I stopped and thought about how many things I bought for Kip over the past few months and how many things I had bought for myself. I thought about how this blog that was supposed to be about me has ended up being all about Kip. And well…..I’m still thinking. Ha.
Teeth
In the meantime, I have been digging through the nooks and crannies of the internet about dog dental health. One interesting website I found was a veterinary clinic that does dental and oral surgery for pets. They do have some of those dreadful photos of worst case scenarios of various diseases, but they have several informative writings on dental health and research. From what I read the most important thing to do is to brush the teeth daily, and that the most important thing is the actual brushing action rather than the toothpaste/gel formula. The only water additive that this vet recommends is a product called Healthy Mouth because it has a VOHC seal of acceptance. The pdf file that states this was updated January 2011 and I’m not ready to jump on the bandwagon and sing songs about how great this vet is. For one, I live nowhere near this vet, and for two I’ve learned that you can’t trust vets or people selling pet products word for word. That is why the internet has become so powerful in this area because there’s so much you can learn. For example, some of the other products this vet recommends have controversial user reviews on Amazon. Some of the food brands he talks about I would not give to Kip. The Health Mouth seems credible but it’s far too expensive to be used for daily purposes. I’ve been using an Ark Naturals product that I picked up at Mud Bay, a local pet chain that only supports healthy food brands, but I need to go back and check the ingredients. It doesn’t appear to have been approved by a dental committee and I received no answer whatsoever on an email that I wrote them asking about the honey in one of their products (before I learned that dog’s don’t get cavities). Regardless of whether or not my question was silly, it was still a question on an ingredient and the fact they I have received no reply whatsoever is giving me doubts.
Skin
Oh my, I’m going to be late for work if I keep writing. Long story short, I still have Kip on Acana and the Missing Link supplement. I’ve also started using a Dermagic lotion on the areas where his fur was sparse. I found a recommendation on a forum and found that it was actually a local company and it is also carried by Mud Bay. Kip’s tummy is growing a little fuzz. Either that or I’m blind and it just seems like he has more fur because the fur he had is growing longer. It’s too early to tell as it’s only been a week and I haven’t been applying it twice daily like the instructions say. I’ve been wanting to see if he has any negative reactions and the smell is pretty strong. In any case, I have 30 minutes to get ready and rush out the door for work.
