Preventative Care: Diet
Diet can be a major factor in the development of plaque and tartar. Soft or sticky foods may contribute to plaque buildup and subsequent periodontal disease. Dry food, biscuits, and newly-formulated abrasive diets can be helpful in removing plaque above the gumline. In addition, specially-treated abrasive dental chews are also available for both cats and dogs.
Providing your pet with these abrasive, resilient dental chews is often a good alternative for those days when you do not brush. However, only toothbrushing can remove plaque and food debris below the gumline. It is below the gumline where disease-causing bacteria flourish, resulting in irritation, inflammation, and infection.
A Word About Raw Diets
The risks of feeding bones and raw meat foods outweigh any benefits. Cooking meat and removing all bones can help decrease many of the risks to pets and people handling raw meats.
BARF (bones and raw foods) diets have been gaining popularity with pet owners. Some believe that this is a more “natural” diet since wild dogs in Africa, tigers, lions, wolves, and other wild carnivores eat raw foods. Wild carnivores suffer from the same oral diseases as their domestic relatives. Predators with higher bone content in their diet have more tooth fractures. (Steenkamp G, Gorrel C, Oral and Dental Conditions in Adult African Wild Dog Skulls: a Preliminary Report, J Vet Dent , June 1999; 16(2): 65-8.). In addition, the average age span of an African Wild Dog is five years. Bones can splinter when chewed causing damage and/or obstructions in the digestive tract.
A recent study of 20 raw meat diets commercially available for dogs revealed 53% of samples were contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Salmonella was found in 5.9% of samples. The authors of this study concluded that bacterial contamination is common in commercially available raw meat diets, suggesting that there is a risk of food borne illness in dogs fed these diets as well as possible risk for humans associated with the dogs or their environments.
An investigation was conducted at the request of a Greyhound breeder. 138 Greyhounds in the kennel were studied. Several types of Salmonella were recovered from raw meat fed on one day. 93% of fecal samples were positive for Salmonella.
Examination of fresh cuts of beef from two processing plants in the Midwest revealed Salmonella in cuts derived from the chuck, rib, and loin areas of the carcass.
Salmonella, Clostridium, and spore forming bacteria have been isolated from raw meat diets containing beef, lamb, quail, chicken, turkey and ostrich.
Conclusion
Significant contamination of commercial source raw meat diets fed to both dogs and cats was reported in several recent studies. (Morley et at, JAVMA 228:1524-1532, 2006; Strohmeyer et al, JAVMA 228: 537-542, 2006; Stopforth et al, J Food Prot, 69: 1456-1459, 2006; Dodds, Research Study Report for Heska Corp, 2005; Weese et al, Can Vet J 46:513-516, 2005; Wynn et al, AAVN Symp, June 2003; Antech News June 2003). In another unpublished account, a dog fed human grade raw ground pork developed muscle aches and fatique and was found to have sarcocytosis (a parasite). For people feeding raw meat diets to dogs and cats, the potential human health hazard from handling contaminated raw meats should be recognized. Furthermore, feeding raw meats to animals that are ill, on chemotherapy, or those with bowel disease should be discouraged. (Antech News, November 2006)