obviously not in dogs in this example) can be a symptom of big time internal problems-often kidney or liver disease. In fact if you know anyone who has kidney disease they often have very bad breath and their are medical grade mouth freshners for them-but at any rate-if you've tried so much and this other suggestion of the doggie mouthwash doesn't work-I'd head strait to the vet, let them know whats up and maybe go for a full blood panel at least

ricomoss

Yes, I was going to say just this. I had a kitty pass away due to acute kidney failure. His visual symptoms were sudden and alarming. How long had he had the problem prior to the visual symptoms? I don't think there was any way for us (the vet and myself) to know. He seemed week, resistant to food and water and his breath smelled like something had crawled down his throat and died! I mean, it would invoke the gag reflect...so if your dog's breath is bad enough that you go cross-eyed then I would take him to the vet immediately and ask them about kidney failure.

I'd never wish that upon anyone else. I had to give him a shot every day, force feed him medicines (which he hated) 4 times daily, and try to find foods he would eat just to keep and influx of nutrients. It was a matter of about 2 weeks until it went from acute to chronic and he passed about a month after that (and about $2500 dollars worth of treatment).

It doesn't sound like your dog is experiencing symptoms this bad so I wouldn't worry too much. Best of luck!