My dog is losing her teeth. Can she survive without her teeth?

I got her from the Humane Society a month ago, she is 3-4 year old Corgie. My vet is more concerned with keeping the teeth, than what will happen when they are gone. When I got her she was an abused dog and was missing a lot of teeth and had extremely infected gums. They since have been cleaned and she is a regular at the vet. I just want to know if she can live a full life with out her teeth. She is a very sweet girl.

My dog is losing her teeth. Can she survive without her teeth?
I work at a vet clinic, we see quite a few dogs who lost most of there teeth. We have a yorkie who only has ONE tooth, and a few more who have NO teeth! They do fine! They eat soft food, and their tongue hangs out of their mouth, but I think that is cute. I think your vet is more concerned with the overall health of your dog's mouth, more than keeping her teeth. Infection in the mouth travels through the body and can have a negative impact on other body systems. And in the process of keeping her mouth healthy, I'm sure your vet sees keeping the teeth as an added bonus. Good Luck with your dog! I'm sure she will be fine whether she keeps her teeth, or loses her teeth. And thanks for choosing to rescue!!!
Reply:Your vet should have more information about that for you and will probably go over things in detail with you when it's time for the extractions. Poor thing - only 3 or 4 years old and already her teeth are gone? That's terrible. Good for you for rescuing her!
Reply:She will have to eat the soft food like beniful soups wich are geeat for dogs!
Reply:I am so sorry to hear about this. That poor dog. I am not sure that your dog will live a life eating dry dog food. There is other stuff that you add water to and mix it up that stuff is not dry and is way easier to eat. But Im not sure if the dog can with no teeth. I hope she can. Again I am very sorry!
Reply:She will live. She will have to start eating pure soft/canned food though. She'll be fine. Just make sure not to treat her any different! Good luck and I hope she's ok!
Reply:Sure she can! She will need soft food, but that's about it. Your vet wants to keep as many teeth as possible since she is so young.
Reply:Dogs do very well when they've had their teeth removed (usually due to advanced dental disease). They don't have the hangups people do about such things. Many will go on to eat their usual dry (some are downright stubborn about that) but you can always moisten their dry food at first, or use canned food, depending on how the dog does.





Having no teeth is MUCH healthier than having a mouth of diseased gums and teeth.
Reply:I looked after a 12 year old greyhound without a tooth in his head. He most definitely did not have to eat canned dog food. He ate the same dry food mine did - only his had some tuna or salmon, or some type of canned meat added in. He had no trouble at all eating - he was just a bit messy.





Don't worry - your poor girl will be just fine if she needs to go through the rest of her life without teeth - you'll be feeding her much healthier food than she was eating before you got her!
Reply:if a person had no teeth and were put on a liquid diet they would get thin (have you heard of Oprah's liquid diet to lose weight?). Dentists take the time to get seniors dentures, so that must tell you something. Yes, definitely the vet would be trying to save your dog's teeth and even might suggest some implants so your dog could chew. Ever see the ugliest dog on the world on tv? Well that dog's tongue hangs out all the time because it has no lower teeth. I suggest you talk with the vet and if you love your pet then try to figure out a way that she will be able to chew.
Reply:Get the book written by this vet, dr. pitcairn, he explains in it how dental disease is out of control in dogs because of the commercial pet foods on the market, premium brands as well. Dry food is the worst culprit.


I listed his website below.





http://www.drpitcairn.com





Edit: After reading some of the posts, DO NOT wet dry food, it causes rapid bacterial growth on the food and the food only needs very little bacteria on it to start with.


Beniful soups are not good for any dog, no commercial pet food is. Start researching and you'll see what I mean.


Another good forum board for answers is http://www.itchmo.com
Reply:Yes, she can live a full life without her teeth! Many eat the dry stuff without chewing it, my dog surely can't be bothered to chew and she has all her teeth. My ancient sheltie who lived to be 17 had no back teeth and ate hard stuff just fine, had never had soft stuff and was afraid of it. She was toothless for about 5 years. You can try canned or soften up the dry with broth or water, but she will probably just be happy to have a nice home and doesn't even think about her teeth unless they hurt.
Reply:Sure she can live with out her teeth, but i bet it would b a lot of work. Cuz u would hav 2 smash her food up nd make soft smushy food for her 2 swallow nd not hurt her gums. But dont worry so much i think she will b fine jus take it step after step
Reply:There are canned soft foods for dogs out there. I adopted a mut that was 2 years old. Her previous owner let her play with rocks. Het teeth are worn down. Poor girl. Anywho....sof tfood is no problem for her and I would bet that it would be no problem for a dog without teeth. Rest assured you girl will have no problem eating canned food. If you are still worried, simply call your vet and ask...Good Luck...
Reply:Yes, she can. And if she has a lot of infection the very best choice is to remove the teeth. It is better to not have teeth rather than have infected teeth that could hurt her heart. She will just have to eat ground foods and soft foods. She will live without teeth, but if an infection spreads to her heart valves from her mouth, she could die. If your vet is more concerned with repeated dental visits rather than repeated infections you should seek another opinion. The real cause of his concern could be his pocket book not your dog's health. I would have my vet remove the teeth right away and just feed the dog soft foods.



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