Dental Diets

Hey. So Sansa was due for her dental checkup yesterday and the vet concluded that there is still gingivitis on her teeth. Not as bad as last time but this is likely going to be a lifelong thing- the clinic now offers a dental program in which yearly cleanings are reduced to 200$ *as long as* owners comply with and keep up t date on yearly checkups, including blood and fecal sample testing. 

Here's my thing: The vet encouraged me to buy Purina DH dental food because she said the science diet dental one from the regular store just isn't cut out the same way and therefore, doesn't work. Okay, I said. We compared the ingredients/price/digestibility charts  from purina and hills and royal canin- Purina came out the best but I am just disgusted at the confusion I feel over this nutrition thing. In 4 and a half years I have spent literally HOURS researching cat nutrition and have tried everything from grocery store food to holistic to vet food. The overwhelming agreement is that cat's are obligate carnivores and therefore cannot digest filler food like corn and fruits/veg in large amounts. The vet was very firm in her argument that corn is not a filler and that it's just a cheaper protein and energy source for pet food. The chart from Purina's little book showed the food was palatable and digestible in their tests. 

I bought the HD food and out of curiousity I did my own "tooth" test using a knife to split apart the kibble of Science Diet and the Purina food. The Purina (supposedly the better one) broke apart immediately similar to regular kibbles and the Science Diet one stuck better to the knife imitating the cat's tooth which gets engulfed and scraped before breaking.

I guess I am after a couple things here: 

Are these foods as awful as I think they are, ingredient wise? I have a real ethical dilemma feeding **** to my cats that may lead to further problems in kidneys and bladder later. I DO feed 3 small meals a day. The first 2 consist of 1/2 kibble and 1/2 wet and their last meal at night is all wet. I mix up their wet food so they usually get a scoop of something like Friskies pate and then a scoop of a better quality wet in each meal. I always mix the brands and flavors so they can never get too picky. 

Has anybody else found a difference in the vet dental kibbles and the store dental kibbles?

I can't speak about the kibble but I would like to pass along what seems to work well for My cat's teeth. For a snack, Tuff gets about an ounce of raw chicken gizzard daily,in addition to 2 cans (3 Oz each) of fancy feast classic. I think the gizzards are great for teeth cleaning and he loves it. I have read a lot of articles on this and gizzards are highly recommended, besides being much healthier than dry.

I agree with you and while we haven't actually tried gizzards yet (yuck!) we do know that Sansa is not interested in raw chicken when my partner prepares it. Oliver goes bananas for it but Sansa sniffs it and walks away. Thanks though! Maybe it's a miracle waiting to happen. 

Personally I wouldn't bother with any dry food that claims to be for dental health, even one that a vet encourages / recommends / pushes / etc you to buy. The ingredients are really bad and really don't do anything to clean teeth. Corn IS a filler. Many vets know very little about cat nutrition and some may use their position as someone with a DVM degree to sway pet owners to feed X food.

You can politey but firmly refuse to buy the food the vet  wants you to feed. If you already bought the food, you can return it for a refund. Just say your cat won't eat it.

Brushing a cat's teeth on a regular basis is the best way to keep the teeth and gums healthy. There are many threads here on TCS about brushing a cat's teeth. Most cats don't take to brushing right away so have patience and reward with a treat.

Short of brushing, or in addition to it, you can try the CET dental chews. These are the only ones I would recommend. The treats are pretty large and it takes a good bit og chewing and gnawing on for the cat to break it up into small easy to eat pieces. Many online pet stores have these treats and some independent pet stores may as well.

There is actually no evidence that dry food helps to clean a cat's teeth at all. Cats tend to swallow dry food whole, rather than chewing it. The dental kibble pieces are a little larger, in the hope that the cat will chew them before swallowing, but the jury is still out on whether this works or not.

Here's an article that explains in more detail.

 [article="30205"]Does Dry Food Actually Clean Your Cats Teeth​[/article]  

Thanks to both of you for your input. I did a lot of researching in trying to find a proactive, humane vet (one that doesn't perform declawing) and this is the one I found. I will be honest, I don't like her pushiness on the vet foods- I do like the reduced rate on dental cleanings though and I think I will stick with her just for that aspect with Sansa. She has not seen Oliver yet, maybe I will find another vet and compare them. It's just so overwhelming.

I will buy those dental chews and see if she likes them. Honestly, Sansa is so hard to please it's unreal. She doesn't care about treats: she eats them if they're opened close to her but she won't come to them usually. She HATES being brushed and picked at. We had to shave her at the hips because even though we spent over 100$ on different brushes we still cannot stay on top of her knots. To try to brush her teeth is just laughable. I am at my wit's end on that one, so I just let her lick the toothbrush. Figure it's better than not having it. 

I will feed them this bag of vet food and use the time in the meanwhile to find another brand. They both chew the dental kibbles because I have sat and watched them to make sure, But you're right, I hate the ingredients list and I don't want to be tricked by my vet about it. 

Thanks