Jax had a wellness check up yesterday, and I asked the vet about dental chews.
So far, his teeth are really healthy, and I want to keep them that way as long as possible. But I’ve tried several brands of dental chews, and I don’t like how gummy they become after just a few minutes of chewing. I’m concerned about the possible choking hazard as well as the possibility they could gum up his digestive tract.
Jax’s vet’s opinion is that the benefits of dental chews outweigh the risks as long as the chews are VOHC approved and are given under supervision. However, several kinds of Whimzees are listed as approved on the VOHC site, so it would be easy to buy the wrong product thinking it was okay.
http://www.vohc.org/VOHCAcceptedProductsTable_Dogs.pdf
I guess we need to check both the VOHC approval and the ingredient lists on the products.