Pet Dental Health Month

February is Dental Health Month for pets and dis iz an issue near and dear to me. I hab several friends wot haz crossed da rainbow bridge affer habbing teeth cleanings or teeth problems. Bad teeth can seriously endanger your pets. So it doz be sumfin u need to takes care of on a daily basis. Not all cats or dogs will put up wif habbin der teeth brushed. Dat's where teeth cleaning treats like Greenies come in. Dey still might need a dental cleaning every once in awhile but Greenies will really halp reduce tartar and keep your pets mouth clean.

Here some more information about Greenies and Dental Health.

Veterinary Oral Health Council Distinguishes Pet Dental Products

Pet product peer to American Dental Association seal for humans assures efficacy

NASHVILLE, TN—February 1, 2011—With recent medical data indicating that good oral health can add years to a pet’s healthy lifespan, pet owners are becoming more proactive in caring for their pets’ teeth. February is National Pet Dental Health Month, but dental care is getting due focus year round. Though only one percent of dog owners brush their dogs’ teeth daily, last year 77 percent purchased dental treats, which are regarded as an easier and more enjoyable alternative to brushing. ¹

 

But not all treats have been proven to work. As with the American Dental Association Seal on human toothpastes and toothbrushes, a special Seal of Acceptance by an organization called the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) provides confirmation of efficacy of the product. The VOHC Seal of Acceptance indicates that the product has met or exceeded the pre-set VOHC standards of efficacy in reducing dental plaque and/or tartar. 

 “There are a variety of pet treats and foods that claim to clean teeth, but not all products provide significant benefit,” says Dr. Jan Bellows, a leading veterinary dentist, diplomate and president-elect of the American Veterinary Dental College, the administrator of the VOHC. The VOHC created a seal of acceptance, which is only awarded to dental products proven effective by stringent clinical testing methodology. 

“The VOHC seal confirms a product is efficacious in reducing buildup of plaque and tartar, the leading cause of oral disease, which can reduce a pet’s healthy lifespan,” Dr. Bellows says. “Walk into any pet store and you will find dozens of treats that claim to clean teeth. While it’s easy to make teeth-cleaning claims, formulating a treat that significantly protects teeth is difficult. The VOHC seal is there to help pet owners and veterinarians recognize which products are proven to work.” 

The VOHC’s product testing protocols are similar to those of human medical trials that use a control and test group. For dental treat trials in dogs, for example, both groups utilize dogs with clean teeth that are fed a dry food diet, while only one group gets a daily dental treat. Plaque and tartar buildup are measured after 30 days and, if the test group shows significantly cleaner teeth, the seal is awarded to that treat.

GREENIES® Canine Dental Chews were the first brand of treats to receive the VOHC seal for both plaque and tartar control. GREENIES® Canine Dental Chews have a chewy texture that allows teeth to sink in for maximum tooth contact for cleaning efficacy.

About The Nutro Company

The Nutro Company is a leading manufacturer of natural* pet food products sold exclusively at pet specialty stores.  The company has been making "The World's Best Pet Food" for more than 80 years and is dedicated to quality, excellence and innovation in dog and cat nutrition, offering healthful formulas for every pet's life stage, activity level and size.  The Nutro Company's family of brands includes MAX^®, NATURAL CHOICE^® dog and cat foods and ULTRA™ food for dogs in addition to the GREENIES^® brands, which include the #1 vet-recommended pet specialty dental chews** and PILL POCKETS^® treats.  For more information, please visit www.thenutrocompany.com and www.greenies.com.

¹ 2009-2010 American Pet Products Association’s Annual Pet Owner Survey; Oral Health Care Study of 766 Dog Owners, January 2011, Conducted by Trone® Research

*Natural fortified with added vitamins and minerals

**Among veterinarians that recommend dental chews/treats for at home oral care

®/™ Trademarks © The Nutro Company 2011. U.S. Pat. No. D587,428

Busy Day wif Bissell

Ma humanz been needin a vacuum for sumtime now. We tried winnin one from Bissell in der contest, but no lucks. I even prakticed ma posin for bein on da Bissell box, but still no such lucks. Well ma humanz finally gotted tired of our sucky sucky-upper & come home today wif dis new one. I halped Human2 put it togetter but dat was before I knew wot wuz in dat box!

I wuz not so sure I wuz gonna like dis fing once it wuz all putted together. Humanz sez it to clean up all our kitteh hairs from out of da carpets. (Why dey called carPETS iffen dey not for pet hairs?)

Well dis iz my favorite spot to sleep & hide from thunderstorms. Az you can clearly see it iz COVERED in ma soft white under belly furs.

Dis ma favorite spot once dat Bissell Pet Hair Eraser® Vacuum gotted hold of it! Now I gonna hab to put all my furs back under der.

Look at dis fur. Dat iz all just frum ma sleepin spot! Can you believe dat? So since dis vacuum wuz so AMAZING ma humanz did da rest of da red carpet den went in & did da green livin room carpet too. Dey were even gonna pull out dat utter big sucky fing wot steams clean all da kitteh smell out of da carpets. Fank goodness dey sed we'll do dat tomorrow!

Well we gibbin dis 4 out of 4 paws for cleanin so good. But we gotted it at Target & da box wuz a little smashed so da vacuum inside haz a crack in the plastik just where the handle attaches (so dis one mite be goin back but we will get anutter one exactly like it --- wifout da crack of course).

National Hairball Awareness Day

Today is National Hairball Awareness sponsored by dem folks from FURminator.

Hairballs can be a big problem for cats. Not just the hacking dem up all over da place but vomiting and constipation iz a result of hairballs too.

I for one iz prone to havin poopy problems cause of hairballs!

We kittehs spend 90% of our waking hours groomin ourselves. So I finds it hard to believe dat any kitteh out der would not alreddy nose about hairballs (but der humanz might needs a lessen or 2 about dem).

Best hairball preventions is daily brushing from our humans. FURminator nose dis and makes a dang gud product to halp get rid of dem loose hairs so we cats dunt swallows it during oru bafs.

Along wif daily brushings and hair removals, kittehs should use a product like Petromalt wot will halp get rid of hairballs alreddy in u system. Petromalt halps me out when I get constipashuns and I likes da flavors of it (but i haz ma human trained to gib me little kibble size glops off herz fingers...dat iz fun!)

As always hab fresh water handy at all times for kittehs to drinks. Cat grass will also halp kittehs naturally expell dem hairballs.

So celebrates National Hairball Awareness Day wif us and put a stop to nasty hairball messes!

Wot Da Heck Iz Dat Big Sucky Fing?

Human2 comed home from werk and went straight to da big new sucky fing (a Bissell ProHeat 2X Deep Cleaner) wot herz bringed home a few days ago. I thoughted it wuz a decorashun cause it wuz just sitting & sitting der. But it not a decorashuns, oh no! It wuz loud & noisy & skeery. But I wuz fascinated by wot herz wuz doing where ma table used ta be.

I did sits on da stairs & watch az herz cleaned da entire ruggy. It did comes out really nice & clean. It looks almost noo. But boy was it hards werk. I hads ta takes a big long nappy affer all dat werks.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............