Top Rated Dental Treat for Your Cat – Reviews & Guide
If you’re looking for the best dental treats for cats but don’t have the time to do your own research, then you’ve come to the right place. After going through scores of cat dental treats reviews, we’ve concluded that the IAMS 10137558 is the product you should consider. The crunchy texture makes this option really good at removing plaque and tartar, and the taste of these treats are usually tolerated even by cats that are hard to please. If this choice is unavailable, we recommend the Emerald Pet 00401 -CC as a viable alternative.
Comparison table
Our Top Choice
Their crunchy texture makes these treats the obvious choice for many cat parents. Because they can clean the dentition as the cat sinks his or her teeth into the kibbles, they are effective against both settled tartar and plaque. Their taste is well tolerated even by demanding cats, and they are packed with vitamins and minerals. The ground flaxseeds add antioxidants to the mix.
It looks like a small percentage of cats that have tried them have experienced mild digestive problems.
A type of treats that will protect your cat’s teeth against plaque and tartar.
2nd Best
If you want to have a cat with clean teeth, then you may want to try this particular brand. The recipe for these treats had in mind not only the dental hygiene of your cat but his or her overall wellbeing, as well. Each treat has just two calories, and there is no grain in the recipe, to avoid adding too much to a cat’s diet with consequences in the long run. These treats come in chicken flavor.
A few buyers have complained that they could not tolerate the smell of the product, although their cats love the treats.
A grain-free formula for treats that can be enjoyed all day long by your cats.
Also To Consider
The best thing about these treats is that they contain specially formulated enzymes that can actually clean your cat’s teeth. When they come in contact with your pet’s saliva, these enzymes have the effect of removing plaque and tartar and also break down the bacteria that causes them. Furthermore, these treats are fish-flavored, so that makes them rather attractive to many cats.
These treats are anything but small, so you have to cut them if your cat is petite or hasn’t grown into an adult.
This Virbac option contains enzymes that help remove plaque and tartar.
5 Best Dental Treats for Cats (Reviews) in 2021
1. AMS Proactive Health Oral Care Daily Treats
These IAMS bits have the usual deep ridges you find in similar products, and their kibble is also especially crunchy to provide for better abrasion from all sides as your cat sinks its teeth into them.
This seems to work particularly well against tartar and plaque, as the IAMS do appear to make a discernible difference, both when removing the layers already settled and in preventing the teeth from yellowing, as the overwhelmingly positive customer feedback would suggest.
Most cats are reported to love their tuna flavoring and to receive every bit of it as an actual treat, rather than turning their nose in search of something better.
They also contain enough vitamins and nutrients to last the little critters throughout the day. While mostly chicken meal, grains with added natural flavor and a whole list of vitamins and minerals, you’ll be happy to find ground flaxseeds among its ingredients which is one of the richest sources of antioxidants.
The IAMS cat treats feature deep-cleaning ridges which will help reduce plaque and tartar buildup to maintain proper oral health for your beloved pet.
The crunchy kibble is not only great for your cat’s teeth but also for its tummy since it features tasty and natural ingredients that your furry pal will love to nibble on.
It contains enough nutrients and vitamins to last your cat throughout the day until it is time for a proper meal.
Among the ingredients, you will also find ground flaxseed which is a great addition to this treat since it is one of the richest sources of antioxidants you can find in cat food.
If you have a picky critter, you can safely go for this option since buyers have reported that the salmon flavor is irresistible.
While not a big problem, a very small percentage of buyers have reported that some cats can experience mild digestive problems after eating the treat.
2. Emerald PET Cat Chicken Dental Grain Free Treats
If you want the dental treats to have as little effect on your cat’s weight as possible, then this is definitely the product for you. This Emerald Pet treat doesn’t contain any grain, which is a rich source of carbohydrates that can add over time to form fat.
But at less than two calories per treat, the Emerald Pet is as fattening as a tic-tac, meaning you won’t have to make any special allowances when adding it to your cat’s nutrition. The kitty will still get something crunchy to scrape its teeth against, however, and despite being 100% natural, this product offers a lot of nutrients and vitamins.
It has chicken fat, as well as ground chicken and pea protein, alfalfa leaves for chlorophyll, and a whole slew of other stuff. The natural chicken flavoring is said to be popular with most cats, and one or two of these treats can be successfully used for sneaking pills or as rewards.
This all-natural treat will help reduce plaque and tartar build-up without resorting to harmful chemicals, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.
Each piece of this tasty treat contains less than 2 calories so that you can safely offer them to your pet without having to worry that it will affect their weight or health.
It is available in five different flavors which include chicken, catnip, salmon, tuna, and turducky so that you can pick the one featuring the flavor your pet likes the most.
The nibbles are shaped like a fish and this choice has a practical reason behind it since it allows each piece to be big enough and shaped to encourage chewing instead of swallowing.
This product is rewarding for cats and their parents alike and apart from cleaning your pet’s teeth, it will also promote fresh breath.
One customer has reported that after giving her cat this dental treat it started to develop crystals.
3. Virbac C.E.T. Enzymatic Oral Hygiene Chews
Virbac seems to have taken a somewhat clinical approach to this product. Besides offering a crunchy surface to chew on, the treats also contain the type of enzymes used on teeth cleaning food additives.
When mixed with saliva, these enzymes help remove plaque or tartar by breaking down the bacteria causing them. You can say the C.E.T. 701 has a dual action, in both softening plaque and contributing to its physical removal, as the cat grinds its teeth on the crunchy surface.
The fish-flavored product we feature contains a good deal of dried fish bits among its ingredients, which makes it pretty attractive to cats, as well as offering some of their daily intake of protein and nutrients.
The only complaint we’ve encountered about it refers to the size of the chunks, which are a little too big and sometimes need to be cut down for smaller cats.
These tasty treats are clinically proven to improve your cat’s dental health by reducing plaque and by loosening tartar with each bite thanks to their abrasive texture.
The enticing fish-flavored morsels are made using natural ingredients and they can be fed daily to help clean the teeth and freshen the breath.
The bag is resealable and that will allow the treats to preserve their taste and chewy texture for longer.
If your cat is not a fan of fish-flavored snacks, the manufacturer offers the same treats with poultry as the main flavor for those picky eaters.
The bag contains 30 chewy treats and if you want to get a supply that will last you more than a month, you can opt for the 96 chews bag.
Buyers have reported that the quality of the chews can vary from bag to bag and that some have a more granular texture instead of the chewiness customers and their cats expect.
4. Purina Pro Plan Dry Cat Snack
Purina offers a pretty wide choice when it comes to flavor for their treats, with liver, fish or chicken, depending on your cat’s preferences. They all seem to do a pretty good job at cleaning the animal’s teeth, if customer reviews are to be believed, and can prove popular enough with the vast majority of cats.
Two complementary flavors can be mixed in the same bag, like chicken and liver, to cover a wider taste palette for particularly fussy cats. This will ensure that you get at least half your money’s worth if the little critter just can’t stand a particular aroma.
This should only happen very rarely, judging by the feedback they received, but some cats do find them hard to swallow due to their significant size. This isn’t in itself a bad thing, as dental treats are most effective when chewed on, but it could prove frustrating for 15lb+ specimens that might repeatedly try to swallow them whole.
The Purina treats are available in a wide variety of flavors that include liver, chicken, or fish so that you can pick the one that meets your cat’s preferences.
You can purchase more flavors and combine them together to create a flavorful mix that can cover a wider taste palette, which is particularly useful if you have picky cats.
Customer reviews are very positive with most of them praising the taste, quality, and the efficiency that the product has at cleaning the animal’s teeth.
Apart from the active ingredients designed to improve the oral health of your pet, this option also includes vitamins and minerals that will benefit the overall well-being of your cat.
Some cats have difficulty in eating these treats and their owners say that is because they are too large and round which makes them very hard to chew properly, especially for young kitties.
5. Feline Greenies Dental Treats For Cats
The Greenies we’ve looked at come in a jumbo package that provides good value and will last you a fair while, despite the relatively high recommended daily dosage of up to 18 treats for a mature cat.
This is due to the relatively small size of each piece, which coupled with the irregular shape and hardness, should provide for plenty of crunchy edges and angles for your kitty to clean its teeth on.
Most owners do report a significant improvement in their pet’s dental hygiene after feeding them these Greenies, which seem to be equally effective as treats, for rewarding good behavior or for helping the medicine go down.
Most cats are expectedly highly enthusiastic with the tuna flavoring, but the crackers also contain vitamins, minerals and nutrients to improve their general health. This can make them ideal dietary supplements, especially for cats that aren’t allowed to go outside and fulfill their nutritional requirements by hunting.
This is the perfect choice for owners who are tired of constantly having to buy new treats and want to get a large package that will last them for a long time.
The container features a resealable lid that will let you take just the amount of snacks you want for the day without the other treats getting spoiled or losing their crunchy texture.
These treats offer a complete nutrition while also helping your adult cat maintain good dental health.
Feline Greenies is a brand well known for the quality and care it puts in every product and it should come as no surprise that it is recommended by vets.
This option features a mix of tuna, salmon and oven-roasted chicken that no feline will be able to resist.
The product includes rosemary extract as one of the ingredients and this plant can cause seizures in cats, so buyers will need to be careful.
Our Comprehensive Buying Guide
Cat dental care products do more than keeping our pet’s teeth white and its breath bearable. Oral health can often impact the general well being of the animal as both cavities and gingivitis can cause a significant amount of pain and dietary restriction. Good cat dental treats are a very convenient way to ensure that the pet’s dentition stays clean and healthy, sometimes paired up with other measures, often on their own. What are some things to have in mind when browsing through what’s available for sale?
What makes them work?
Needless to say, the best dental treats for cats should provide for adequate cleaning. This is usually done by abrasion, like with a toothbrush and paste combo. So they must feature a hard, gritty surface for the cat’s teeth to rub against without easily tearing it off. The interior should preferably be crunchy and slightly porous, so tartar will get caught in the texture when the animal sinks its teeth.
Size and shape are less straightforward factors. Large treats are sometimes considered better since they provide more opportunities for chewing, but they also significantly add to the caloric intake of the cat and might frustrate smaller animals.
A way manufacturers avoid these drawbacks while also ensuring that the snack won’t simply be gulped without chewing is by using irregular shapes, which provide a high surface area for the cat to grab on while minimizing overall volume.
Neither of these solutions is decisively better than the other, with large size treats being generally recommended for bigger stronger cats while odd shapes usually work better with smaller ones.
Flavoring
The best cat dental treats should be something your cat will crave and favor over regular food. Among other things, this will make the cat chew harder when it’s presented with it, which will increase the snack’s teeth-cleaning potential.
If adequately popular, treats can also help with training, by making it into a reward for good behavior, or be used to aid treatment, by providing a good hiding location for a pill that won’t otherwise be swallowed.
Dental treats come in many flavors since cat preferences can vary from individual to individual, but the most common are tuna, salmon, chicken, and liver. Natural flavoring is preferable for each, as a feline’s keen senses can generally tell the difference.
Ingredients and nutrition
Just because treats aren’t supposed to be your cat’s main source of food, this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t contribute to the animal’s general health by providing some additional nutritional value. Most good manufacturers tend to supplement their mixes with essential vitamins and minerals, both as part of natural ingredients or as a synthetic additive.
The difference between the two methods is practically non-existent since the calcium from an eggshell is the same as the one bought from a chemist, so don’t let it affect your judgment.
You should, however, read the label for the presence of the type of nutrients you know your cat is generally lacking, especially if you don’t let the animal wander outside.
Bibliography:
1) Tips on How to Keep Your Cat’s Teeth Clean
2) Getting Serious About Your Cat’s Dental Health
3) Cat Teeth Cleaning: Do or Don’t?
Other articles that might interest you:
1) Natural Flea Treatments for Cats
April 28, 2018 at 6:00 pm
The greenies treats seemed great at first, but after a few months of feeding them to our cats it caused major intestinal blockages and nearly killed our cat, I don’t recommend anyone buying these. We aren’t the only ones with this issue, it’s very common with the greenies products
Reply
April 29, 2018 at 10:30 am
Hi Linsy and thank you for letting us know. We’ll make several changes on our page so that it’s not the 1st recommended product, in this case. We definitely wouldn’t want any cat parents to have to go through what you and your family had to experience because of these treats. Thanks for commenting and have a great day!
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October 18, 2018 at 3:36 am
You wrote you’ld bump Greenies from your #1 choice.
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October 18, 2018 at 8:23 am
I’ll make the change right away. I’m sorry, but I got wrapped up in so many other things I had to do.
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