Dog's Breath

All of a sudden our 12 1/2 year old dog's breath is horrid (I'm sure being 8 months pregnant makes it that much worse lol). We brush his teeth and it doesn't seem to help. I know that cavities and such could be the culprit, but we really don't want to put him under anesthetia (sp?) at his age to get a full dental work-up. Also, I just feel like it's more than that. Almost like it's coming from his stomach. We've switched his food, bought doggy breath mints and tried those breath freshening bones and nothing helps. Does any one have any other ideas????

TIA

Re: Dog's Breath

We had to have my dogs teeth cleaned, under anesthesia. They did bloodwork on him first to make sure he was healthy enough to make it through the surgery. His breath could clear a room! And guests started to comment on it and couldn't take it. If he was in the car with me, the whole car would smell. So we did it. It was a little under $300, he needed some teeth pulled too.

Dog's Breath

Could be infection/abscessed tooth or gums. If its that bad it most likely that. My dog had bad tarter and plague build up and her breath was not the greatest but not horribly bad. We had her teeth cleaned also (did not need any extractions) and like OP said they get blood test/check up before they go under any anesthesia.

Dog's Breath

I had a client who's dog had chronic terrible breath, smelled kinda fishy like a dumpster. He had gingivitis and ended up on antibiotics. I cant remember if they did multiple rounds of antibiotics or if they had him on a daily low dose but whatever it was it helped. I had an old dog that had abscesses and I had him on antibiotics daily for over a year.

I would at minimum take him to the vet and just find out what the problem is.