Dental Health Bones

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I was at my local mom-and-pop pet store this weekend and they were having an awesome sale so I was doing some exploring of new items. Ragley is 6 months old on Tuesday, which clears her for the "dental bone safety" marker for most of the dental chews. I have a toothbrush and teeth gel for her that I try to stay consistent with, but I know myself well enough to realize that this is something I am likely to slip on. She has all of her "big girl" teeth now- they are so pretty, white, and healthy looking and I would like to keep it that way. One of the things that was on sale were these new dental bones from a company called Indigenous Pet Products. They come in a variety of flavors, can snap in half, and are grain free and gluten free. I went ahead and bought a bag since the sale price was good and I know I can easily return them if I decide I don't need them or Ragley doesn't like them. Do dental bones really make that much of a difference? Are these an ok thing for her to be eating? We are steering clear of greenies and these are a little more economical than some of the others. 

Indigenous Dental Health Bones

Ingredients: Potato starch, glycerin, chicken meal, sweet potato, carrot fiber, gelatin, chicken, ProDen PlaqueOff^® (dried kelp), natural flavor, lecithin, salmon oil, sorbic acid (to preserve freshness), parsley, chlorophyll.

Guaranteed Analysis:

(based on 100 grams/calculated)
Crude Protein (min.)	6%		Crude Fiber (max.)	8%
Crude Fat (min.)	2%		Moisture (max.)	16%

[F, Calla & Luca]

Hmm. Sorry to hear that. The doodles seem OK with it.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Try the Whimzees.  Been very impressed and they are safe. They come in cute animal shapes that help get the junk of their teeth (alligators, hedgehogs, etc...)

[Vivian & Mojo]

This is a product a friend has used on her dog and has helped to remove tartar and reduce plaque and no harmful ingredients. Even though my Doodle has no tarter or plaque issues I'm going to order it and use 2 x a month as a preventive.

http://www.chewy.com/dog/petzlife-oral-care-gel-wild-salmon/dp/49017

[F, Calla & Luca]

I used it for Calla. It did a lot but not enough and I was using it every other day : )

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Could someone please clear something up for me?  I used to give Finn Whimzees and he loved them, but when the warnings came out about "Greenies and similar dental products" I stopped.  Are Whimzees safer than Greenies?  Since so many people are using them here -- I'm assuming they are. Finn would sure love to have his alligators back (and me too).  Thanks.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I was thinking about ordering them and then I read about a couple of obstructions from them on the Amazon site. Still seem better than raw hides.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

From what I've read, the issue with Greenies was that there was some ingredient in them that was difficult for dogs to digest, so if a dog didn't chew them up well and swallowed a large hunk of it, it could create an obstruction. Supposedly, they have since changed the formula so that they will completely dissolve if left in a container of water. Of course, sourcing of the Greenies would be another issue. Greenies are made by Nutro, which is owned by Mars, Inc. Reason enough not to use them. :)

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Thanks so much Karen.  I saw that Greenies claimed they were 85% digestible.  That other 15% concerned me so I never bought them.  All I can find on Whimzees is highly digestible -- Finn never had a problem with them though.  

[BG and Gavin]

Ok I bought Gavin a Whimzee hedgehog today.  Picky Pickerson seem to really like it.  It took about ten or fifteen minutes to chew it.  Only issue is the price. $2.50.  How often do you give them?  Once a week?  If more than that, I will have to look for a cheaper source (I'm in Canada).

[Gail and Bailey]

You made me laugh with the name "Picky Pickerson"!  Too cute!!

[BG and Gavin]

:)

[Stephanie and Ragley]

So went back to the store today and told them I was there to get an individual whimzee chew for Ragley to try out and they gave her one for free right there in the store to see if she liked it before I bought one (have I mentioned how much I love this place?) and she showed ZERO interest. She has never rejected a treat before but she just left it lying there on the floor! So strange. I guess I will stick with the indigenous bones until someone else makes a high quality, grain free dog chew that is made by a company that hasn't sold out lol