Best Bones For Teeth Cleaning

[juice]

my dally had a blockage last year( stones), and has since been on a special diet, low in purines. therefore i cut out all his bones.

but on a recent trip to the vet, she said his teeth were dirty and needed a bone.

so ,which bones are the best for teeth cleaning, preferably as little red meat on as poss, and how often should you give them?

i was thinking ,marrow bones?

[Poodle wrangler]

Sorry, am no expert on raw bones, but marrow bones are high fat- once dog gets to the marrow- and can contribute to pancreatitis if your dog has too many marrow bones.

Raw bones, especially with some meat, are great, though. Oops, is meat OK with your dog needing a low purine diet?

When you say a blockage, gallstones? If so, marrow is not good as high fat.

[juice]

urine stones is what he had, so has to have low purine food.

he is not supposed to have red meat, but i thought a little on a bone would be ok now and then?

was at the petshop today, and they said chicken carcasse's? would they be good teeth cleaners? never even seen one.

[Tilly]

My boys get brisket bones but maybe chicken necks, chicken frames, chicken wings or turkey necks ...

If the dog tends to inhale their food then a few chicken necks frozen together and given frozen encourages them to actual chew them.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Tilly

[Teebs]

yep, i give my guys chicken, they love it

they have a camel bone at the moment :D

Atlas loves his, kaos is inside eating hot chips with me

[Kavik]

Chicken frames are great Mine get some every night, and their teeth look good.

TB - camel bone :D where on earth did you get that?

[Teebs]

WA - I couldnt believe it when i was told before i came over here that they have camel meat and bones for the dogs, i had to get some to see what they were like :D

Just have to keep the hot chips up to kaos ;)

[espinay2]

Chicken and turkey will be lower in purines. I would stay away from beef or kangaroo (incl marrow bones). You may want to check the purine levels on lamb (I can't recall, though it will be higher than chicken I think - you can get a list of lower and higher purine foods from the net - a lot of Dally sites will have it too). Chicken carcasses or turkey necks will be better than chicken necks or wings as they will require more effort to eat and will therefore 'brush' the teeth a lot better. You could start with once or twice a week and see how it affects you dog (are you regularly checking pH? ) and then increase if all is well. Don't forget to adjust the amount etc of the rest of the diet to compensate.

[The Spotted Devil]

Maybe some good chew toys too...hope your Dal is ok - there is a lot of info around on low Purine foods....what about a whole carrot?

[malsam]

if u are afraid of the urine stones thing, u can feed cranberry. Its mention as a remedy from several books.

As for the bones, I dun think 1 per day can cause as much problem, especially if u using cranberry as well. Or if u like, dig out the marrows and just give a bone. Or simply brush their teeth?

[juice]

thanks everyone, yes i do check his ph levels, he also gets a dash of bicarb in his meal every night( supercoat special care). e is prone to be a bit fat( even with 2 hours of offlead a day!), so chicken necks make him fat, and he gulps them down in one.

i will look at the chicken carcasses.

i suppose there is no reason why i couldn't brush his teeth, would the vet be able to tell me how?

its just that i like to give them all a bone once a week, and didn't want him to feel left out, the others can have anything.

[malsam]

that's a very sensitive and fair alpha behaviour...when some of my dogs are fasting, those non-fasters are also taken care of...ya they do feel left out also.

there isn't any special technique in brushing....in fact there is no brushing at all. U simply coat the brush with a fido toothpaste, then apply them all over their teeth or just gently rub them a little....very few dogs can let u brush them like what human does because their mouth is more sensitive than ours to get all these action.

Do check with your vet and c what they recommend.

[MonElite]

Id go for turkey necks as theya re a bit more difficult to eat for a dally than chicken carcasses. But I cant find a supplier anywhere near me and I did try.

If you find a good supplier juice let me know.

My dogs eat a lot of chicken (frames, wings, necks and their theeth are nice and clean)

You could try pork spine bones as well, Id stay away from weight bearing bones.

Any chinese butcher will have pork soup bones, they are about $2-$3 a kg.

If you are going to feed carcassses Id say 3 carcasses would be a mean for a dally.

[New Age Outlaw]

I second the turkey necks - my girl Cleo's teeth have improved so much since she started on them. Can't help you with where to get them down there though.

[Kavik]

I've looked for turkey necks as everyone is talking about them but can't find them anywhere.

[benny123]

Don't know where you are in Sydney but I get my necks from Woolworths in Engadine. I've then tried Woolworths & Coles in other areas (like Sylvania, Menai, Miranda & Caringbah) however they don't seem to stock them. Perhaps if you ask your local supermarket they can get them for you. They come in a vacuum pack of about 4 necks I separate them and freeze.

[Aequus]

Look no further than Woolies for Turkey necks! My guys love 'em

[Clyde]

i suppose there is no reason why i couldn't brush his teeth, would the vet be able to tell me how?

I brush my Saints teeth, despite daily bones she still has a few side teeth that can get especially manky. You can buy dog toothpaste, but I don't use anything and it still works. You could perhaps start from scratch and book your dog in for a dental if they are quite bad and then regular brushing will help keep any build up at bay. I brush starting from the top side, give her a few seconds break, then bottom side, break, then bottom front, break, then other side, etc.... I do the top front last as it tickles them a bit.

[MonElite]

Nowhere around Rockdate/Hurstville I can find turkey necks in supermarktes and I have asked.

But thanks to DOL I new have a pet shop supplier in Roselands that stocks them for $3.5/kg :p