This is John. John is an old fart. He's been an old fart for quite a while and when he turned 13 this past August he became a really, really old fart. So . . . no more anesthesia for John. As anyone who loves Sighthounds know, you have to be cautious with anesthesia even with young, healthy dogs. For a senior, every time you put them under you're rolling the dice. I am John's mom. And I am not a gambler.
This is where non-anesthesia dentals comes in. Once or twice a year, the lovely Kathy of Houndstooth Pet Dentals flies in from California to clean John's teeth. When we started planning our Spa Day for Spay Days event, offering non-anesthesia dentals was one of our first ideas and we were thrilled that Kathy could join us. Now that the event is getting close, we're getting a lot of questions about these dentals, so here you go!
There are more and more people who offer "cleanings", so this information refers specifically to the Houndstooth services. Kathy does supra and sub-gingival scaling, ultrasonic scaling, and polishing. She doesn't just "scrape" the teeth as many owners do at home. She uses special tools to give a professional "vet office" cleaning and polishes the teeth afterward. The polishing is key because it prevents the "grooving" in the tooth surface that can encourage the regrowth of bacteria.
In addition to Kathy's training in dental hygiene, she's also a pro at handling dogs. My little guy Ozzie was one of the first of my dogs that Kathy ever worked on. He was around 12 years old and a rotten little beast. He hated strangers. He pooped on Kathy. Seriously, he pooped on her. But Kathy never lost her cool. She held him firmly, cleaned his teeth, and laughed at him when she was done and he walked away with his head in the air. I cleaned up the poop.
So if you have a rotten little dog . . . or big dog . . . or pointy dog . . . or even (gasp!) a cat . . . bring them out to our event in Frederick, MD and let them poop on Kathy while she cleans their teeth. It's fun for everyone!
Also, there will be beer.
Sunday, September 20th
Frederick, MD
