Greenies and Teeth

[StanAndAlf]

My cats love Greenies. Great, I thought, it will help clean their teeth for me! Except... one of my cats doesn't chew his Greenies. He just straight up swallows them. At first this concerned me cause it could be a choking hazard. But it also concerned me that the Greenies can have no effect on his teeth if he doesn't chew them.

I already have what I like to call a five year dental plan with my cats (and dogs). They will get (all under the age of 4 atm) professional dental cleans at the vet clinic every five years. This is price conscious for me, and I think best for them so they do not have to endure anesthesia too often, but preventative enough to reduce the risk of dental disease. This has worked well for my past animals. However, the Greenies I find are pretty good at preventing gingivitis, and mean that my dentals are usually just a scale and polish.

Any tips on how I can get my cat to chew his Greenies? Or other teeth cleaning tips?

 

[Silver Crazy]

You been conned by the normal pet industry false advertising, a treat like that cleaning teeth defies the laws of Physics.
Like you said chewing is the only way the teeth can clean..I give my cat the toughest old stewing steak I can find and chicken necks and make him chew but I feed raw and he readily accepts this type of food.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

One of my cats does the same too. He will not chew any smalllllish treat like greenies or other dental treat. To try to rectify that, I also feed raw, and cut the pieces of meat into pretty large pieces. I don't feed him large bones like neckbones though, mainly because he just never got used to that, so we make do with him having to chew large pieces of meat. I also have his teeth checked annually and if needed, he gets a dental at that time. (usually only needs a dental every few years)

You could always brush your guy's teeth. That's the best preventative if he won't chew on neck bones or gizzards.