Yesterday, my 3 year old dog had 11 teeth extracted.

rebeccalando:

$2,000 later, he’s back home and passed out in bed.

Turns out there wasn’t much we could have done to prevent this; the vet said the infection originated inside his teeth, so by the time we noticed it around his gums, it had already wreaked a lot of destruction in his mouth.

However, we are definitely taking him off of dry food and switching him to either a wet diet or a raw diet. Dry food, long thought to clean dogs’ teeth because it’s crunchy, is actually less effective than wet food. Dog saliva contains an enzyme that is a natural cleaning agent for their teeth; wet food increases salivation, and because dogs and cats get most of their hydration through their food, wet food (and, even more so, raw food) is healthier for them all around. There will be no more rawhides in Humphrey’s future, either.

Other pet owners: take this, of course, with a grain of salt; if your dog’s healthy and happy on whatever you’re feeding him, there’s no reason to overhaul his diet.

I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have my puppy home. Thanks to everyone for your support yesterday while he was undergoing surgery.

Ok, I know the biggest draw of WCFoodies is, largely (if not unanimously) Humphrey, so here’s a little crossover post from my personal blog. Dogs, man!