Bad breath in dog.

Dr. Marie replied:

These are heartbreaking situations. A small poodle who is 12 years old is definitely going to have serious dental disease and this is likely the cause of the smell. The smell is caused by a mixture of infection and tartar in the mouth.

The only cure for this is to have your vet do a full dentistry on Snowflake. This would require a full anesthetic. Your vet would do tests first to make sure that the anesthetic would be safe at his age. (I do do plenty of senior dog anesthetics.)

The problem is that this procedure is very time consuming and therefore, very costly. You may want to consider reading this post on Help with veterinary bills to see if you can get some way to afford having a dental procedure done.

Sometimes, when I have clients who have pets who need dental care, but they can't afford it, I will do something called pulse therapy antibiotics. This is where we give antibiotics for about 5 of the first days of the month, every month. The antibiotics help to cut down on the infection. They will help but won't cure the problem.

There is no at home treatment like brushing or special foods or treats that is going to help.

I wish I had better news for you!

Dr. Marie.

---This question was asked in our Ask A Vet For Free section.---



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