Do Greenies Work For Cats

Greenies Feline Catnip Flavor Cat Dental Treats

It may be possible to tempt your cat to healthier teeth with a little catnip! These catnip-flavored dental treats are formulated to help clean teeth, remove plaque, reduce tartar buildup, and combat the dread tuna breath. They contain meat, grains, and vitamins and minerals and each treat is less than two calories.

Vet Recommended Cat Dental Treats

When one walks into a pet store, it can be daunting to know what is the right treat to chewz’ for your sweet kitty. Luckily, the Veterinary Oral Health Council also provides a list of recommended cat dental products. The VOHC seal helps to guide astute pet owners in choosing the best products to promote optimal oral health.

The top vet recommended cat dental treats listed from the above link include:

• Greenies Cat Dental Treats
• Whiskas Dentabites in Chicken and Salmon flavors
• Purina Dentalife Daily Oral Care Cat Treats

Though not on the VOHC list, CET Enzymatic Oral Hygiene Chews are highly recommended by the veterinary dentistry community as well as our board-certified veterinary dentists at Animal Dental Care and Oral Surgery. Whenever you have questions about your fluffy friends dietary or dental health, you can always call your local vet dentist. If you live in Loveland, CO, give us a call today!

Final Thoughts On Cat Treats

The worst cat treats are most of the brands you find at grocery and pet food stores.

These cat treats are made with poor-quality ingredients that cats arent designed to eat.

Instead, buy freeze-dried or dehydrated meat and organ treats.

They may be pricier, but you get what you pay for.

Need help finding good-quality cat food? Grab my Cat Food Label Cheat Sheets!

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How Many Dental Treats Should I Give My Cat

The correct number of dental treats depends on the type of treat and the size of your cat. Each product has a different recommendation, so it is important to follow the directions on the package. The suggested number of treats can be anywhere from 3 to 17 per day.

In order to prevent weight gain, it is important not to give your cat too many treats. The calorie count of daily meals should be adjusted according to the number of treats given. Generally speaking, it is best to limit treats to less than 10 percent of your cats daily calorie intake.

Of course, dental treats wont work if your cat wont eat them. Thus, it is important to find a flavor, shape, and consistency that your cat will find irresistible. Cat dental treats come in a variety of flavors ranging from catnip to salmon, so it shouldnt be too hard to find a treat that your cat will love.

Veterinary Approved Cat Dental Treats

Dental treats are a valuable part of your fluffy companions daily oral home care routine. Thats because plaque accumulation occurs rapidly after a professional cleaning. If oral hygiene is not kept up on a regular basis, periodontal disease will likely recur. As a veterinary dental practice in Loveland, CO, we highly recommend that your felines oral home care routine includes daily tooth brushing with adjunctive oral rinses and vet recommended cat dental treats.

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Not All Cat Dental Treats Actually Work

The majority of cat dental treats on the market are inspired by an old-school veterinary myth about dry kibble. During the 20th century, we were told that dry kibble was good for a cats teeth because it leaves less residue than canned food. Plus, the crunchy texture has the benefit of lightly abrading plaque. This myth has been largely debunked, revealing that dry food has little to no ability to clean cat teeth.

In keeping with this abrasion theory, most dental treats are nothing more than glorified kibble.

According to the marketing, these treats lightly abrade your cats teeth, scrubbing off plaque and surface bacteria. But theres a problem with this theory. Cats dont really chew their food. Their teeth seldom spend enough time touching the rough food to benefit from any abrasive effects. If your cat has ever vomited after eating dry food, youve probably seen graphic evidence of this fact.

Instead of getting that mild abrasive effect, cats essentially swallow their treats whole. Besides failing to scrub much of anything off of your cats teeth, the average dental treat coats your cats teeth in starch.

While dry cat food is often touted as a low-residue alternative to wet cat food, the inherent carbohydrate content of these foods makes that claim questionable. Dry food and treats leave a carbohydrate residue on your cats teeth, leading to bacterial buildup and, eventually, plaque and tartar.

What Is Dental Disease

Dental disease begins with a build up of plaque and tartar in your cats mouth. Without proper preventive and therapeutic care, plaque and tartar buildup leads to periodontal disease, which manifests in red and/or swollen and tender gums, bad breath, and bleeding. When the gums are swollen, they can be painful a good rule of thumb is that if it looks like it might be painful, it probably is.

As bacteria from the inflammation and infection associated with periodontal disease is released into the bloodstream, this can lead to damage to other organs such as the heart, kidney and liver, resulting in serious health problems. Dental disease in cats can also be an indicator of immune system disorders.

One common dental problem that generally shows up around the age of four or five in 25-70% of cats are feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions, also known as neck lesions, cavities or root absorptions. Patients affected with FORLs may drool, bleed, or have difficulty eating. A portion of affected cats do not show clinical signs.

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Our Takeaway: A Win For Pets And Parents

The fact that we found a treat our cats actually enjoyed eating almost feels like a small miracle.

And its even better knowing that our cats love eating treats that actually keep their bad breath at bay and their plaque under control.

Its clear Greenies dental treats are a classic for a reason and were so impressed that a vet was able to notice a difference in one of our judges! Coupled with the super affordable price, that makes these cat treats a win!

The Dodo may receive complimentary samples to test in our Paw of Approval program, but all our opinions are 100 percent our own. We only publish endorsements of products we absolutely love! You can find out more about our testing process here.

If you have a product you love that you want to share with other pet parents, send a tip to .

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Using Pet Water Additives

Pet water additives are an easy way to help your cats teeth stay clean. These additives, when mixed into a cats water, can help reduce plaque and freshen breath. As long as your cat doesnt mind the taste and continues drinking a sufficient amount of water, these are a safe and convenient way to improve dental health.

Oxyfresh Dental Care Water Additive is one water additive you might want to try if you have a picky cat. This water additive is 100 percent non-toxic, odorless, and tasteless. It is made in the USA and recommended by veterinarians to fight plaque and tartar and to stop bad breath.

As you can see, cat dental treats are one of many things to try if you are looking for ways to improve your cats dental health.

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What Kinds Of Cat Treats Does Feline Greenies Offer

Feline Greenies are divided among three product lines. Dental Treats make up the majority of Feline Greenies product selection, available in popular flavors like chicken, salmon, and catnip. These treats have a crunchy texture that helps scrape your cats teeth clean as he chews.

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The SmartBites line includes a handful of treats that have a crunchy exterior with a soft center. These treats are formulated to support various aspects of cat health including skin and coat and indoor health. Pill Pockets are the third product line, designed to help you give your cat his medication.

Do Cat Dental Treats Actually Help Keep Their Teeth Clean

With the immediate importance of the right food and preventative medical treatment, dental care is often something that is overlooked in the early days of owning a new cat. Nevertheless, your cats teeth are incredibly important to her, helping her to eat and enabling her to catch and kill her prey. Tooth pain and loss of teeth can be extremely debilitating and something that no conscientious pet owner wants their pet to suffer from. As such, addressing your cats dental health should absolutely be a priority.

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Do They Make Greenies For Cats

FELINE GREENIES dental treats are formulated for cats 1 year of age or older. For a healthy dental benefit, feed treats daily in conjunction with your cats regular diet. As with any treat, adjust amount of main meal to compensate for calories delivered by treats. Always monitor your pet while feeding a treat.

What If My Cat Has Allergies

If a cat has food allergies, it would likely be to common proteins like beef, chicken, or dairy. Food allergies in animals are primarily due to proteins and generally the meat proteins. However, your cat could have allergies to other sources of proteins such as wheat, corn, or rice as these are also ingredients.

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Important Things To Consider

Rather than focus on choosing the treat which sounds the tastiest, or promises to keep your cats breath smelling fresh, we recommend instead that the first thing you pay attention to is the shape of the treat.

Its this shape which really distinguishes a good dental treat from one which really wont make any difference. So lets take a look at that next.

What Are Cat Dental Treats

Cat dental treats is the term given to small biscuits that can be given to your pet, and these are sold as being great for helping to improve your felines dental health. The way in which these treats work is designed to be two-fold. Firstly, the abrasive biscuits are said to mimic a brushing action on your cats teeth, eliminating bacteria from their surfaces. Secondly, many are said to contain ingredients which promote dental health.

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Which Dental Chews Do You Recommend For Cats

For cats, we like Feline Greenies Dental Treats and Virbac C.E.T. Enzymatic Oral Hygiene Chews.

The Greenies treats have a crunchy texture and unique shape that prevents plaque build-up while freshening cats breath. Plus, the treats contain added vitamins and minerals for optimal dental health, and they come in a variety of flavors, including catnip, salmon, chicken, and tuna.

We also give a thumbs-up to the Virbac C.E.T. Enzymatic Oral Hygiene Chews. Give your cat just one of the fish or poultry chews a day, and its teeth and gums will improve. This chew works so well because not only does it have a textured exterior that removes plaque from teeth, but it also uses a Dual-Enzyme System to eliminate plaque-causing bacteria.

Plus, cats love them! While a bit pricier than other treats, these enzymatic chews may be the perfect way to keep your finicky cats teeth clean.

How To Use A Pill Pocket

Pill pockets go a long way in convincing your cat to take their medicine. Even better, pill pocket treats from brands like Greenies are designed and recommended by vets because they are healthy and dont contain a lot of calories. They are also produced in different sizes to work for any cat age or size. Once you get your pill pockets, using them is very easy. Here is the process:

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Control Plaque Buildup And Tartar

Plaque and tartar can build up on your cats teeth and lead to several potential oral health issues, including bleeding gums. Eventually, periodontal disease may set in and cause gum recession and tooth loss.

Tartar control treats with bacteria-fighting enzymes can help you and your cat win the battle against dental diseases and plaque buildup.

How Do I Feed Feline Greenies Dental Treats

FELINE GREENIES Dental Treats are recommended for adult cats of any breed. Typically your veterinarian will give instruction for dental care and nutritional modification at the 1 year visit. Therefore we recommend that you dont start your cat on FELINE GREENIES Dental Treats until they are at least ten to 12 months of age.

FELINE GREENIES Dental Treats are 100% nutritionally complete and balanced for adult maintenance, all natural with added vitamins, minerals, taurine and chlorophyll. We recommend As with any treat, always offer water after feeding. If obesity is a concern, reduce food intake.

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Do Greenies Help Cats Breath

Bad breath is caused by bacteria that builds up on our teeth as we eat. This can eventually cause many problems with the teeth and gums.

Greenies help to remove this smelly bacteria from your cats teeth. The treats have a unique shape and texture that removes the build-up as the cat chews.

Other hard food may help to clean a cats teeth. But Greenies work well because there are ridges and grooves, which work to clean your cats teeth and mouth.

As cat owners, when we notice our pet has bad breath, it makes us realize we have been forgetting to clean her teeth! Dental treats are not enough on their own, but they can help.

Treats like Feline Greenies contain chlorophyll. This is a plant nutrient that helps detoxify and freshen your cats breath.

There are many dental treats on the market to choose from. Most of these may help to prevent bad breath. But Greenies is the only one with approval from the Veterinary Oral Health Council .

At A Glance: 7 Best Dental Cat Treats To Buy

2000+Check Price

While Purina Dentalife Dental Cat Treats appear to do a better job than any other dental cat treat on the market, they arent the only option. In addition to our top recommendation, weve chosen several other treats that go the extra mile to improve your cats oral health.

But before we jump into the details about this treat and the rest of our top recommendations, lets talk about the benefits of dental treats for cats and what to look for.

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Dentalife Tasty Chicken Flavor Cat Treats

These treats, available in chicken and salmon flavors, have a hard, porous texture that scrubs teeth as the cat chews. Keep in mind that these treats are for adult cats over 5 pounds, and should not constitute more than 10 percent of your cats daily calories. Check them out in a 1.9-ounce bag or treat all your kitties with a 19-ounce canister.

Heres Why Cat Dental Treats Are A Good Idea

An estimated 85% of cats over age 6 have some form of periodontal diseasea condition occurring when tartar builds up on your cats teeth, causing gum inflammation and a string of other conditions.

If your cats mouth isnt healthy, that sickness will eventually spread to other parts of the body, meaning that dental health affects more than just your cats teeth and gums. As periodontal disease progresses, toxins spread from the mouth into the bloodstream and then into the organs, causing organ failure and other serious health issues.

Thats why its important to take care of your cats dental health before its too late.

There are numerous ways to keep your cats mouth healthy but brushing his teeth every day is the most effective method. Annual dental cleanings at the vet will remove any buildup you werent able to catch with the toothbrush and dental treats can fill in any gaps.

Dental treats are one of the most popular forms of preventative dental health care available for pets.

In contrast to the challenge of daily brushing, cat dental treats promise a fun, painless way to keep your cats mouth healthy. But theyre not a complete solution and, sometimes, theyre not a solution at all.

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Our Recommendation For The Best Dental Treats For Cats

With so many products to choose from, how can you decide which dental treats are best? Some things to consider are taste, vitamin content, quality, morsel size, texture, and ingredients. The most effective dental treats are tasty, textured, and large enough to prevent a cat from swallowing them whole.

Crunchy treats control tartar better than soft treats. Try to avoid treats with unnecessary additives or that are high in calories. Also, keep in mind that treats alone are not sufficient to maintain dental hygiene. Brushing and annual dental checkups are highly recommended.

To help you get started, here are descriptions of a few popular cat dental treats with pros and cons for each one.

What About Homemade Cat Dental Treats

In addition to regular brushing, professional cleanings, and commercial dental treats, homemade dental treats can help keep your cats teeth healthy. Raw meat and bones are among the best solutions.

Unlike any commercial cat food, raw meaty bones force your cat to use his jaws to gnaw and tear, digging his teeth into muscle tissue and breaking through raw bone. This gnawing action strengthens the jaws and cleans the teeth.

Because fresh raw meat doesnt have any carbohydrate content, its also low-residue and will contribute minimally to the population of bad bacteria in your cats mouth.

Remember that only raw bones are safe for your cat.

While raw bones are flexible, cooked bones become brittle and are prone to splintering and shattering, making them extremely dangerous for your cat to eat. Choose small bones that tone your cats jaws without overwhelming them. Cat-appropriate options include raw chicken necks and chicken wings.

Good dental health results from a systematic approach from the inside out.

Genetics, diet, and oral hygiene all work in concert to support your cats dental health. Before treats, your first priority should be choosing the right diet and brushing your cats teeth with a good toothbrush and toothpaste. After youve established an oral care regimen, dental treats can help to fight against tartar and plaque buildup and dental disease in between brushing.

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