I've got to wonder how common this is. We've had many dogs and I've seen many more and I've never heard of teeth breaking to the point of needing extraction without something extremely silly behind it like chewing rocks, and even then extremely rarely. Our old cat Blue has two broken teeth, but they've been broken for years and are fine. Are you sure it's not a lack of dietary calcium or something? Antlers and bones really should not break teeth. Those would be what the dogs would chew/eat in the wild. Do they run into things doing that agility?
Exactly Vee. I bought the antler pieces at Crufts, and can't remember the company. Dental specialists are now saying that we should not be giving our dogs any chews which cannot be indented by firm pressure from a thumb nail. In a further article, Norman Johnson analyses the forces which a dog is capable of exerting through his jaws. When these forces are pitted against an unyielding object, it is bound to be the tooth which suffers. I finally managed to contact the referral vet at 7.15 am this morning - he was on the Motorway, but will ring later to arrange an appointment. My emails had landed in his Spam box, but the voicemail had alerted him to look for them. The bad news is that after viewing the photos, he thinks that the chipped section continues under the gum. If so, he thinks that repair is likely to lead to gum disease within a few months. Hey Ho!
Hmm. Never heard of this at all. I've only bought one antler as the dogs don't like them, never had any issues.
We finally got to see the dental specialist vet on Wednesday, but Merry's fractured tooth turned out not to be suitable for repair. She had it removed by our own vet yesterday, when they found that she had not just fractured a slab of enamel, but had also broken one of the roots. I was supposed to phone at 2 pm. to see how she was, but I got a call rather earlier than that, asking me to pick her up. I had warned them that she had mild SA when I left her - but have to say it sounded a bit more than that over the phone! She is fine now, but this was another expensive lesson - there will be no more bones or antlers in this house. Beagles are just too determined, they don't know when it would be wiser to give up.
@CaroleC - poor Merry, having to have that tooth extracted, but I am glad she is OK now. Please give her a hug from me, and one for Eddie too. xx
A short addition to this tale of woe. I had heard that antler pieces were going to be withdrawn from PaH stores. However, when I went to stock up the Beags rations yesterday, there were lots of them on display, including points, which are the hardest part. I mentioned our experience to the staff, and said that I had heard that they were being withdrawn, but they knew nothing about it - and they do have a Vets4Pets surgery on siite. Though I have since heard that antler can be softened and refreshed by boiling, I won't be giving them again.
@CaroleC - is P@H part of a large organisation or is each store rented using the P@H name? Like Specsavers is? Because if each P@H store is an individual store paying for the name of P@H then it can do what it wants, and not what the main organisation wants.
Yes here in Derby's P&H they been removed from shelve but you can still buy on line & collect in store.
I think it is a chain Malka, rather than a franchise. There is lots of antler on sale everywhere, as the public are taking notice of the publicity surrounding hide chews. I think they may be OK if you have a dog just gnaws the edges, but these Beagley horrors insist on trying to crack anything that is really hard. Hey ho! Expensive lesson.
I forget the words and yes, I probably did mean franchise and not chain, just as Specsavers is a franchise, whether it calls itself a franchise or a chain. We have a similar "Specsavers" and they cost me a fortune and more spectacles than you would like to think about. I have never come across antler or nasty chews, but the chews I do get for Tikva are not hard - chewable yes, but hard? no. If I can put my thumbnail through them, they cannot be too hard. Just chewy enough for her,
Amongst other prezzies for the dogs I've bought them a dehydrator to make them chews. So far have made tripe and liver strips as well as tongue and kidney pieces. My next attempt will be chicken, turkey and rabbit and if I can find some on offer maybe beef. Georgina definitely approves of my efforts particularly the tripe and liver. Gwylim's not so sure but seems to enjoy the smaller pieces of kidney and tongue maybe because they're a little softer in texture. I bought a kilo of whitebait a couple of weeks ago which after deep frying some for myself, young Gwylim scoffed the few I left with great relish!
I bought a dehydrator a while back - not a circular one but a square one and although I do not use it that much, it is good for when I do use it. I had to laugh about the whitebait though as I ended up with three kilos of them - well I had been quoted two kilos for two hundred shekalim and I argued four kilos for four kilos .. and I ended up with three kilos. Or something. IT - Tikki - goes yum yum yum when she has about eight frozen whitebait for her brekkie. I had intended to fry some for myself but have not gotten round to it. Yet.
I think I have done a boo boo again because I did not type what I should have done. I think he said two kilos for one hundred shekalim [shekels] but I had thought he had fresh sardines which was what I wanted and argued and said four kilos and ended up with three kilos for - oh, the fish van always has lovely fresh fish but I did not see that it was whitebait. I thought it was sardines. Do you have any idea how many three kilos of whitebait are?
Ooh you two, I'm jealous. I would love a dehydrator, but it is difficult to find the room for all the gadgets that clutter up our kitchens these days. Are they expensive to run? How long would it take to dry something like 500g of liver strips?
I do not know how big my dehydrator is - but it is a large square one with four [I think] drawers. I actually got it as a present and it sits on top of the - sorry, brain dead. What the thing that washing dryer is? OK it is an Excalibur but four drawers. I cannot find the instructions as I do not feel good but this is the dehydrator https://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/ I am sorry Carole but I am forgetting words, please forgive me. I have very little kitchen space but have shelves in the back room for for things that needed regularly. Dehydrator costs very little to run - takes quite a time to dry. If my brain can only wake up I will find the instructions - sorry but I cannot find it now. Not expensive to run as it runs so slowly.
Believe it or not although my kitchen is 20m sq I've hardly any cupboard space! Most of my groceries are stored in plastic chests. I can't have wall cupboards or anything heavy fixed to the walls because the house is made of mud bricks and the walls are not load bearing. I bought a Sencor dehydrator which cost me £30 and was the cheapest in the range. Mine's round not square like Malka's. It has 5 trays which would easily hold 500 g of liver strips. I don't know how much the electric cost would be, but not a lot as I think it only heats to 70C. I cut the liver very thinly, the tripe strips though were roughly the size of chips. They all went into the dehydrator around 10 am.and were dry by 7 in the evening.
I am sorry but I cannot explain what I want to say. Circular dehydrators do not take much space. I would never have had an Excalibur had it not been a gift. But it is, I havr to say, much as it costs, had I had to buy mine, it is far better than the circular ones. Now I am really sick and cold so am going to bed as Tikva is already in bed,
Malka, you do not sound at all well. Take care of yourself, that little girl needs you to be well. Speak soon.
