Good news for Golden Oldie

The vet came to see Bruin yesterday and gave him the all clear.  The lump on his side is fatty tissue and won’t cause him any problems.    That’s excellent news and Bruin looked as pleased as us.   He had a full health check and the only other problems are his teeth – he urgently needs a session with the vet for dental work.   One side of his mouth is fine, the other teeth need cleaning and possibly extractions – ‘I wish I’d looked after me teeth’ as Pam Ayres would say.   Our vet has told us that nearly all dogs over seven years old need work on their teeth.   It’s not because they are eating sweeties is it?

Many of the dogs with rotten teeth have had a diet of dog biscuits so, despite the claims from pet food manufacturers, eating biscuits doesn’t ensure good dental health.   Although it is good for sales!    If we ate nothing but biscuits would our teeth be in tip top condition?   I don’t think so.   Yet in the past dogs rarely had such dreadfully bad teeth.  Thirty years ago we rarely if ever saw a dog with mouth problems.   Was this because their diet was different?    Dogs ate proper food, chunks of cheap gristly meat to chew on, lots of bones  and mushy pet food didn’t exist.    If you watch a dog eating big chunks of stew meat you will see that he has to chew it.    We often give our dogs strips of breast of lamb.   It has to be gnawed at and it’s hard going but they love it, and their teeth are fine.

Bruin will be put up for adoption when his teeth have been sorted so please get in touch if you’d like to meet this very lovable and easy going companion dog.  If you can help with his vet bills we would be very grateful – he will have to have to go in for surgery and we need to raise at least £150 to cover his treatment so far and the forthcoming operation. [donate]