Ever try to hold down a 75 pound dog while attempting to brush his teeth?  Better yet, how many have had success in making their kitty understand that brushing is for their own good?  The claws disagree.  What was the cost of your pet’s last dental at the vet’s office?  Not cheap and frankly, whenever anesthesia is involved, not safe – Especially for our older pets who are often the ones who end up needing a dental the most.

The teeth of a 13 year old German Shepherd Dog, fed raw since age 7, never had a dental.

How often have you heard people tell you that they have to feed dry kibble to their pet because it keeps their teeth clean?  Did you believe them?  How about if they tell you its a special DENTAL formula dry food?  More convincing?  Hate to burst any bubbles but its pure, unadulterated malarkey.  When’s the last time YOUR teeth felt clean after you chewed on some pretzels?  My guess is that you actually had to forcibly remove some of the residue that was stuck in your teeth.  Same goes for a pet that eats something roughly the same texture and consistency.  Check out the gum line of a dog that just got done downing a big old bowl of kibble – mushy “goodness” stuck all around.  Yum……What is happening is that the kibble is actually contributing to the development of tartar and plaque.  Grain based foods (and to a lesser extent their better but still not perfect grain free counterparts) leave all kinds of bacteria forming particles behind on your pet’s teeth.   Starches, sugars – carbs.  All feed bacteria and the mouth is a great place to take up residence.  Bacteria leads to plaque and tarter which lead to gingivitis (gum disease) which can then lead to infections throughout the bloodstream even resulting in kidney disease or liver failure.  Bad times.  There IS an easy solution – believe it or not.

Keep your puppy smiling from the beginning by starting him out right. He’ll never know what a dental even IS!

Raw meat and raw bones offer up what could be called a “miracle” both in lowering existing tartar and retarding the growth of more.  Get rid of the tarter and plaque, avoid gum disease and infection.  Certainly the physical chewing of raw meaty bones can go a long way towards this result.  The physical act of chewing large chunks of meat and spongy bone is like a natural flossing for your pet.  What you may not know though is that raw meat and bones do essentially the same job whether whole or ground.  True!  The enzymes provided by the raw meat are just the ones that retard bacteria growth and prevent all the mouth nastiness that leads to bad teeth and infections.  These enzymes are denatured and destroyed during the cooking/heating process of making kibble (or even of a cooked homemade diet).  They aren’t there so they can’t work.  So long as you are feeding a natural raw diet, it matters NOT if you decide ground is the way or whole works best – both are going to benefit your pet’s mouth in essentially the same way.  Remember too that dogs and cats fed a natural raw diet have overall better immune systems than do those fed processed commercial diets – this goes a long way towards making sure that they can keep up a defense to any invading bad bacterias in a much more efficient and effective way.  All systems are stronger which means an overall healthier pet.

Tarter and the resulting gum disease make for one sad puppy….A raw diet can change all of that!

So the next time someone tells you that feeding kibble is the only way to good dental health, don’t laugh in their faces but simply smile to yourself knowing that you and your pets will be having a nice steak dinner with that money they are shelling out to the vet for a much needed dental.  Whether ground or whole, raw meat is the optimal way to keep your pet’s smile as perfect and pearly white as it can be.