Natural Supplement for Cats and Dogs, Prevents Tooth and Gum Disease
Bad Teeth and Gingivitis are Very Common in Pets
Does your cat have bad breath? Does your dog have bad breath? There are a variety of causes for bad breath in cats and dogs. Medical conditions can cause bad breath in cats and dogs such as upper respiratory infections, diabetes, sinusitis and cancer. The most common cause however is often periodontal disease which affects the teeth and gingivitis of the gums. It is estimated that half of all dogs and cats have these conditions!
Cause of Gingivitis and Cleaning your Pet’s Teeth
The build-up of plaque and associated bacteria cause periodontal disease which leads to infected gums. This can cause painful, red, swollen gums (gingivitis) and require tooth cleaning and often tooth removal as the teeth get eroded. This is a painful condition for your cat. It can become painful to chew dry food and cats may start drooling or pawing at their mouth in bad cases. Teeth cleaning is required to remove the plaque. This plaque must be scraped off below the gum line so brushing your cat’s teeth will not be enough to remove it (though started a routine of brushing early can prevent this from occurring). Unfortunately, cleaning at the vet’s is not an easy or cheap procedure. A cleaning at the veterinarian’s office requires sedation so the process is expensive and can be dangerous for older pets that should not be put on anesthesia any more than necessary. If the teeth are too bad, your vet will likely recommend pulling those teeth.
My Boy
It is heartbreaking to see your pet in pain and unhappy. I went through this with my sweet Tigger. He is an orange, tabby short hair and I have been told by vets that these cats are somehow more prone to tooth and gum disease. Every time he had a dental checkup he needed to have more teeth pulled. We felt so bad that he would lose all his teeth when he was still young and always have problems. He also had very bad breath.
I Found a Solution To His Tooth and Gum Disease
I found a supplement called Gumz-n-Teeth by PetAlive. I decided it to give it a try. I was amazed how quickly Tigger’s breath improved and eventually his gums looked healthier. They were pink instead of red. His next exam showed he had less plaque build-up and better gums than expected. This supplement might not completely cure tooth and gum disease in cats but it has drastically helped Tigger’s! It has ingredients that help their eyes, fur, immunity and more as well.
The same product can be used for dogs or cats. The dosage directions are based on weight for both.
You can order PetAlive Gumz-n-Teeth from Amazon here or click on the image link below:
Ingredients In Pet Alive Gumz-n-Teeth
- Spirulina, Horsetail, Dandelion, Silica, Calc Fluor, Calc Phos
- Spirulina (Arthrospira platenis) is a great source of vitamins like B-12 and A which are important for healthy teeth and eyes. It is also a wonderful source of chlorophyll which is important for pets (you know how they love to much plants!).
- Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is very high in silica which is vital to connective body tissues, teeth, bones, skin and fur.
- Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is high in an array of vitamens such as zinc, potassium, magnesium, lethicin, Vit A, B’s, C and D and more!
Silica removes odor and cleans toxins out of the cells. It is a natural cleanser and will expel foreign bodies. For this reason it is advised not to use this product for more than 6 weeks on a pet with a microchip and not to use it at all on a pet that has any prosthesis or metal plates. However, I contacted the company to ask about this and they explained silica may have this affect at very high doses but there are no instances of microchips being expelled at this low dose. The warning is put on in an abundance of caution. This makes me feel better as I can’t imagine living without this product for my pets!
These are just some of the ingredients in Gumz-n-Teeth and some of their many health properties!
I love that this supplement can be used for both cats and dogs! We all know a dog with dog breath. Maybe they have tooth and gum disease starting as well.
The brand has many other great product such as “Slender Pet” for weight control and “Immunity and Liver Support”. All these formulas are made for dogs as well as cats. Note there is a caution on the bottle stating that pets with microchips should not be given this for more than 6 weeks. I am contacting the company for clarification as to how often it could be given for 6 weeks at a time. In the interim I am thinking of trying the oral spray by the same brand which is for bad breath in cats and dogs. Everything by this company has been so good, it’s worth a try!
Update regarding caution statement above: I heard back from the company and they said there was a study that indicated silica could potentially cause a problem with expelling a microchip as it can push out other foreign bodies but this has not actually happened and the study was for a much, much higher dose of silica. There should be no problem at the dosage used in this supplement. I am back to using it every day for all the cats.
Second Update: It has been 6 months and I am still using Gumz-n-Teeth every day. I expect to keep using it for my cats their whole lives!
Third Update: It has not been over 2 years since we started all three of our cats on Gumz-n-Teeth. They have had zero side effects from using it every day. I asked my vet about the microchip issue and she didn’t seem concerned with them staying on it as well.
It is a great relief to find a product that has all natural ingredients and really works for bad breath in cats and dogs. Teeth cleaning and extraction can cost $600 or $800 per visit and require anesthesia. We had to pay this amount for several years and felt horrible for our kitty before finding Gumz-n-Teeth. If you have a dog or cat has bad breath and your veterinarian says they have periodontal disease or gingivitis, or if you just want to prevent these diseases, I would give Gumz-n-Teeth a try.
Please leave a comment if you have used these products or other products that worked, if you have any questions or thoughts.
Thanks! Happy, pet health to you and your kids!
Jessica
Jessica at Thrivingcat.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Great recommendation. I will definitely take a look at this product. Now, do you know if food is a factor with bad breath and plaque buildup? I know that you shouldn’t wet your dogs food, but I add a tiny bit of wet food to her dry cibble, and I’m wondering if it’s the wet food that is contributing to her bad breath and build up as well?
I like that you mentioned the product on weight control too. That is something else that I will take a look at as my pup (she’s a boxer, husky, shepherd) is “pleasantly plump” right now and walked her is not changing anything lol I also only feed her 2 cups of food a day.
Nicki,
I am not sure about the food issue. I have heard very contradictory information on that. Some say dry food is better for teeth, some say wet food is better!
As far as the weight control, since you mentioned she is a she, I suspect she is spayed? If so, that is your problem. I am not saying don’t spay dogs but it results in horrible hormone imbalance for dogs and cats. Just like in people, a major disruption to the hormones can cause weight gain or loss. Like middle aged women who lose progesterone, dogs who are spayed very often gain weight due to slow down in metabolism. The problem then cannot be fixed by limiting food alone. You have to starve the dog to make it lose a little weight. This isn’t healthy. This problem can also cause dog smelliness! I don’t know the details but there are products to help balance the hormone levels in these dogs.
I would start with the “Slender Pet” from the same line as the Gumz-n-Teeth. It helps with metabolism and energy and results in weight loss. It claims to help the liver process fats. I really can’t say enough about these products! They are great. It is the only thing that worked for our “Tub of Love” cat.
As a pet owner, I’m sure you know that starving or drastically reducing their food would be more torturous on us than it would be on them lol Brooklyn would NEVER shut up if I didn’t feed her exactly at her meal times!!
But I’m willing to look jnto anything. She isn’t drastically over weight per say, (you can still see her waist), but it wouldn’t hurt for her to lose 5-10 lbs. She is currently 80 lbs.
I did get her spayed when she was 11 months, and surprisingly had not gone into heat yet. She’s stayed pretty slender at about 65lbs or so until she got sick at 4 yrs old and was put on high fat canned food because she was unable to eat hard food due to an abcsess.
But I’m going to look at all of those products you’ve recommended. Whatever natural products that can help keep her healthy and non smelly and keep the vet bills at bay, are good for me!!
Thanks for the tips 🙂
Nicki
It sounds like she is a lucky dog to have an owner who pays attention to these things. I had a sweet, spayed and very overweight husky girl named Misty. I really wish I could go back in time and give her Slender Pet! She wasn’t just hungry she acted like she was starving. She was obsessed with food.
I went back and added some more detail to the Gumz-n-Teeth info regarding ingredients and the caution not to use it for more than 6 weeks on a pet that is microchipped.
Thanks!
Jessica
So I see that they’re capsules. Is this something you would make them swallow with their food, or how do you suggest giving it to them?
No, I just open them up (they just twist apart easily) and mix the powder into wet food and throw out the capsule. I think that is what most people do. If you have a large dog you could give them the whole capsule if they didn’t mind. Whatever is easier for you.
I saw in a review that someone said the capsule dissolves quickly in water so that is good if you did give the whole thing.
Ok perfect. Thanks! Brooklyn HATES taking pills, so it’s good to know that you can just break them apart. I’ll try it out on her 🙂
Nicki,
Good, I hope they work as well for you as they have for our three fuzz balls! I looked at Tigger’s gums last night and they are nice and pale pink like they are supposed to be.
Jessica
I am very glad I found your review of this pet breath cleaning product! I have a dog and a cat. I try to keep their teeth clean but it is difficult especially with the cat. She is not a fan of the toothbrush.
I had a dog one time that had to have most of her teeth pulled. It was very sad and I felt so guilty!
I love the fact that I can use this one product for both animals and not have to buy different products!
Hello Scott,
I am glad my information can help you and your pets! That is my goal with this site.
Our cat has had many teeth pulled and this started when he was only a couple years old! We try to keep our pets very healthy, so this was upsetting that there was nothing we could do!
I have been completely impressed with this line of supplements from PetAlive. I use them every single day in the cat’s wet food. I don’t promote any random products.
I hope they work for your dog and cat!
Thanks, and please let me know your opinion of the supplement.
Jessica
Jessica,
Really good post! My dogs really have bad breath and the vet always wants to put them asleep to clean their teeth. I give them vitabones and things like that to get rid of tartar and improve their teeth because I don’t want them being put under to correct this situation. Can this product be used as a replacement for vet teeth cleaning?
Steve,
If the teeth are already rotten then pulling them will be necessary. If they simply have tarter build-up then this product will help and or fix it depending on the severity. The ideal situation would be they have their teeth cleaned at the vet and then start on this product and hopefully they will never need a cleaning again for the rest of their lives!
That is were we are. It has been several years since ours have had to have their teeth cleaned since they get this supplement every day. I think it helps both the physical surface of the tooth as well as the body chemistry so it is helping fix the situation rather than just scratch it off the surface. It protects the gums as well, which scraping alone does not do. I highly recommend it. Our cat was literally getting all his teeth pulled before we found this.
Good luck!
Jessica
Hey Jessica,
I am glad to stumble upon your blog. I had a cat, who, unfortunately, passed away a month ago.
We wanted to adopt a new one soon and I want to look more into how to keep cats in their best shape. This supplement looks like a good choice. Should cats use these even if they don’t have bad breath to prevent tooth and gum disease?
Thanks for sharing and I look forward to your reply.
Cheers,
Anh
Hello Anh,
First of all, I am very sorry to hear you lost your cat. That is so hard.
To answer your question, yes, I would have started my cat on this much earlier if I had known about it. I think prevention is always a good idea. The ingredients are natural and beneficial in other ways so I think it would be smart to use as a preventative. By the time cats have really bad breath, there is already damage to the teeth since it is below the gum line and cannot be seen. That is why it is very hard to clean their teeth with brushing.
This supplement works so well that my veterinarian now recommends it to all her pet parents! I told her about it and she saw for herself how much of a difference it made for my cats!
Please feel free to check out my other posts for more information on this line of supplements. I have not found any other line of products that I can recommend so highly.
Thank you for stopping by,
Jessica
Hey thanks for the suggestion…my little cats are only two years old, but I have noticed their breath smelling a little more than it used to…so I thought about looking for something like this. I can give it a go, although both mine are microchipped. Do you think I should of brushed their teeth from kittens… I guess there is no point trying that now? Although I know there is toothpaste you can get that they like…? :/
Hi and thanks for your comment. I contacted the company and they explained that the warning about the microchips is just out of an abundance of caution. Nothing has ever happened with the microchips related to this product but at much, much higher levels the silica could hypothetically cause an issue. I have been giving it to my cats continuously for over a year now. All three of them are microchipped and there has been no problem. I just didn’t want to recommend the product and then have someone see the warning and panic!
For my cats I think the benefit for their health greatly outweighs any miniscule risk. So, I would definitely recommend this supplement for your cats based on how well it works. Yes, you could always start brushing their teeth. How well that goes will really depend on the individual cat and your level of patience and time! Some cats will tolerate things in their mouth more than others. It will likely take a long time to work up to full brushing. You have to start with just your finger near their mouth, than in their mouth, then the toothbrush for only a touch here and there and then eventually you can actually start brushing I guess. I must confess I have never made it all the way through the process to actually brush their teeth! My cats were all adults when we got them so we did not have the opportunity to start young. If you don’t have the time or patience to go through this lengthy process then the supplement might work better.
This supplement helps protect the entire tooth, even the area below the gum which brushing cannot reach. My veterinarian explained that by the time they have bad breath it is usually too late for brushing to work completely. The decay below the gum line can only be reached during a cleaning at the vet’s office which requires sedation.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Jessica
very good topic for an article today, being a dog owner all my life I know how their breath is always a problem. I have used many products for my dog’s breathe problem in the past, some help more then others but none really do a great long term job.
Thank you for recommending this product, one I have not tried I will consider this one during my next pet product purchase.
Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, when I had dogs I wish I had known about this product. It is truly amazing. I have never seen anything so effective. Knowing we are preventing tooth and gum disease for our kitties is wonderful. This is one of the products that is so amazing it inspired me to create this site!
Jessica
This is EXACTLY what I need! Thank you so much! We’ve just had to spend a fortune on getting our dogs teeth done at the vets so my parents will be thrilled to find out that they don’t have to start brushing his teeth everyday.
I wish humans could have the same supplement and avoid the dentist!!!
I am so glad this is useful for you Emma! Did you find a way to buy it in New Zealand? I would be curious if there is a distributor there or another way to get it?
Thanks for the comment and for stopping by!
Jessica