Oh sod that, put up with the bad breath! That's what I do - my 13 year old border collie now has rotting teeth but she's not in any discomfort unless you press them hard. At her age I'm not putting her through the stress of taking her to the vets, they'll only want to take out the bad ones then 'descale' and all that bollocks they say they're doing before issuing an enormous bill. Waste of time, money and the amount of stress done to the dog - after all, she may go in her sleep next week and she's quite happy as it is anyway.
Another word on 'pet' vets - as opposed to farm and some equine vets, who deal with customers who know a bit about what's going on and don't have the wool pulled over their eyes so easily - a lot of them seem to capitalise on pet owners and exploit them ruthlessly, especially when they have pet insurance (which takes me off on a tangent - it's criminal when the first thing a vet asks is "is it insured?" What difference does that make?? Oh yes, it means you treble the bill). My Dad's vet must laugh his pants off every time he sees him coming - he's given them fortunes and questioned nothing for a few years now where it comes to his dopey springer spaniels, one of which in particular finds trouble everywhere she goes. HE asked me to look at her paw a while back, as there was a lump there. It looked like a grass seed or something was in there, but she wouldn't let you get close enough to look at it. I told him to keep any eye but to leave it, no point going to the vets as they'll charge fortunes and it'll probably come out anyway, whatever it was. So a few days later he took it to the vets; dopey. They tried sedating her, she still wouldn't let them near it. So - and this is where it gets unbelievable - they booked her in to come in the next morning for a general so they could look at it. They get her under, manage to look at it - there's a neat hole there were whatever was in it has come out. Oh, then a bill for £480. Ridiculous.
