Bleeding

[tom]

I'm a newbee here so here goes. My wife and I adopted Margi last October, she's a 3 1/2 year old. Her gums have a problem with bleeding and it's not only after chewing. We had her teeth cleaned last December and the doctor said that she didn't find anything wrong. We brush her teeth atleast once a week and they bleed then. Are we doing something wrong or have we over looked anything? THanks Tom

[Shannon]

Hi Tom:

I don't have any greyhound-specific experience, but I'll jump in! Did you just start brushing her teeth after the teeth cleaning? How were her teeth before the vet cleaned them? When you first start brushing teeth, there can be irritation for a while until the gums toughen up. It's just like when a person starts flossing regularly for the first time - there will be some bleeding. It's also common to have a little bleeding when you are cleaning the teeth at the vet's office.
If she had gum irritation/gingivitis when her teeth were cleaned in December, and you began brushing them right afterwards, I would wonder if maybe they have not had time to let the irritation subside. You might try just encouraging her to chew on bones or frozen carrots for a couple/three weeks and see how things look then. Maybe you could cut back on the brushing, if she likes the chewies and the carrots.
My thoughts, at least. Congrats on adopting her - we have another recent adopter here - SC!

[SC]

Hey there! Congrats on adopting a grey! We got our boy 3 months ago and love him!

As for the bleeding gums, it may just take some time for her gums to toughen up like Shannon suggested. Also, I know with our greyhound if we don't brush his teeth at least 2 times a week, his gums will look a little red and bleed sometimes when we do go to brush them. She may need more brushing than once a week. Our grey has good teeth (what he didn't chip away chewing on cages) but his gums seem to get irritated easily unless we're religious about brushing at least twice a week. He even gets a greenie every day (also helps with plaque and breath) as well as chews on a rawhide periodically (his treat for getting his teeth brushed).

You can order the greenies from kvvet.com pretty cheaply (almost half the price they are in the store) and if you order $40 it's free shipping - I usually order the regular sized ones even though technically he is big enough for the large ones. Since he gets one every day I figured the regular size is good. Watch her when you give her one (if you do) the first few times to make sure she doesn't try swallowing it whole as with any new chewie.

Also, you can check out www.greytalk.com - there's lots of grey owners there and the board is very active. Feel free to email or PM me with any questions! Good luck!