Good Dental Or Oral Dry Food/kibble

[westiemum]

Hi All,

A friend who's ex-breeding dog (4 year old mature Cav when she got her, with bad teeth) insists on using Hills Oral Care as treats - but this food according to the ingredients is barely better than chaff. (She also gives bones but the teeth are fairly sparse which makes it difficult).

So does anyone know of a better quality dental/oral dry food/kibble or maybe just a good quality kibble which works well with teeth as well?

Any help and advice really appreciated.

Cheers

Westiemum

[persephone]

Could she maybe give her her meat quota ON bones? So the dog, altho not crunching bones, is working the sides of her teeth chewing/slicing meat off the bone?

[KitKat]

Royal Canin do a oral kibble for small dogs - perhaps that's worth a go?

ETA - also if giving meat perhaps cut it into large chunks so that the dog has to work on it - this will help the teeth as well

Edited November 29, 2008 by KitKat

[westiemum]

Thanks Persephone and KitKat,

Will pass those good suggestions on - any other suggestions?

Cheers,

Westiemum

[carrie]

I have been really really happy with Royal Canin dental. There is Small Dog Dental for small dogs and then a Dental and Skin formula and I have been using both. One of the things I've really noticed is my fat little chihuahua lost the weight he needed to lose on the Dental and Skin formula, without me having to restrict him too much, and the dogs LOVE it. Plus it seems to be keeping their teeth quite good, after a dental scaling earlier this year. They are really funny. I got given a bag of Eukanuba Healthy Naturals to try and I tried it and the dogs ignored it, so I mixed it in with their Royal Canin and they pick out the Royal Canin and leave the Euk at the bottom of the bowl.

[KitKat]

I think Advance also do a dental for dogs? might be worth a shot as well

[carrie]

This might sound really petty but I don't like the smell of advance, it smells so artificial and chemical. And the bikkies seems to dry. I do like that it is australian made but it is made by pedigree so how different is it really to Pal?

[shmoo]

I've gotten some Science Diet Oral (T/D I think) and my guys seem to like it. Not much difference on their teeth thou it's only been a week.

[KitKat]

I do like that it is australian made but it is made by pedigree so how different is it really to Pal?

How different is Supercoat to Proplan? They are both made by Purina...

Most food companies make a range of foods from lower quality to higher quality - same can be said of many other products if you look at the companies behind them.

As to smell - i haven't noticed, i use it more for my cats these days and they seem to enjoy their kittie Advance food But as with all foods - go by your preference and your dogs 'preference'.

[carrie]

Yeah very true, but I actually have no idea how different Proplan is to Supercoat so its very much a legit question... I wasn't trying to just be smart, I really do wonder how different the ingrediants are

Advance cat doesn't seem to have the same smell as the advance dog I got once... Maybe I had a bad bag or an older one? Not sure.

[puggy_puggy]

Can't comment on dry food as I don't feed it.

Proabably would suggest lamb bones as they are the softest (apart from chicken).

In my experience if a dog, that is feed a good diet of bones and other crunchie things, is going to have bad teeth it is due to their mouth confirmation and you really can do nothing about it. In smaller dogs the teeth are usally so squashed together that they are unable to self clean.

Both of my pugs are fed the same diet and whilst my male pug, who obviously has a bigger head, has had no teeth problems but my female pug, who has a mini head so therefore not much room to fit all of those teeth, has had to have 3 teeth out because they were going bad.

[Koemi]

Is the Royal Canin dental range only available at vets? We stock RC at work, but I've never seen the dental versions and I was told (perhaps incorrectly) that the sensitive stomach range was only available for vets. I had no idea RC even made dental food! My dog hates Science Diet dental and won't touch it, he dislikes the taste and the kibble is far too big for him.

My new dog won't eat bones (or anything at the moment hopefully that will change when she settles in) so I'm curious as to what to feed in terms of kibble too.

[JulesP]

Supercoat has meat meal as the main ingredient and also doesn't state exactly were the meat is from. Pro Plan has a meat as the first ingredient. Pro Plan is a much, much better kibble than Supercoat. Purina One is a bit better than Supercoat. Pro Plan Select is the holistic range.

And the Pro Plan website is the MOST annoying website I have been on!!!!!!!!

[louloud]

Yes Royal canin dental food is in their "vet only" prescription range of food. You can get a dog dental formula for under 10 kg dogs and another for large dogs.

Advance has the same sort of deal, one for small dogs then one for dogs 25kg+.

I work in a vet clinic and would say palatabilty wise royal canin far outshines advance.

[KitKat]

Actually...RC do a retail line as part of their small/'mini' range - along with beauty and indoor - i just don't think you can get it in the bigger (7kg etc) size bags.

[Nekhbet]

what about a doggy toothbrush. A couple of times a week give them a good scrub, the food misses half the teeth anyway like the incisors and canines.

[4pups]

what about a doggy toothbrush. A couple of times a week give them a good scrub, the food misses half the teeth anyway like the incisors and canines.

IMO being a people oral hygienst this is the only thing that will work especially if the dog has anything other than a perfect canine dentition (wolf shape). When plaque is left for over 24 hours it hardens to calculus when this happens nothing is going to get it off except a scaler. No food can knock off calculus its like barnacales on boat.

It seems to me that small dogs terriers, cavs, pugs etc over react to calculus not all, but a lot. I have a 18 year old Mini Foxie who has had a few teeth removed due to gum disease. My 17 year old JRT has worn teeth but no signs of gum disease.

I think the best thing to do is monitor your dog as a pup if you can see yellowish staining on the the gum edge of the back molars then you shoud commit yourself to having a dental done at the vet every few years and cleaning the dogs teeth daily.

A lot of dogs don't build any calculus at all this is more do to with genes than diet. But feeding raw is the best for dental health.

[westiemum]

Thanks very much guys - really appreciate the advice. Will pass it all on - the cleaning of teeth makes sense - any advice how to do this in an older dog with dodgy teeth who hasn't had her teeth cleaned before... - thanks again for any help.

Cheers,

Westiemum

what about a doggy toothbrush. A couple of times a week give them a good scrub, the food misses half the teeth anyway like the incisors and canines.

IMO being a people oral hygienst this is the only thing that will work especially if the dog has anything other than a perfect canine dentition (wolf shape). When plaque is left for over 24 hours it hardens to calculus when this happens nothing is going to get it off except a scaler. No food can knock off calculus its like barnacales on boat.

It seems to me that small dogs terriers, cavs, pugs etc over react to calculus not all, but a lot. I have a 18 year old Mini Foxie who has had a few teeth removed due to gum disease. My 17 year old JRT has worn teeth but no signs of gum disease.

I think the best thing to do is monitor your dog as a pup if you can see yellowish staining on the the gum edge of the back molars then you shoud commit yourself to having a dental done at the vet every few years and cleaning the dogs teeth daily.

A lot of dogs don't build any calculus at all this is more do to with genes than diet. But feeding raw is the best for dental health.