This is true. I'll be honest; it's a terrible idea because, with dogs, more than 80% of dental diseases will be under the gumline where you can't see it. I've even had cases, I've had my own dog who had a normal-appearing tooth on the outside, and once we got up under the gumline and we could take those x-rays, we realized there was disease under the gumline that necessitated that tooth being extracted. So it's really important for them to be under anesthesia so that we can get a complete exam and do a complete cleaning because, again, most of the diseases come up under that gumline.

We use a couple of different types of anesthesia for these procedures. All of our anesthetic procedures have an IV catheter placed, and they all get some calming medicine at the beginning of the procedure. Once we are ready to begin the procedure, they get IV medication to make them go to sleep. Then once they are asleep, we place a breathing tube down their trachea that continues to deliver gas anesthetic during the procedure. It's very similar to what you would have in a human medical procedure. While they're under anesthesia, we have technicians and assistants that monitor things like their heart rate, their respiratory rate, their blood pressure, and the percentage of oxygen, and they also deliver IV fluids while they're under anesthesia just to help keep them stable for the procedure.

Some people don't like dental cleanings either, but unlike people, dogs are not going to sit still for us to clean their teeth. When we do a dental cleaning on a dog, it's more like a deep cleaning that you would get if you go to the dentist. We get underneath the gum line, scale, and polish those teeth. So it's not the most pleasant procedure. Also, when we do a dental cleaning here at Haywood Road, we take x-rays of all of their teeth, and this has to be done under anesthesia because, again, they're just not going to sit still for those x-rays.

If your dog has just ingested something and he gets sick shortly afterward, you have to be suspicious that it might be some toxicity. There is a poison information center that you can call, and they have board-certified veterinary toxicologists there that can answer any question you have about toxicities.

That's a big question because we use elimination diets to find food intolerances and food allergies. An elimination diet's a big process that usually takes a minimum of six weeks, classically 12 weeks of feeding something that's very specific.

For sure. The most common cause of a loose stool in your dog is an abrupt change in diet, so that's the first question I usually ask people when I'm presented with a patient with loose stools, diarrhea, or vomiting.

If your dog throws up or has a loose stool after you feed them, or they have excessive gas or excessive salivation after eating, then you're probably giving them the wrong diet.

Truthfully, in my opinion, it's okay, but it should be only a supplement to your pet's complete and balanced diet. It's really important that the diet is complete and balanced, and adding things from your table is a nice treat, but it's no substitute for that complete and balanced diet.

Grapes and raisins have been determined to be toxic to dogs. I guess they always have been, but now we actually know it, and some other foods are toxic to your dog, but grapes and raisins are the big ones that you need to be familiar with. There's a poison control center for dogs, so if you think your dog's gotten into something toxic, you can call the poison information center.

Absolutely, yes. We know for sure in veterinary medicine that our patients recover much more quickly if we control their pain, so absolutely. We use pain control when they get their teeth pulled.