Greenies (or other dental treats)
this weekend, we bought machete his first greenie...petsmart had a sale and i grabbed two of the 'lite' version.
he took to it much better than he did the zuke's dental treats.
then a friend on here mentioned that they don't digest and congealed in her relative's dog's stomach and the dog unfortunately died. which, obviously freaked me out.
various veterinary medicine sites on the internet and other research gave inconclusive results: some said greenies are perfectly safe and not to worry; others said NO do not give them to your dog it will result in surgeries, illness, and fatalities...
yesterday we took machete to the vet for a booster shot (he's finally DONE with vaccines! yay!) and i asked my vet.
now, as background: we are vigilant with his teeth, no bones, no antlers, nothing that will crack his teeth. we scrape and brush them all the time during our regular grooming. i just always wonder if i should be doing more.
so the vet said the following:
- she HAS heard of the deaths and such related to greenies
- she knows for a fact that they've reformulated their product and that [death or illness] is no longer a concern
- she says they are very good for keeping teeth clean
- but also that they are very high in calorie count (which as we all know, corgis putting on weight is a concern)
i did grab the lite greenies, but i think i'm going to maybe call the company to get the exact calorie count per treat. i've called a number of treat manufacturers or contacted them about calorie counts and they're all pretty helpful about it so far.
anyway, what have your experiences been with dental treats? or greenies in specific?
good or bad?
appreciate any input, thanks!
edited to add from the greenies website found caloric content:
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by rae on
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searching through the forum and came up with a few items on greenies, including a mention of a previous recall.
found information on paragorn dental treats, will probably call them as well for calorie counts. also, not looking to substitute for or replace brushing, but rather anything to supplement or improve overall dental health.
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Permalink Reply by Becky Focht on
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Just bought a greenie for Foxy this past weekend but I haven't given it to her yet. Thanks for posting this, I'll be interested in seeing the responses.
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yeah machete ate up the greenie right away.
these are the zuke's dental treats we had been giving him: http://www.zukes.com/dogs/z-bones.html (cherry flavor, regular size)
but he got real weird about them. like 'hiding' them in his toybox and taking forever to eat them. playing with them, really. the greenies he ate right up.
but um, i'm also iffy on the "serving size" or "dosage."
we'd do a weekly dental treat (usually right after puppy class) every thursday. once a week. everything else says every day, and that does seem like a LOT of calories on a daily basis. i do not believe i would ever go daily on the dental treats.
we did get some dental sticks in our second ever barkbox, but they were too small and machete was too young so we gave them to a friend with a yorkie.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I occasionally give mine one as a treat and have never had a problem but don't know about on a regular basis.
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Permalink Reply by Jen Giammona on
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Linus can only have them on a full stomach. He will puke it up if we give it to him on an empty stomach, but I do think he has a sensitive stomach if that helps. (He pukes things regularly)
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Mine love the Get Naked brand, and we use Dentastix once a week or so. I've not used Greenies but am aware some pets had problems with them not digesting and causing blockages.
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I should add the Get Naked small dental chews are only about 18 cal/treat.
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Permalink Reply by Diane on
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Chewey _loves_ his greenies. He gets one every night. I read the mixed reviews on them (although it seems like there are mixed reviews on everything you look up!) but by that time I had already been giving them to him regularly with no ill effects. A good friend was the one who introduced them to me and I know she fed them to her lab regularly (her lab lived to 14+). I would think like any product that different dogs will have different experiences....
Whether or not they actually help keep his teeth clean I have no clue, but he gets so excited about them that I don't have the heart to deprive him ;-> He is about the right weight and he gets a fair amount of exercise so I haven't stressed too much about the extra calories, but maybe that will change as he gets older and slows down.
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Permalink Reply by Andrea on
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We do the Zukes, Ein plays with hers too. We also have these natural potato based treats that are similar to Greenies. I just cannot remember what they are. I'm really strict with Ein's diet. I will only buy things that are sold at our Holistic pet store since they are super duper strict with what they offer. My vet is as well and does not even promote Greenies or sells Hills, Royal Canin, or Purina. They work with our pet store. Ein does really well with them though.
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yeah, we're really careful about what we give machete. i keep track of every treat we give him, i think i'm going to start adding calorie counts too.
i liked the zukes, he does get weird about them, but ultimately eats them.
one every day seems a bit much, though.
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I completely agree. I give Ein one about once a week. I do the regular sized though.
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Permalink Reply by Priss, Charlie & Kaylee (PK) on
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We sometimes give Kaylee the Blue dental treats. She gets about one a week. (Small Size: 1,736 Kcals/kg One Bone = 49 Kcals)
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