National Pet Dental Month

February is National Pet Dental Month. Until a couple of years ago I didn’t realize just how important it was to regularly have our pet’s teeth checked and to learn how to brush our pet’s teeth.    

Just like humans our pets are variable to the same types of mouth issues. Such as gingivitis, cavities, and some oral cancers.

The American Veterinary Dental College  (AVDC) recommends that we have annual dental check ups for our pets and do a minimum of brushing of once a week although daily is preferred.

Dogs and cats are mention on the site but other pets are not listed. When I found out about the recommendations I started brushing my ferrets: James and Lance at the time, teeth.

At first it was a real chore as they were older and there isn’t a toothbrush on the market for ferrets. But with continual trial and error we found what worked and while we couldn’t reverse some of the problems we did slow down others. 

Manny and Marcuz get their teeth brushed twice a week unless they have had something really sticky then they get their teeth brushed more often.

I surprised my vet because I do brush my boys teeth and am the only ferret owner he knows that does.

Because I do brush Manny and Marcuz’ teeth I know what their mouths look like and will know if something isn’t right before it becomes too big of an issue.

Disclosure: Picture of the ferret teeth is from a blog called teeth pictures.

Have a Chittering Good Day,

Jo