Will my pet stop eating if he is in pain?

Some pets will stop eating all-together when their teeth, bone and gums hurt badly enough. The vast majority, however, will find some tactic to keep eating.  They may chew on one side of their mouth or swallow biscuits whole.

Pets have an extremely strong instinct to survive no matter what discomfort they feel.  Sometimes the symptoms of dental disease are so vague that we don't notice them such as:  reluctance to hold their toys in their mouths, be less playful, resent having their teeth brushed or faces touched, have a hard time sleeping, cats may not groom themselves or pets may have no outward symptoms at all.

It’s often we don't appreciate how much a pet's dental health is affecting them until AFTER we treat the disease.  We commonly hear at our post op checks that a dog is "acting like a puppy again" or that a cat "is more affectionate and active."