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Opinion on CET Hextra Chews for teeth?

4K views 58 replies 5 participants last post by  TLI 
#1 ·
Anyone out there use them? They are made of compressed Beef hide with Chlorhexidine to clean their teeth. My concern is that raw hide is a no no due to it not being highly digestible. One of the Vet techs at my Vets office said that since it's compressed in the CET chews, it makes it more digestible. Having compressed beef hide sitting in my pups stomach, doesn't make me feel any better than having large pieces sitting in it. So what's your opinion on the digestibility of the product?
 
#2 ·
I give them to my dogs all the time (except Zoey because she's allergic to beef), she used to LOVE them, I never had a problem with digestibility. Ziva my new puppy loves them. I use the Petite size, the rest are just 'regular' rawhides. While I'm not a huge fan of rawhide, I think the compressed is better? But I'm not an expert. As far as dental benefits....never noticed a huge difference in their teeth but it can't hurt :)
 
#3 ·
I like the CET Hextra chews but I don't get the small/petite ones, they don't hardly have to chew them at all. I get the medium or large chews and let them knaw on them for 20-30 min then put them up for another day. Oakley & Bryco really don't "eat" them just knaw on them slowly, Trigger & Laurel eat them and we've never had problems.
 
#4 ·
So would you say that they are indeed digestible? The petite size. I forgot to mention the size. I used to use them all of the time, never had any problems. But I guess my question is more do they eventually poop them out? Or do they just sit in their stomachs for long periods of time. I know that the raw hides just sit in their stomach as a big piece of goo. Since it isn't digestible, eventually it can cause blockage. Kinda like eating plastic, I guess? I don't want anything like that in my pups stomachs. When we used them a long while back, I always used the petite size, and they would just gnaw on them every day. Never ate them, so to speak, just made them gummy and gooey like. After they got nasty I would just toss them and put out new ones. But I still assume they get some of it in their stomach, even if just a little.

I would try the bigger ones, but my guys will not even mess with them if they are too big. They just sniff them and walk off. Too much to tackle, I assume. If they do try it, it’s only when I first put it down, then it’s old news. :lol:

Speaking of which. I bought 2 small bags of Deer Antler chews. Both were supposed to be the same size. One bag had more of the bigger ones in it, the other had the ones with much smaller tips that they can get in their mouth. Now I have this $26 bag of chews that I can’t use.

As for their teeth. They only eat canned food, and no chewies really since their tummy stuff last year. I am not seeing plaque yet, but their gums look kinda red. So I can bet plaque will start forming next. I would like to avoid that as much as possible if I can. Their bullies used to keep their teeth and gums nice. Now I’m at a loss.
 
#9 ·
It's such a small amount that I don't worry about it. I haven't seen any ill effects on my guys and I talked with the company who explained that it pretty much evaporates and they aren't ingesting any of it, just swishing it around in their mouths with their tongues and swallow little to none of it.
 
#12 ·
Pretty much the same stuff we use but we use the vanilla mint ha ha. I just took sharp kitchen scissors and cut about 1/3 of the bristles off of Oakley & Bryco's brushes and it makes it much easier to get in their tiny mouths. Obviously you are doing something right if for a year no plaque has built up but red gums aren't good either. On average it takes about 6 months of no attention for plaque to start to build in my experience as well as what I've read.
 
#14 ·
I'd try the gel, T. I was worried about the alcohol content same as you, but mine have been totally fine using it, and I think having them use it is better than having them have dental problems and needing dentals every couple of years.

I have used the CET Chews in the past as my vet gave me some for free to try, but I don't find them make much difference really. Daily brushing and using the gel helps most.

Kristi - have you used both the Tropiclean and the Petzlife? Do you find one works better than the other or are they pretty much the same? I'm using the Tropiclean now.
 
#19 ·
I think they are about equivalent, Paula. The Tropiclean is much cheaper though, but all in all it really helped clean up Oakley's teeth. The rest have never had any tarter buildup so its hard to say...Trigger has the nicest, whitest teeth I've ever seen, but he's also very good with letting me brush.

I put the Petzlife gel in the Tropiclean bottle though, MUCH easier to apply that way. Mine don't like the taste of either, but tough luck cookies@!
 
#16 ·
T, I used the Petzlife on my Pomeranian Georgie when I got him, his teeth were a level 4 (Severe) out of 5 levels, after 6 weeks of twice a day use (putting the gel on the toothbrush and brushing) his teeth were level 1. Now I just give him a goodnight cookie with it on it, and brush 2-3 times a week, and that works to maintain clean teeth.
 
#17 ·
Okay. That wasn't easy. :lol: And upon close inspection doing that, I can see a little bit of plaque starting to form. And see how the gum line is starting to get Red? I do not want this to get worse!



I know that looks like I'm killing him, but I promise I wasn't. :lol:
 
#20 ·
I would say absolutely start using the sprays/gels. That redness on the gums indicates that it's basically an open pathway for the bacteria from the plaque/tarter to travel into the bloodstream.

I often do a quick spray in the AM on my way out the door, then brush PM, and use the gel before bed 2-3 nights per week. I would do 2x a day though til you see that gone...I agree with whoever else said I can't imagine a tiny splash of alcohol is any worse for them than anesthesia will be and its much less dangerous :)
 
#21 ·
Okay, so you guys have me sold on Petzlife. :) I'm going to give it a try. It is driving me crazy seeing that little brown on there!

Kristi, mine don't put up to much a fuss about me messing with their mouth. But they certainly don't tolerate it long. I get about a 20 second window before they start moving their head everywhere. :lol: No biting or growling, though.
 
#25 ·
Paula, that's what mine do. Hide. :lol: But never bite or growl.

Yeah, I only see it on those 2 teeth so far. There isn't much, but enough that I want it off. They never had that when they chewed their bullies.
 
#28 ·
Mine chew bullies weekly and still had it. :\ When I first got Pip and Roo their teeth were bad, lots of tartar, stinky breath. I was surprised considering they were not even 3 years old. I guess they are just really prone to it. I took them both in for dentals within a month of adopting them and have been brushing their teeth and using bullies since then. The gel seems to be what works the best though. Good luck with it. :)
 
#29 ·
Well I did some reading, and looked at many pics of canine dental disease, and from what I can tell Chance's hasn't reached that point, but can very easily, if left untreated. He has no inflammation of the gums, and very little plaque and redness. The brown is really more of a surface stain right now kinda like you'd see in Coffee stains. He doesn't drink Coffee, though. :wink: :lol: Than goodness I noticed this before it got any worse. I will use the Petzlife gel, and continue to brush, and see if I can get this quickly under control. Thanks for the help, guys. :)

And OMG, I can't believe how bad some of the teeth were that I looked at. It looked like mortar building up on them. And the inflammation and redness was unreal! Yikes! How does anyone let their dogs teeth get like that??? It was like something out of a horror show!

I so wish I could use the bullies again! Those things kept their teeth sparkly white!
 
#30 ·
T - I have heard really good things about the petzlife gel too.

Have you considered using a raw marrow bone to chew/gnaw on? I buy those soup bones that have the marrow inside. I scrape all the marrow out (scared of pancreatitis since it's just fat) and Brody will lay down and gnaw on one of those for hours. He scrapes his back teeth, but he also nibbles on it with his front teeth and tips his head and uses his canine teeth too.

I know most raw purists don't like those rec bones and call them "wreck" bones because they can crack and fracture teeth but I think that applies to the big dogs. Brody doesn't have the jaw strength to crack a tooth and he can't get his mouth all the way around it, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I think they are a good alternative to bully sticks and after they chew on them for a day or so you can throw them out and get out a new one. If they are too meaty, you can cut the meat off so they are just mostly bone with a little connective tissue.

Brody loves them and I feel like he really gets a good tooth workout using them.

Just thought I'd throw that out there in case it might help. :)
 
#32 ·
Thank you Tracy! Anything that will help, I'm all ears! I would die if my pups teeth got like those pics above. Up until just within the last month or so, they had none of that junk on their teeth. But we've been without bones of any kind for almost a year now. And they only eat canned food. Thank goodness I was brushing! Otherwise I might have had a mess on my hands!
 
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