Have greenies dental treats helped your cat?

[danteshuman]

So last month I bought greenie dental treats but the amount for my 15.5 pound cat seems huge (14 per day!) He isn’t fat but may have a bit of a dad bod. I don’t want to commit to greenies unless they work. So have they improved the dental health of your cat?

 

[Kieka]

Greenies won't do anything for your cats health, dental or otherwise. For dental health, cats don't chew enough for any modern food to benefit them. They evolved for their teeth to be maintained by chewing bone, feather and fur and no treat can really replicate that. Your best option is to ensure annual vet checks and dental work when needed. Plus a good diet and cleaning at home if your cat will tolerate.

 

[arr]

My cats each get two Greenies after I brush their teeth each day. It serves as an incentive for the teeth brushing. I lightly crush the Greenies with a meat mallet so they break into a few smaller pieces, and it seems the treats are better able to make some contact with the teeth this way. I don’t know if it does much for the teeth, but with this method, they taste them more, otherwise they just swallow them whole and, in my opinion, hardly enjoy them.

 

[GranolaLouise]

I give my cat Greenies. She is a senior cat with slight gum problems, but too old to go under anesthesia for a cleaning I was told last week. Last fall she had a cleaning and 2 extractions. I really believe it is a marketing ploy. Nevertheless I give her the treats and she chews when I say "Chew It". But I just give them like I give her any other treat like Blue Wilderness, Freeze driedchicken or pork, or Kittles....just as a treat.
EDA..they do help with freshening breath,I must admit.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi -
A slightly different story here. When Captain was in for his wellness checkup early this year after we adopted him (he is about 7-8 years old), the vet suggested that instead of doing a cleaning at that point to try a Purina dry food. I assumed this was a marketing ploy, but noticed the kibble bits were quite large, and he did chew them.

Unfortunately, (or not) I determined the kibble made him throw up , so that bag and a couple other brands of kibble I had went to the nearest animal shelter.

IME, dental treats can help keep tartar to a minimum on already good teeth but do very little to actually remove plaque. But some cats really enjoy them anyway, and I figure they do no harm!

I have never used these on my pets, but some products that people have brought to work for their pets that they swear by are:
https://www.chewy.com/vetriscience-perio-support-powder/dp/42648
water additive for teeth - Free shipping | Chewy (Various water additives that people swear by)
There are various gels (I like petzlife brand), but if brushing is out of the question, they wont help much!

My cats eat a ground raw diet and people swear by raw gizzards or raw chicken necks as teeth cleaners, but 4 out of my 7 cats eat too fast for me to feel comfortable offering them. Lila, my tortie, has handled gizzards just fine. All my cats are older, and I am not comfortable offering whole bones.

Thanks to the suggestion above, I started using the Perio Support and although there was a period of time where he wasn't getting the dental kibble or this product and his gums started looking red, once I started using the Perio Support again his gums have remained pink. Every cat is different and so I'm not recommending, just commenting

 

[IndyJones]

I've never used the cat ones but they didn't do much for our old golden. But maybe they would last longer than 10 seconds with a cat rather than a big dog.

 

[danteshuman]

Jackie is on mainly wet (with water added) & gets 1/16th or 1/4 cup of Royal cZnin urinary care dry food. He had bladder crystals. He used to get 5-7 temptations a day when I took his harness off, now he is getting greenies. He does crunch on them when he eats them though.

I tried the finger brushed and it was a no go. I mean I could but he was extremely uncomfortable & unhappy. The toothbrushes? Never. I might try a qtip. The greenies have helped his breath though. The water additive seemed unhealthy. He has some tartar buikd up and stinky fish breath sometimes at 4 years old. (He eats lots of tuna.) I’m just trying to get ahead of any dental issues.

 

[Furballsmom]

The water additive seemed unhealthy.

I felt the same way which is why I like the Perio Support product, it's a powder.

 

[JohnYYZ]

I personally think the dry food / treats marketed as dental care is useless. About as good as humans eating hard textured food to get rid of tartar. It may scrap off a little, but really?

It took a few weeks for my kitties to get used to toothbrushing, with dental paste, but I think nothing beats brushing when not using professional dental cleaning services from the vet. Just my opinion.

 

[danteshuman]

I tried and I can’t really get him to accept the finger tip brush. Do they make a tuna flavor toothpaste? He might accept that with a atop & lots of treats/bribes afterwards.

 

[Alldara]

Unfortunately, the larger fish shaped ones, potentially are what chipped my old man's tooth. So I don't need them to anyone to be safe. I'm sure it's because he was older and his teeth more fragile.

For dental, you'll want to make sure any treats or food are actually certified to help, AND that your cat is a 'cruncher', meaning that he chews it. My vet recommended feeding them some Hills or Royal Canin dental food as treats.

I use virbac cat toothpaste and rub it on their teeth every other day. I use a toothbrush without anything on the other days.

 

[iPappy]

I personally think the dry food / treats marketed as dental care is useless. About as good as humans eating hard textured food to get rid of tartar. It may scrap off a little, but really?

It took a few weeks for my kitties to get used to toothbrushing, with dental paste, but I think nothing beats brushing when not using professional dental cleaning services from the vet. Just my opinion.

When I was feeding my house cats dry food, they were pukers and every single time, the food came back up whole. They didn't even chew it.

 

[iPappy]

I tried and I can’t really get him to accept the finger tip brush. Do they make a tuna flavor toothpaste? He might accept that with a atop & lots of treats/bribes afterwards.

It seems they do, and Chewy carries several different brands and types but the reviews aren't too great. It's gotta be hard making a tooth paste that cats will accept.

 

[daftcat75]

Greenies may do something for his breath. But I doubt they do anything for his teeth.

In the wild, cats pull flesh, fur, and feathers through their teeth and that's nature's toothbrush.

Chicken gizzards are a chewy organ that have been shown to clean teeth IF you have a cat who is willing to chew on a gizzard. Many are not.

I'm not sure how much a dental toy helps. But it probably doesn't hurt. I see Betty pick this up a few times after her meals. I think it's the closest either of us will get to flossing her teeth.
https://www.chewy.com/catstages-crunchy-pickle-kicker-plush/dp/308646

And there are silvervine chew sticks. I imagine these are a lot like neem sticks (Ayurvedic traditional "toothbrushes") except for cats. I just ordered one of these off an Instagram ad. I got suckered by a Reel before I had done an Amazon search and could have got the same product at half the price. And it's probably going to take twice as long to deliver too. Betty did have a thing for chewing the sisal (but also the fraying carpet) off an old cat tree that had to go for this reason. This may have to be a supervised toy with her.
Amazon.com

 

[Alldara]

I used just a regular qtip and would rub the teeth at first. Doing it while they are sleepy is best.

Infant toothbrushes also work well.