Dental Dry Food Scam?

Hi fellow cat lovers out there! I hope to reach out to those of you who were users of the Purina Dental dry cat food which was recently discontinued by the makers. Their reply to the many cat owners who asked why this happened was that there was not enough interest in the product. Judging by the amount of people who complained to Purina, I find this reason quite unfathomable. Anyway, while searching for an alternate source of dental food for my cats(the dental balls did a superb job in cleaning my cats' teeth!), I discovered that Purina actually has another dental product called Veterinary Diet DH. I promptly ordered some to give it a try. Once it arrived I discovered it is EXACTLY the same as the discontinued brand with one very important difference--it costs 4 times as much money for the same amount!!! It appears to me that Purina is using supposed veterinary recommendation(?) as an excuse to soak the consumer for the same product they supposedly discontinued due to lack of interest! Shame, shame, SHAME on Purina!

I don't know this is so much a scam as maybe there was not enough interest at retail to keep manufacturing or for stores to give shelf space. Sort of like Trader Joe - some of my favorite products obviously were not favorites of enough other people. I find it very frustrating. But, perhaps enough vets wanted another line of prescription dental food available to make a small run reasonable - albeit at higher cost.

On the other hand, it can be a good thing that the food is available at all - what if you cat didn't like the Hills prescription dental food?

I know science diet and Royal Canin both make a dental diet too. My moms cats love the royal canin(about 15 for the lil bag).

Science Diet makes a petstore diet and a RX Diet for dental never compared them more closely tho.

I've googled to other forums about the discontinued dental food and saw many posts from people who had used this product for years and couldn't understand the reasoning behind Purina's cancellation of the line. As a longtime Dental Diet buyer myself I had arrived at my local supermarket many times to find this item sold out or down to 1 or 2 bags on a weekly basis. Because of this I have to consider the non-interest excuse as untrue and absurd.

If you could sell the same product for much more you'd do it, too. I have no doubt that Purina did it as a combination of being able to charge more and maybe in relation to which of their plants make it.
It's all about profit in the end.

Perhaps this may be a good excuse to upgrade the kitties to a better regular diet, and handle dental care in another fashion? I haven't used, but have read about little finger toothbrushes with fish flavored cat toothpaste, and there are dental treats like greenies available.

I don't believe there is actually any dry food that does anything for a cat's dental health. Cats do not chew, i.e., their jaws only go up and down not side to side as we do. Cats break the larger pieces of food with the tip of their tooth and swallow which does nothing to help get rid of the plaque higher up on the gum line.

Personally I believe we humans should get our cats used to having their teeth brushed on a regular basis, especially with the cost of a vet's dental procedure.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I don't believe there is actually any dry food that does anything for a cat's dental health. Cats do not chew, i.e., their jaws only go up and down not side to side as we do. Cats break the larger pieces of food with the tip of their tooth and swallow which does nothing to help get rid of the plaque higher up on the gum line.

Personally I believe we humans should get our cats used to having their teeth brushed on a regular basis, especially with the cost of a vet's dental procedure.

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Apparently the "dental diets" are designed to break in a different way than regular kibble so they "scrape" the tooth. However I'm with you. Totally skeptical of any usefulness of a "dental diet".

And tooth scraping kibble, even if they actually do, does nothing for the gum, but, like other kibble, probably leaves crumbs that stick to teeth, get between teeth and below the gum line, and cause tartar build up, decay and gingivitis.

Genetics, home care, and professional cleanings when needed is what determines a cat's dental health. A good quality diet helps too of course.

Originally Posted by Tominator

Hi fellow cat lovers out there! I hope to reach out to those of you who were users of the Purina Dental dry cat food which was recently discontinued by the makers. Their reply to the many cat owners who asked why this happened was that there was not enough interest in the product. Judging by the amount of people who complained to Purina, I find this reason quite unfathomable. Anyway, while searching for an alternate source of dental food for my cats(the dental balls did a superb job in cleaning my cats' teeth!), I discovered that Purina actually has another dental product called Veterinary Diet DH. I promptly ordered some to give it a try. Once it arrived I discovered it is EXACTLY the same as the discontinued brand with one very important difference--it costs 4 times as much money for the same amount!!! It appears to me that Purina is using supposed veterinary recommendation(?) as an excuse to soak the consumer for the same product they supposedly discontinued due to lack of interest! Shame, shame, SHAME on Purina!

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Being in the business (so to speak) I can probably guess that their retail sales of the product have either slumped, or were never a big seller to begin with. Companies will do this with products that do not perform up to their expectations. Either that, or the retailer themselves thought the product was not a big seller. In this case the retailer does not want the product sitting on their shelves taking up space when another product might produce more profit. So the retailer discontinues carrying the product. It's a profit issue from either end, the company itself or the retailer.

You might look at other dental alternatives such as feline Greenies for dental health. My cats love them. You can also check out other brands to see if they may have a dental formula. I've been feeding my cats Nutro Max (Nutro does not manufacture a dental formula) for years and I use feline Greenies as a treat. None of them have had dental issues and the oldest kitty just turned 15.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I don't believe there is actually any dry food that does anything for a cat's dental health. Cats do not chew, i.e., their jaws only go up and down not side to side as we do. Cats break the larger pieces of food with the tip of their tooth and swallow which does nothing to help get rid of the plaque higher up on the gum line.

Personally I believe we humans should get our cats used to having their teeth brushed on a regular basis, especially with the cost of a vet's dental procedure.

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I can't speak for other brands but Nutro Natural Choice cat food is geared towards dental health by the unique shape of the kibble. While it is not marketed as a "dental" cat food, it does have the capabilities of helping with dental care. The unique shape & texture help scrub away plaque and tartar for clean teeth and fresh breath.

Brushing is always a good idea. I don't know of too many people that do it though. I have never had to because all of my pets have great check ups and none have had dental issues, knock on wood. I use dental treats like Greenies and a couple of others to help with plaque and tartar control as well.

Originally Posted by NutroMike

I can't speak for other brands but Nutro Natural Choice cat food is geared towards dental health by the unique shape of the kibble. While it is not marketed as a "dental" cat food, it does have the capabilities of helping with dental care. The unique shape & texture help scrub away plaque and tartar for clean teeth and fresh breath.

Brushing is always a good idea. I don't know of too many people that do it though. I have never had to because all of my pets have great check ups and none have had dental issues, knock on wood. I use dental treats like Greenies and a couple of others to help with plaque and tartar control as well.

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I don't believe any dry food is good for dental health, my opinion only of course. I look at it this way, if I eat a dry biscuit it mixes with the saliva in my mouth and sticks in all the crevices in my teeth whereas if I eat beef stew (as in wet cat food), very little of the beef stew stays stuck in my teeth. I've had cats for years that never had dental issues and they weren't fed any special diet. Personally I think it's a money grab from gullible people when companies claim their formula will help fight tartar and plaque.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I don't believe any dry food is good for dental health, my opinion only of course. I look at it this way, if I eat a dry biscuit it mixes with the saliva in my mouth and sticks in all the crevices in my teeth whereas if I eat beef stew (as in wet cat food), very little of the beef stew stays stuck in my teeth. I've had cats for years that never had dental issues and they weren't fed any special diet. Personally I think it's a money grab from gullible people when companies claim their formula will help fight tartar and plaque.

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Hi there Yosemite, What is it that you do for dental care for your cats? Do you feed an all wet diet? I feed my cats Nutro wet/dry mix along with Greenies dental treats. You did not say if you fed an all wet or dry or mix. I'm really glad your kitties have had no dental issues.

Cats are mammals like us Maintaining our own dental health is difficult enough and we have things we use on a daily basis to help us along. Tooth brushes, paste, dental rinses etc. I think diet is extremely important in helping to maintain proper dental health for our meezers. Oral disease occurs in about 85% of our feline friends.

What we feed them plays a huge role in how well the kitties teeth and gums are maintained. Fresh water plays a huge role in helping wash off food stuck in the teeth. It's why I use water fountains. The fountains also help maintain the freshness of the water.

What the cats eat is also very important. High quality cat foods have less fillers and therefore less sugar and extra added carbs. Bacteria loves sugar and carbs. Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care is a high quality cat food that is formulated so that the crunch and texture of the kibble really goes far in the way of helping to keep the food from adhering to the teeth and gums.

Just my 2 cents

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I don't believe there is actually any dry food that does anything for a cat's dental health. Cats do not chew, i.e., their jaws only go up and down not side to side as we do. Cats break the larger pieces of food with the tip of their tooth and swallow which does nothing to help get rid of the plaque higher up on the gum line.

Personally I believe we humans should get our cats used to having their teeth brushed on a regular basis, especially with the cost of a vet's dental procedure.

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I had read some long articles a while back while doing research on it for a friend.

They actually use very expensive and elaborate machinery to create a kibble of sufficient size and integrity to mechanically scrape the teeth, providing action similar to brushing to prevent tartar build up. Mastacation also improves blood flow to the area to maintain healthy gums, something that commercial wet food unfortunately does not provide.

They then add ingredients which inhibit bacterial growth in the mouth naturally, such as green tea extract.

Lastly, the kibble is coated with STP which when exposed to saliva in the mouth inhibits tartar build up.

None of these diets can CLEAN a tooth, but if you bring your cat to a vetenarian for a proper tooth scraping and polishing, such a diet can help maintain dental health.

Nothing wrong with brushing either, should the cats tolerate it and the caretaker can be consistent, as once you have hardened calculus, you really need a vet visit again. The obvious benefit with this route, is that you can feed whatever high quality food you like.

But how do you make a cat chew dry food? Only two of mine marginally do so. Most of the time I clean up dry food regirgitation it is solid unchewed food.
That's the same reason I think Greenies are useless, my cats never chewed those, either, and the Greenies are large.