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Best Dental Health Kibble


Guest Becky__R

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Guest Becky__R

Just came back from a vet visit. Sophie (12 years +) was having peeing problems. She had a few accidents in the house, which is not like her. I had her checked for a urinary tract infection. She didn't have one. Vet said that she may have early kidney disease. She said that a yucky mouth could aggravate the kidneys. We have chosen to put off dental cleaning for now since Sophie is very frail. The vet prescribed an antibiotic to get rid of some of the germs in her mouth, and prescribed Hills Prescription Diet t/d kibble. It is really large chunks that she has to work at chewing up. Does anyone have a better recommendation for a very large chunk dental health kibble?

 

Here is the Hills ingredient list: Brewers Rice, Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Mill Run, Soybean Oil, Chicken Liver Flavor, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

 

Last medical question, vet said that early kidney disease [i can't remember if she said it was kidney disease or kidney failure] wasn't always detectable so we might get a false negative from running a test. Her symptoms are increased drinking, lots of urination and straining to go to the bathroom (tries to go even when she doesn't have any pee to pass). Any advice on this issue? Please be kind, it's hard to know what is the best action with an older, frail dog.

 

 

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Guest cruzNhounds

I've seen this food, a patient we had requested that a family member bring his Pomeranian in for a visit, they had a bowl of food down that poor dog :rolleyes: kibble was bigger than it :lol . Apparently the vet had the dog on this food for the same reason.

 

Here's my :2c

#1 it's ingredients suck IMO, I would never feed my dog corn and Powdered Cellulose??? what the hang is that!

#2 clean her teeth daily with some gauze and some sort of rinse, some people use Petzlife, C.E.T (we use both here).

#3 that kibble is HUGE with an already sore mouth "OUCH" I would be worried that she won't eat because of that.

 

I hope you girls feels better soon, she's has a loving momma that will do the best she can. :grouphug :grouphug :grouphug

 

ETA Is your Vet more concerned about Dental Disease or Kidney Disease? just wondering because of the food recommendation.

Edited by cruzNhounds
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Guest Becky__R

We're more concerned about kidney health than dental. Tooth brushing isn't helping with the yuck mouth. Sophie isn't showing dental pain, but the vet was worried about the yuck mouth causing kidney distress. She said that the work up on the urine didn't show diabetes. I could go back and do a blood test for diabetes to make sure. I'm not sure if feeding her crappy food is the best way to scale her teeth. I was surprised to see that Sophie ate the giant Hills dog food Brick. I gave it to both my dogs, and they acted like it was a great treat. So is feeding the dog food equivalent of "Cool-Ranch Doritos" really going to make her healthy in the long run? Should I just buck up and have her teeth cleaned, even though she is weakly? Her choppers were cleaned and a few ouchy teeth were pulled abut 14 months ago. She seems older and more frail now. I decided to put dental cleaning on hold. Who cares if her breath stinks? I thought. Better to have tooth scale than to die during general anesthesia. But now I'm reconsidering. I'd rather have her die from surgery, than to suffer through a slow kidney burnout.

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When my last dog got old, he also had suspected kidney issues. We put him on Hills K/D, and he did just fine. There were no issues.

 

We get so obsessed dog food these days. Truth is, millions of dogs do just fine on what many of us consider "junk."

 

She's 12. If the vet thinks the diet may help her, then I personally wouldn't concern myself over the notion that it's not "good" food. It's kind of relative--if the formulation helps her teeth, which in turn help her kidneys, then she'll be better off than she is now on what I can only presume is a "good" food, right?

 

My understanding is the reason the kibbles are so large is to force the dog to chew them. I don't know about your girl, but George swallows his kibble mostly whole. So there is NO chance it's going to clean his teeth! If she has to bust up the kibbles to eat them, then the theory is that the kibble is scraping away at tartar.

 

I hope you can find something that makes her feel better!


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Powdered Cellulose??? what the hang is that!

 

essentially sawdust.... :rolleyes: That's my understanding

Usually either sawdust or cotton.

"Raw cotton is composed of 91% pure cellulose; other important natural sources are flax, hemp, jute, straw, and wood."

They used to use peanut hulls in the Science Diet light and dental.

Celluose is the reason I will not feed Poodle Hill's w/d as my vet suggested (and some other light foods) for his diabetes.

The t/d ingredients are crap and I''m not a dog food snob by any means. I'll feed a food with corn. I'll feed a food with chicken byproduct meal but I won't feed a food with cellouse and soy bean mill run where the only meat is byproduct meal and it is the third ingredient.

 

IMHO kibble is kibble as far as tooth cleaning power. Seriously, the first two ingredients are brewers rice and corn. How do those two ingredients clean teeth?

FWIW When I worked for Blue Buffalo as a demo person my boss told me that labels like "indoor cat" "senior" and dental" were just marketing tools.

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Guest Greyt_dog_lover

what about getting some raw femur bones or raw knuckles for cleaning? I have found that they are excellent at cleaning teeth, take the bone out of the freezer, and let your hound chomp away for about 30 minutes, repeat 2 or 3 times a week until there is no marrow left and all the "extras" attached to the bone are gone. This usually takes about 5 good sessions with my hounds.

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I've been giving Rose DentaStix, one every other day. Her teeth have never looked better. DentaStix seem to be a LOT easier to chew than the greenies were, and she likes them a whole lot better. They sell them @ PetsMart.

Laurie

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I think I remember someone asking Dr Cuoto about kibble and he said dry kibble, no matter what brand, will really do nothing to clean the teeth. Just another way to market a product.

 

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We give the Hills t/d to our dogs as supplements, rather than their main kibble. They get three or four before each meal. Kenzie's mouth isn't that big, and she would end up dropping about half of the big biscuit. She'd pick up some of the crumbs but leave many too. When I bought a second bag from our vet, they gave me the small bite size--and I'm actually happier with that! She is able to keep the whole thing in her mouth but she still has to chew it. The small size is still bigger than the "large bite" regular food. Badger, like George, can inhale his regular kibble without much chewing, but he does have to chew the t/d pieces.

 

Hope Sophie is feeling better soon!

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Missing Badger (Vf Get R Done: Quicksand Slip x Ll Tee el See), 5/04 - 2/14, who opened our hearts and our home to greyhounds; Kenzie (Slatex Kenzie: Randy Handy x Slatex Chrisy), 4/03 - 10/14, who really knew what a good dog she was; Falcon (Atascocita Sabat: Dodgem by Design x Atascocita Barb), 9/10 - 1/20, who was grumpy and snarky but eventually a little bit cuddly, too; Grandpa Grey the Galgo Español, 2008 (?) to 2022, who made us feel lucky to be the ones to teach him about pet life; and Lucia (Larking About x Anastasia, 5/12 to 8/23), our first brood matron and the sweetest speckly girl. 

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We give the Hills t/d to our dogs as supplements, rather than their main kibble.

 

Good idea :) .

 

Sounds like OP's pupper could use a course of antibiotics whether she appears to have a UTI or not -- the nasty teeth are likely to be causing some infection. Has she had bloodwork?

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Guest Becky__R

We didn't do bloodwork, I guess I should have asked for it. I emailed Hill's and asked for the plant source of the cellulose. I haven't heard back and I'm sure I won't. I've never tried the raw bones, so that is worth a shot, too. I have a good butcher near by. I think that me writing out my problem here in the forum made me realize that even though there is a significant risk, for her quality of life, I will have her teeth cleaned soon. The choppers in the front are fine. The far back ones need some attention.

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