At Furball’s last visit to the vet, the doctor commented that Furball’s teeth and gums were in excellent condition. I’d love to claim credit for being a good cat mommy and brushing his teeth, but I’m admittedly not that devoted. Plus, if I approached him with a cat toothbrush, he’d attack it and think it’s a toy. The concept of being able to brush your cat’s teeth is simply ludicrous to me because Furball would simply not stand for it and would most definitely let me know by using said teeth and claws.
However, I can give credit to a couple of natural pet teeth cleaners. Based on the vet’s comments and given that Furball is over seven years old, I have to assume these products really work. So, I thought I would share them with you, since pet dental care is something that people often overlook. I’m sure the idea of brushing your cat’s teeth is not commonly considered by most people. Luckily, keeping your cat’s teeth clean can be fairly simple. And, as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I read somewhere that to get your cat’s teeth cleaned by the vet, they put them under. That’s something I’d rather avoid. So, here’s what I use to keep my cat’s teeth and gums clean and healthy:
Feline Greenies Dental Treats
These are little fish-shaped cat treats that contain chlorophyll. They’re also quite crunchy, based on observation, not ingestion ;), which helps to remove food bits on Furball’s teeth.
- PROS: On the plus side, they’re made with ingredients you can pronounce and don’t contain any artificial colours or synthetic preservatives. They really work, are easy and fun to feed to the cat, and Furball loves to eat them.
- CONS: On the negative side, Greenies are not organic, and they’re made by S&M Nu-Tec, owned by the Mars, Inc. conglomerate. This is actually news to me. I was buying Greenies when it was still a small company. It looks like they got bought only a few years ago, which coincides with when I noticed that the packaging changed and a bunch of new flavour options appeared. There was also a class action law suit against them a couple of years ago because some dogs were choking on the treats. Greenies has since changed the formula and shape for dogs. Hmm, now my challenge is to find a greener alternative.
- Greenies website
Petzlife Oral Care Gel with Salmon Oil
This gel contains grapeseed extract as the primary ingredient for natural pet dental care. It also contains a number of herbal oils as well as salmon oil. It’s supposed to be really good for removing tartar build-up on your cat’s teeth. PetzLife has before and after photos of pet’s teeth on their website. After ingesting the gel, Furball gets a bit droolly which is supposed to help clean his teeth.
- PROS: All natural ingredients and produced by a local company. I give this to Furball only occasionally, and he has minimal tartar build-up on his teeth. The salmon oil seems to do the trick because the cat loves eating the gel.
- CONS: The initial cost is a bit high, about $30 for a 4 oz. bottle. The cat will also not eat it out of is bowl so I have to hand-feed it to him, one dab at a time on my finger tip. He likes to lick it off. Because it’s pretty tedious to feed it to him, I only do it every few weeks as opposed to the recommended twice a week. I also only manage to give him about 1/2 of the recommended amount because that’s all he’ll eat.
- PetzLife website
HOW I’M GOING TO TAKE ACTION
Well, now that I’ve learned that Greenies are on the no-no list since they got bought out by Mars, I will resolve to give Furball the PetzLife Oral Care Gel once a week to keep my cat’s teeth clean. I’m going to aim for twice a week to ensure natural pet dental care for Furball, but I will definitely guarantee at least once per week.
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HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION
If you haven’t given much thought to your pet’s dental care, today is the day to start. If your cat likes fish, then the PetzLife product is worth a try. Your cat deserves to have a beautiful smile :D.