Why dry food does not clean teeth

There have been several of threads recently (on several newsgroups)
concerning the question of whether dry cat food is needed for dental health.
Here is an article written by a veterinarian that explains why cat food does
not "clean" a cat's teeth: http://tinyurl.com/e7ewr

MaryL

MaryL wrote:
There have been several of threads recently (on several newsgroups)
concerning the question of whether dry cat food is needed for dental health.
Here is an article written by a veterinarian that explains why cat food does
not "clean" a cat's teeth: http://tinyurl.com/e7ewr

MaryL

I actually posted this yesterday but it's in the Main Coon thread so
hopefully it will attract more attention here. Great article!

Lauren

"PawsForThought" wrote in message
oups.com...

MaryL wrote:
There have been several of threads recently (on several newsgroups)
concerning the question of whether dry cat food is needed for dental
health.
Here is an article written by a veterinarian that explains why cat food
does
not "clean" a cat's teeth: http://tinyurl.com/e7ewr

MaryL

I actually posted this yesterday but it's in the Main Coon thread so
hopefully it will attract more attention here. Great article!

Lauren


Sorry...the Maine Coon thread has grown so long that I missed your post. As
you said, it's a great article, so I guess it doesn't hurt to have a
duplicate posted.

Thanks,
MaryL

MaryL -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:

: Sorry...the Maine Coon thread has grown so long that I missed your post. As
: you said, it's a great article, so I guess it doesn't hurt to have a
: duplicate posted.

Not only doesn't hurt, this is almost required. This myth is kibble
cleaning their teeth is so widespread that people like us would have
keep posting and reposting such articles before we make any dent.

MaryL wrote:
Sorry...the Maine Coon thread has grown so long that I missed your
post. As
you said, it's a great article, so I guess it doesn't hurt to have a
duplicate posted.

Thanks,
MaryL

No apologies necessary, Mary I'm glad you posted it separately
because that thread is too long anyway.

Lauren

Kiran wrote:
MaryL -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:

: Sorry...the Maine Coon thread has grown so long that I missed your post. As
: you said, it's a great article, so I guess it doesn't hurt to have a
: duplicate posted.

Not only doesn't hurt, this is almost required. This myth is kibble
cleaning their teeth is so widespread that people like us would have
keep posting and reposting such articles before we make any dent.

Absolutely. It doesn't help that uneducated vets keep promoting kibble
to their clients

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
news:dN6jg.19733$8q.14281@dukeread08...
There have been several of threads recently (on several newsgroups)
concerning the question of whether dry cat food is needed for dental
health.
Here is an article written by a veterinarian that explains why cat food
does
not "clean" a cat's teeth: http://tinyurl.com/e7ewr

MaryL

Its nice to see vets starting to wake up to something I've been harping
about for 20 years.

http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutr...i ch_is_reall

I'm thoroughly convinced dry food is probably the leading cause of CRF in
cats. The lower water intake and all that acid *has* to negatively affect
the kidneys. Of course no pet food company will ever fund a study to prove
it.

Thanks for posting the link!

Phil

Phil P. wrote:

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
news:dN6jg.19733$8q.14281@dukeread08...

There have been several of threads recently (on several newsgroups)
concerning the question of whether dry cat food is needed for dental

health.

Here is an article written by a veterinarian that explains why cat food

does

not "clean" a cat's teeth: http://tinyurl.com/e7ewr

MaryL


Its nice to see vets starting to wake up to something I've been harping
about for 20 years.

http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutr...i ch_is_reall

I'm thoroughly convinced dry food is probably the leading cause of CRF in
cats. The lower water intake and all that acid *has* to negatively affect
the kidneys. Of course no pet food company will ever fund a study to prove
it.

Thanks for posting the link!

Phil



Absolutes in any arena are never a good idea, IMO.

My vet says a balance of wet and dry food is good and recommended I cut
the wet food down to 1/2 can per day per cat (Friskies Prime Fillets)
and supplement with Science Diet Oral Care since one of my boys had a
mild case of ginigvitis.

After using the SD for a few months (I leave a bowl of the chow out at
all times for them to nibble from), both cats' teeth were pearly white
and their breath had virtually no smell to it. They are both very
healthy, happy 5 yr olds, and have no litter box issues.

P No Gree G O wrote:

Absolutes in any arena are never a good idea, IMO.

and you're absolutely sure about that?

My vet says a balance of wet and dry food is good and recommended I cut
the wet food down to 1/2 can per day per cat (Friskies Prime Fillets)
and supplement with Science Diet Oral Care since one of my boys had a
mild case of ginigvitis.

maybe a semi crunchy food is better

If food is real dry, it just † shatters upon contact - no tooth
surface contact, especially near the gumline.

If food is crunchewy, a tooth would sink in up to the gumline allowing
maximum tooth contact.

I think pet food makers should consider a hybrid wet/dry food product

dry enough to come in a bag, wet enough to do away with can food

healthy enough for a lion, but made for a small house cat

as humans, we don't look to food only to keep our teeth clean, we have
to brush, so I think the ultimate cat tooth care will include a daily
brushing a flossing

† Phil P used the term shatter some time ago on here, on this same
topic, didn't want him to think someone was stealing his coinage

kurupt wrote:


I think pet food makers should consider a hybrid wet/dry food product
dry enough to come in a bag, wet enough to do away with can food
healthy enough for a lion, but made for a small house cat


I don't think it would be possible to make something like that.

It's not that hard to serve dry food AND wet food. I have dry food
available 24/7, and I serve canned food twice a day. There's some waste
since they don't finish the canned food, but it's no biggie. It's worth
it to me.