A Briz-Face Update

We went to see our favorite vet today, and she poked around at Brisbane's face and said the bump was very likely a tooth abscess. However, she couldn't rule out cancer without tests. She decided that the most cost-effective test would be a two-week course of a type of antibiotics that target abscesses well. From there, one of three things will happen.

Brisbane and Sisci hunting gophers, just because.

1. The bump will go away for good.

If this happens we will know it was an abscess that resolved with conservative treatment.

2. The bump will go away temporarily, and then come back.

If this happens, we will know it is a dental abscess that did not resolve with conservative treatment, and Brisbane will need a full round of x-rays and a tooth extraction.

3. The bump will stay the same.

If this happens, we will know that the bump is not an abscess and can begin doing biopsies to figure out what exactly it is and how to treat it, without having spent a ton of money on unnecessary dental care.

So now we wait and see what happens. Ideally the bump will go away forever, but I think we can handle a dental extraction if necessary. Brisbane has lovely clean teeth, but I guess sometimes the roots of a tooth can just go bad.

Paw Spa: PetzLife Oral Care Gel

PetzLife Oral Care Gel is a product designed to break down tartar without the need for brushing. It is made from grapefruit seed extract, grape seed extract, peppermint oil, neem oil, and thyme oil. The product is peppermint-flavored and intended to be applied twice a day to break down nasty tooth crud.

Doggy Dental Care

My dogs have pretty clean teeth, mostly thanks to raw bones. Ru did need a veterinary dental earlier this year because of his super-crooked tiny incisors, but despite being rotten the teeth were still quite clean. Brisbane's look amazing for a ten year old dog, and Sisci's haven't had the chance to develop any tartar yet.

I brush Ru's teeth every night with a Sonicare electric toothbrush because chihuahuas have notoriously bad teeth. Also because he is tiny and easy to hold down. The cattledogs are pretty leery of the noisy toothbrush, but I still rub some enzymatic toothpaste on their teeth every day or so. They also happily chew raw bones of all sorts, which does wonders for their teeth.

So Why PetzLife? 

I bought this bottle of PetzLife ORal Care Gel on the recommendation of several of my internet friends. Several of them had tried it and reported that they could brush or scrape the discoloration off their dogs' teeth with their fingernails within a few weeks of using PetzLife. The product website has lots of before and after pictures of fairly yucky-looking dog mouths that do look improved, sometimes after only two weeks.

My thought is that I don't really have anything to lose here. If the product doesn't work at all, nothing will happen. It says it can be used by humans and I haven't found any online reviews about sick pets. If it does work, my dogs will have yet another thing to help keep their mouths healthy.

Does It Work?

Though I've had the bottle for a few months now, I haven't used it consistently because my dogs hate it. I think it's the taste, the stuff is super minty and has a bit of alcohol in the base so I'm sure it tastes vile. If the cattledogs see me pick up the bottle they hide, so I have to sneak up on them. I keep it by the door so I can use it on them right before when leave the house, after I've put on their leashes so they can no longer escape.

My dogs all have pretty darned clean teeth, but the cats are another story. James and Solstice, my seven-year-old littermate cats, have lovely white fangs. I thought this meant they had clean teeth until this evening when it occurred to me to pry their whiskery faces open and look at their molars. They both have pretty big hunks of tartar on their back teeth, and their gums are a bit red. I smeared some PetzLife gel on their teeth, which they both hated. 

Fortunately my cats are unbelievably stupid, so they are unlikely to catch on and should be easy to test the PetzLife gel on. I just started this evening, and I will report back if and when I notice any changes. 

Product Review: Zukes Z-Bones

Zukes Z-Bones are digestible potato-based dental chews. They come in three flavors and four sizes for dogs ten pounds and heavier.

"Hold this Briz, it'll make a nice picture."
Photo by Erin Koski.

A lot of companies are making digestible dental chews these days. I think Greenies were the first ones I heard about, and those originally weren't digestible. After multiple cases of intestinal blockage in dogs that prefer to gobble rather than gnaw their dental chews, Greenies changed their formula to something that wouldn't get stuck. I like to think that, during the Greenies fiasco, other companies took the opportunity to introduce their safer chew bones. Obviously it worked, because Greenies no longer has the market cornered.

"Come on, open your mouth."
Photo by Erin Koski

The Z-Bones are made from potato and peas. They do not contain cornstarch, wheat gluten, or synthetic chlorophyll. Other ingredients include rosemary, fennel, alfalfa, parsley, apples, pumpkin, and cherries. Zukes says the texture of the bones is ideal for polishing teeth. I prefer raw bones to keep Brisbane's teeth white and shiny, but this makes a nice non-perishable chewy treat. Brisbane certainly enjoys them.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Tasty chew bone that freshens breath, available in multiple sizes and in bags as well as individually wrapped. Contains no poultry, egg, wheat, or corn. Helps freshen breath in a relatively clean doggy mouth at least temporarily.

Cons: I don't think these will actually keep a dog's teeth clean even with daily use. The bone is too quickly consumed to have much scrubbing power. Raw bones or daily tooth brushing would be much more effective as eliminating the underlying causes of doggy breath.

Photo by Erin Koski

Bottom Line: This is something I use as an occasional treat to keep my dog busy. Z-Bones are non-perishable, individually wrapped, and not nearly as icky as raw bones or bully sticks. Less effective than the aforementioned animal parts, but also less objectionable in certain circumstances.

Eight Years of Tooth Wear

In 2006, I bought Brisbane a big fat rope tug toy. During a particularly vigorous tug session, Briz suddenly yelped and quit playing. Turns out he snapped the tip off one of his upper incisors, fortunately just the tip and not enough to expose the pulp.

That tooth in front of the upper canine tooth is not as pointy as it should be.

Eight years later, Brisbane's teeth have seen a fair amount of wear and tear. For several years a raw diet kept his teeth bright and clean, and he still gets raw meaty bones to chew. He doesn't chew non-edible stuff, but he does love to bite tennis balls and I think that has worn down his canines quite a bit.




When Brisbane opened his Kurgo Wander Pail recently, he did some superficial damage to his teeth.

After eight years, Brisbane's teeth still look pretty good. That incisor is still missing the tip, and his lower canine has been worn flat. The top canine was also flat, but he also chipped the tip on the Kurgo pail.

I think his teeth look pretty good after all this time.