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Last Updated on 09/09/2024 by Aapt Dubey
The dog owners who prefer to stay close to their canine friends must have faced this situation when they got uncomfortable near their furry friends due to the foul smell of their breath.
How to Fix Bad Dog Breath?- The foul smell from the dog breath can be caused due to many disorders due to which the dog owners search for steps regarding how to fix bad dog breath.
How to Freshen Your Dog’s Breath
Bad dog breath is unpleasant, but it can also indicate potential health problems. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to improve your dog’s breath and address any underlying issues:
Causes of Bad Dog Breath
- Dental Disease: Plaque and tartar buildup are the most common culprits.
- Medical Conditions: Kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, and digestive problems can cause bad breath.
- Dietary Factors: Poor-quality food or scavenging can lead to foul odors.
Solutions for Fresher Breath
Regular Teeth Brushing:
- Use dog-specific toothpaste and a soft-bristled brush.
- Brush at least a few times a week, daily if possible.
Dental Chews:
- These specially designed chews help scrape away plaque and tartar.
- Choose chews appropriate for your dog’s size and chewing style.
Dental Water Additives:
- These liquids contain ingredients that neutralize odor-causing bacteria.
- Add to your dog’s water bowl daily.
Probiotics:
- Probiotics support a healthy oral microbiome, reducing bad bacteria.
- Look for probiotics formulated specifically for dogs.
Coconut Oil: (Use with caution)
- Some claim coconut oil has antibacterial properties for oral health.
- Consult your vet before using, as excessive consumption can cause digestive issues.
When to See a Vet
If your dog’s bad breath persists despite at-home care, schedule a vet visit. They can:
- Diagnose Underlying Conditions: Rule out serious illnesses that cause bad breath.
- Professional Teeth Cleaning: Remove stubborn tartar buildup.
- Recommend Diet Changes: Suggest food that promotes better oral health.
Key Takeaways
- Prevention is key. Regular dental care is the best way to keep your dog’s breath fresh.
- If bad breath persists, don’t ignore it. It could be a sign of a health issue.
- Consult your vet for personalized advice and treatment options.
Remember: A healthy mouth means a happy, healthy dog! Taking care of your dog’s dental hygiene is an essential part of being a responsible pet owner.
Contents
What are the Causes of the Foul Smell of Dogs’ Breath?
As per the research done by the cynologists on the dogs of different breeds, the results came out that the foul smell from a dog’s breath is mainly due to internal organ disorders like liver disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and periodontal diseases. The diseases responsible for the bad breath of dogs are discussed below.
Periodontal Diseases
If the dog owner dont remove the plaque of the teeth for a longer period, like if the bacteria trapped in the teeth remain uncleaned, it leads to the formation of tartar.
The tartar is mainly responsible for the bad smell from the mouth, and along with this, it also causes gum disease, thus affecting the structures that make the teeth strong.
Liver Disease
As we all know, the liver’s function is to filter all the toxins from the food and the air consumed by the body, and due to the process of filtering out the toxins, the breath remains fresh.
So if a dog is suffering from the liver disease, then the liver loses the capacity to filter out the toxins from the nutritious materials consumed, due to which stinky sulfur compounds like thiols are released into the lungs, which leads to the formation of a foul smell from the breath of the dog.
Kidney Disease
Like the liver, kidneys also play a very important role in filtering out the toxins from the body. When the animal suffers from kidney disease, the concentration of urea in the body increases, which leads to the breath smelling fishy and nasty in odor.
Along with it, they also lose their capacity to filter toxins which makes the toxins grow by themselves inside the body.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a type of disease where the breath of your canine friend smells alcoholic. This is because when a canine suffers from diabetes, the buildup of ketone inside the body increases.
It is a type of byproduct that functions to break down the fats from the body instead of glucose, due to which the breath of the dog smells alcoholic like nail polish remover.
All the above-discussed diseases are some of the most common causes of bad breath in dogs. In contrast, instead of this, there can be many other reasons behind dogs’ foul smell, including acid reflux, bowel obstructions, indigestion, gastrointestinal disorders, and many others.
Is it Possible to Cure Bad Breaths Due to Internal Disorders at Home?
As per research, it is almost impossible for dog owners to treat dogs’ bad breath due to internal disorders.
This is because if the foul smell is due to plaque or tartar, then it means that the tartar has formed excessive layers upon the teeth due to lack of cleaning, and removing it at once is almost impossible as dog owners don’t have access to the required materials and tools for the cleaning of the layers of tartar.
Whereas if the foul smell is due to kidney or liver disease, then an urgent visit to the veterinarian is necessary.
If the owner tries to treat it independently, the liver and kidney can get affected more. The disease will get spread over the entire organ, the veterinarian will do the blood tests to determine if the canine will be able to tolerate the anesthetic treatment or not for proceeding further in the treatment.
How to Fix Bad Dog Breath?
If the foul smell of the dog’s breath is not due to internal organ disorders, then the dog owner can follow some vets’ suggested tips to get rid of dogs’ bad breath.
The steps that the vets suggest to the dog owners to follow at home to prevent dogs’ bad breath are discussed below.
Regular Brushing of the Canine’s Teeth
It was the most effective and the most preferred method of all veterinarians throughout the world. Regular brushing of the dog’s teeth will not allow the bacteria to get trapped in the same place to develop themselves and result in the formation of tartar or plaque.
The toothpaste used in brushing includes some active ingredients like sodium benzoate and sodium bicarbonate, which destroys the bacteria at the cellular level, thus stopping its regeneration and making the breath free from foul smell.
A dog owner possessing larger breeds can brush their dog by maintaining an alternate frequency as the saliva of the larger breed is acidic enough to destroy the bacteria for one or two days.
Whereas if the owner possesses a dog of the small breed like Tzu. Pug or french bulldogs should brush them regularly as the smallmouths make them more vulnerable to tooth decay.
Use of Dental Chews
Dental chews are a type of chews designed in such a way that they can prevent the bad breath of the dog. They are delicious, and your dog also finds them tempting, due to which the owner doesn’t need to work more to clean the canine’s teeth.
The dental chews consist of active ingredients that work as a boon for the dog to remove its bad breath. The active ingredients of dental chews include hexametaphosphate, vitamin C phosphate, and seaweed.
The hexametaphosphate prevents the formation of tartar by binding with the calcium in saliva.
In contrast, the vitamin c phosphate prevents the excessive growth of oral bacterias responsible for the formation of tartar and plaque over the teeth, and along with this, the seaweed present in the dental chews used to reduce the amount of plaque and tartar formed with the volatile sulfur components that are responsible for the bad breath in dogs.
Make Your Dog Drink Dental Water
Dental water is a type of medication designed to avoid bad breath from the dog just by drinking it. It is a type of cocktail made up of certain enzymes, chlorophyll, and other natural ingredients that efficiently remove a dog’s breath.
The active ingredients of the dental water include the substances such as purified water, stabilized chlorine dioxide, sodium bicarbonate, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, tetrasodium EDTA and methylparaben, which all together work to reduce the stinky dog breath.
The use of dental water can work for some days, but the owner should notice that it can’t be replaced completely with brushing. It’s just an alternative method to using in times of emergency.
Feed Them Probiotics
Just like the stomach of the dog needs a healthy microbiome for proper maintenance of the entire body system,
similarly, the mouth of the dog also requires a healthy microbiome for the proper health of the teeth and the gums for easy consumption of the required food materials.
As we all know that the bacterias trapped in the teeth are bad for the health of the supporting structures of the teeth and can also form tartar and plaque, but the main fact is that there are some bacterias present in the gums previously which works to provide a fresh breath to the dog.
So feeding probiotics is necessary to assure that the bacterias good for the mouth’s microbiome stay in the same place.
Use of Coconut Oil
Yes, it might sound confusing that the use of coconut oil can remove the dog’s bad breath, but it’s true. Coconut oil doesn’t just only use to promote the immune systems, metabolic functions, and the digestive system and helps to reduce the oral bacteria in the mouth.
There is no scientific evidence about the benefits of coconut oil in reducing the dogs’ bad breath. But as per the reviews given by the dog owners, information was obtained that it works well for removing dogs’ bad breath.
All the above-discussed steps are based on the experiments done by the cynologists on the behavior of dogs against the products used to prevent bad breath.
So if a dog owner is looking for steps regarding the treatment of the dog’s stinky breath, they can completely rely upon the above-discussed steps.
So here we are done with the entire article and have discussed all the information that can help you complete your search regarding how to fix bad dog breath.
We hope that the guide mentioned in the article has cleared all your doubts regarding the matter. Thanks for staying till the end with us and reading the whole article.
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