Virbac Plaque Tartar Control Enzymatic Dog and Cat Toothpaste, 2.5 oz, Beef

I am a registered dental hygienist (for people) who has also cleaned dog teeth in veterinary settings as well as my own dogs' teeth at home, so I can attest to the importance of good oral care for us and our pets! Regular effective cleaning can help guard against both tooth decay and gum disease (which causes the teeth to become loose and fall out eventually). Cleaning your pets' teeth "in office" at the vet is a valuable service -one which I highly recommend; but it's hard on your pet (anesthesia req'd) and on your pocketbook; so if you can do it once every few years instead of every year, you will both be better off! Let me be clear: if your vet recommends in-office treatment, then you should do it -there are many problems which they can diagnose and treat only in their office under anesthesia. But in the meantime, and afterward, you can do a lot at home.I've had great success with C.E.T. Enzymatic toothpastes -they work great, imho better than competitors' brands, and my dogs love the taste. Enzymatic toothpaste works by dissolving deposits chemically, before they harden into tarter which must then be removed with an instrument by a professional. Brushing is still vital, as the mechanical action also cleans the teeth -sprays just don't get it. You must brush regularly (before those deposits become hardened onto the teeth). Regular brushing also helps train your pet to accept treatment -really they all come to love it and look forward to the taste and the attention. You can start off very slowly, just putting the brush near their mouth, next time touch a few teeth, etc -reward with small taste of the toothpaste or with another tasty treat (I use tiny bits broken off a mozzarella stick) -S-L-O-W-L-Y build up the time you spend brushing...depending on your pet it may take days or weeks for them to accept long enough treatment time to clean all the teeth. There are many helpful videos online which demonstrate how to slowly train up to this and the instructions from C.E.T. are very good as well. I use a human kid-sized brush for the small dog and regular adult brush for the big guys, there is really no need for a special brush -though the ones with bristles that wrap around all sides of the teeth are kinda nice. This is a slow process at first, but invest the time and soon you'll be able to do it quickly and efficiently.Brush REGULARLY -no less than once a week, preferably every 1-2 days, to get those deposits off before they harden (they can harden in just a few days)! And brush your own teeth -twice a day, slowly (2-3 minutes), followed by flossing. Same rules apply: once that stuff hardens on there, only your dentist or hygienist can get it off...and as long as it's on there it is leading you closer to tooth decay and gum disease...and ultimately tooth loss. The sooner you begin, the better -please do not wait until the dog is old, not eating well because of tooth pain and missing teeth...often by this time your beloved pet is too old and unhealthy to risk anesthesia, and you feel terrible knowing you could have prevented this with a small investment of quality time with your pet.Another note: be careful what you let your dog chew on -hard toys, bones that are not fresh, and tennis balls can severely wear down and break their teeth over time and this too will lead to tooth loss or possibly emergency extractions. Always supervise and limit chewing behaviors. I like fresh marrow bones and the elk antlers for giving my girl something safe to chew on.

My cat and dog like it.

Our cat Luna absolutely loves the seafood flavor toothpaste. Because of that, as a last resort we tried putting this toothpaste on her pills and offering them to her that way, and she licked it up and swallowed the pill without complaint. When possible we now request medications for her in pill form, because The Toothpaste Method is so fuss-free for us, and stress-free for her. (This was after she had refused them concealed in her wet food, in pill pockets, in tasty putty designed for squishing around pills, and had of course spat the pill back out when we tried to make her to swallow pills plain the old fashioned way [she'd even vomit pills if she had fully swallowed them!])Our one complaint is the product dries very hard on the mouth of the tube, and bonds the lid on very stiffly. That, combined with the firm metal of the tube itself (much stiffer than an average human toothpaste tube, it's hard for painful hands to get the last bit out), may make this a difficult product for someone with joint/hand pain, or dexterity- or mobility-difficulties. If you decide to try this product and have hand pain or mobility issues, I would recommend using it daily so the product can't harden too much, and if possible wipe off the threaded area of the tube before closing it so there is less product gluing the cap on. When it's especially stuck the ridges of the cap might hurt if you have fragile skin, try to find something like squishy silicon to grasp the cap with while you're twisting it open.The product appears to work very well. Our vet wanted us to use enzymatic toothpaste for our cat because Luna has dental issues. The vet reported improvement after we had only started getting Luna used to the toothpaste, even though she was mainly licking it off of things, and before Luna had let us do much tooth brushing at all.The toothpaste is a clear gel, and doesn't have an unpleasant smell for us (one of us is very sensitive to smells). It doesn't make our cat's breath smell bad when she comes up to try to lick our faces. The one problem, again, is how hard it is to open with painful or clumsy fingers.Luna was sleeping in her cat tree when she smelled me opening the toothpaste tube just now, and she perked up, chirped excitedly, jumped down, came running over, and started bumping against my legs impatiently. I'd say that's a ringing endorsement.We're through another tube of it today (wish there was a bit more toothpaste for this price), and more than overdue for leaving a review on a product our cat loves this much.