Dog Treat May Carry Danger

[Abathar]

Dog treats called Greenies are sold in stores everywhere.

But Seattle television station KIRO reported that products like them can pose a real danger to dogs.

Matthew Balkman of Issaquah, Wash., uses cheese to reward his dog, Beau.

He used to use Greenies, which are designed to clean teeth and freshen doggie breath.

http://www.theindychannel.com/family/5373540/detail.html

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[RobertSeattle]

1. You should post a link to the story

[Abathar]

2. Your right, hit the button too fast

http://www.theindychannel.com/family/5373540/detail.html

[Loonman]

3. Matthew Balkman of Issaquah, Wash., uses cheese to reward his dog, Beau

Cheese? I thought dogs were lactose intolerant. Every dog I've ever known to drink milk or eat cheese gets the shits right away.

[RobertSeattle]

5. Small amounts are probably OK

We sometimes use a small amount of cheese so our dogs will take a pill when we are out of other things to sneak it with. I think like lots of things, it's the "in moderation" thing.

As a FYI - the chocolate thing with dogs only effects 10% or so of dogs - the problem is finding out if your dog is in the 10%!

[brentspeak]

6. We did the same with our dog

But he had a talent for eating the cheese and then spitting out the pill.

[LunaC]

14. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh

Don't wreck my excuse for hogging the chocolate and not sharing.

[FreedomAngel82]

16. Yes

I remember once my dog had to take some medicine and my mother put the pill in some cheese (advice from the vet) and he ate it. I also once gave him some ice cream and he seemed fine. I only did it that one time.

[Carla in Ca]

20. Moderation...that's right

But as a habit, dogs should not be fed the foods we eat, they don't digest like we do.

Also, our Beagle, Jean is a product of in-breeding, she hasn't much of an immunity system. She has been on meds since day one (she is 4 1/2) and will be all her life. The best way we have found to give pills is with small pieces of marshmallow. The pill sticks to it and it completely breaks down in their system.

[hopein08]

31. That's a good idea, I have a beagle on constant pills too!

And she hates to take them. Everything we put them in seems to work for a little while. But I haven't tried marshmallows. I definitely will though. Our beagle (Reba) is 10 and got sick before we could even house-train her (though she thankfully was a quick learner later!). I don't know if there was in-breeding, but I tend to believe there was. But now she takes thyroid pills twice a day, adrenal gland pills once a day, and liver pills once a week.

But I'm going to have to try marshmallows.

[Carla in Ca]

38. I hope it works for you

Sounds like your sweetie is in good hands. Jean was on 9 meds at one time but now, thanks to a proper diagnosis, she only takes 2.
I'm sorry to say that in-breeding is very common and very hard to prove.
Good luck and give Reba a kiss for me.

[tandot]

49. I wrap them up in a slice of salami or insert them in a piece of hot dog

and before he even has time to swallow, I dangle a few smaller pieces of salami/hot dog in front of his nose. Not wanting the cat to get any of his "treats," he devours the piece with the pill in it in a hurry.

For smaller pills, I cut the salami/hot dog in pieces just big enough to wrap the pill in it. This way they are easier to just swallow, especially with smaller dogs.

[Maine-ah]

22. lol.

our choco lab ate (she stole it off of the counter)about 1/4 of an 11 pound chocolate cake, scared the crap out of me, but apparently she's not one of the 10%, she's almost 12 now. Now, the other dog we have, I worry much more about her. She just ate a whole pack of colored pencils the other night, only slivers of blue and green left. She'll eat anything you leave lying around.

[Solon]

39. Just an FYI...

As far as I know, most commercial "chocolate" products actually contain much less cocoa than would be fatal in dogs. There is a large amount of artificial flavorings that are added into a lot of foods. This isn't to say all such products are safe, but let's just say that your dog would be much more likely to have an adverse reaction from fudge than milk chocolate.

[MADem]

25. I have a dog who LOVES cheese, and pasta, and tomato sauce

I have another who cannot get enough of raw carrots.

[hopein08]

30. My dog's favorite people foods are cheese and ice cream...

We always get her a baby cone in a dish at Dairy Queen and she loves it. Our vet has also told us it's okay to put pills in cheese (which never works because she spits it right out) or cottage cheese. Just two weeks ago I was trying to get her to take a pill and she refused so I put it in some pumpkin ice cream and she gobbled it up and was just fine.

[seemunkee]

4. There has been a lot of discussion in our Italian Greyhound club about

greenies. Most everyone in the club has given them up. The things never dissolve. Merrick Flossies are a good alternative.

[daleo]

7. The name isn't exactly appetizing - "greenie"

But I suppose a dog wouldn't notice that.

[JudyM]

8. Whoa. I feed the cat version to my cat. Also other dental treats.

Sure going to stop now! That is frightening and seems like inherently dangerous design.

[The Night Owl]

11. Does your cat go bonkers for Greenies?

My cat loves Greenies, but I guess he will have to give them up.

[tridim]

9. It depends if the dog is a chewer or a scarfer

My vet gave my dog a greenie once and it was gone in about 3 seconds.. That was the last one she ever had. Same deal with rawhide.

[The Night Owl]

10. To add insult to injury, Greenies are ridiculously expensive...

For the price one pays for Greenies, one would think there were gold in them.

And of course the cat loves them.

[joems]

13. Thank U for posting this

I never would have noticed.

[Jane Austin]

12. A couple of years ago I surveyed a couple of the Golden Retriever lists

I'm on, and heard of problems with Greenies from sick dogs to surgery to death.

In spite of requests for them from customers, we won't carry them in our store.

There were similar problems reported with the vegetable-based Booda-bones, too, on my lists.






(edited to change a word.)

[FreedomAngel82]

15. They need to get rid of those things

Poor dogs. :(

[soup]

18. We just bought them for the first (and last) time last week.

Glad I saw this thread. Our dogs have each had one out of the package. The rest are going in the garbage now. Do not want to take any chances.

Our old guy had part of his intestines removed a few years ago due to a blockage. He was near death, but pulled through. Sure don't want to put him (or the other two) through that again.

Dammit, now I suppose I need to keep a very close watch on them for awhile. Wonder how long it takes for the symptoms to show in the eating and potty habits...

grumble grumble grumble

[radwriter0555]

24. Both my small breed doggies threw them up promptly... that was the first

and last time for us.

[seito]

33. You can return them

My vet told me to watch for signs of vomiting and diarrhea for 48 hours after my dog swallowed a whole one.

There is a satisfaction guarantee on the container. I returned mine and let them know that the product almost killed my dog.

-Full refund

[Opusnone]

17. My Dogs are going to be pissed!

They get Greenies almost every night. I swear they have doggie opium or something in them. There is no other treat they tear into and love like Greenies.
I'll cut them back.

[yorkiemommie1]

19. have you seen those greenies bits?

i have only seen them in tiny packages and still pricey.

[Opusnone]

23. I have seen the bits.

Though my dogs are much more happy to chew on a full greenie.
Maybe you could bake the greenie bits into somehting like "pot brownies" for dogs. These things are suspicious. How could they be so tasty?
BTW Have you ever tasted one?

[yorkiemommie1]

36. no, have you? lol!

but i've tasted their PlaqueOff! ( tastes like seaweed )

i gave my dogs greenies for christmas and that was the same day i read warnings about them. i had to resort to trickey to get one away from my one porky yorkie!

edited for punctuation.

[MADem]

26. Try Hip Chips

I have no idea what is in them, but my dogs OBEY for those!

[AmBlue]

46. My vet calls them "doggie crack"!!

LOL!!! And it's true they go nuts for them. *sigh* Guess I won't be buying them anymore, though. My pup will miss them for sure.

[malachibk]

21. We give our dogs "Greenie" flakes -- little tiny pieces of Greenies

A little sprinkle with their kibble once a day freshens breath without the risk. And FAR more economical, since you can make 1 bag last for more than a month.

Just a thought.

[rucky]

51. Just get some cloryphill.

that's what's doing it.

[laundry_queen]

27. We tried these once.

My small Maltese cross had one and 2 days later threw up a huge chunk of something. I don't give him any other treats - he usually just gets dry dog food, so I know that was the only thing. This also happened to us with the 'dentabone'. Won't be getting those things again. I'm just glad we didn't end up with a blockage. Yikes!

[Gelliebeans]

28. My vet had recommended greenies

but they were so expensive, I didn't get them for my lab, Vinny. Instead, I give him carrots to chew on. I still watch him eat them but because of of skin allergies I have had to seek alternatives to chew bones and products that may contain allergy prone ingredients. My vet ruled out any kind of raw hide product because the products they preserve rawhides with contain materials that are less than ideal.

My heart goes out to those people that lost their pets. :(

My dog still longs to chew on something (being a labrador) so I freeze water in his "kong" and I have to say that he gets a workout for his teeth and gums. I inspect all his rubber bones and kongs and throw them out if they have been chewed to the point that they might break off. Just my 2 cents.

[LeftCoast]

29. Just an FYI about DU copyright rules

From the DU rules:

Do not post entire copyrighted articles. If you wish to reference an article, provide a brief excerpt and include a link to the original source. Generally, excerpts should not exceed three or four paragraphs.

[seito]

32. I had a real scare with Greenies two weeks ago

Just two weeks ago, my small dog swallowed a petite Greenie whole. After this happened, I Googled "Greenies swallowed whole" and I was horrified with what I found.

I called the emergency vet and they told me to watch her close for diarrhea and vomiting. The vet said that Greenies are digestible and she would most likely pass it. Thankfully she did pass it. It did NOT digest. It was in three very recognizable pieces when it came out.

I will never use them again.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

34. We have a bag of

Pedigree "Breath Busters" with "eucalyptus oil and parsley" that I'm assuming aren't the same thing. We gave the doggie some green cookie once but he threw it up. Anywhoo, we're cutting back on the treats like Milk Bone. Dr saw the poodle a few days ago for a teeth cleaning ($200 ! Yikes !). He wants him slimmer, said to give him carrots for treats.

[yorkiemommie1]

37. our vet recommended carrots too

i get the tiny ones and when i call out, ' who wants a carrot?" they come running. truth be told, they'd come running anyway.

but they get a little carrot, and i get a little carrot. which i can't say for other dog treats, lol.

[rumpel]

35. WoW. Thanks for posting this. I rarely give them Greenies. I always knew

about those cowhide treats being dangerous, but something as Greenies that is more perceived to be a form of cookie. I guess it is best to stick with those dried chicken or dired liver treats....

[Gman]

40. This company's next big product: The Bag-O-Glass jigsaw puzzle

just make sure your kids handle the broken glass carefully in accordance with directions. Watch your kids to make sure they don't try to chew the broken glass. If they do, it ain't the company's fault.

[roguevalley]

41. I don't use them anymore. They make my dachshunds act like they

are epileptic. Scary, scary thing. I hate them.

[Pool Hall Ace]

42. Wow, I was thinking of getting some of these for my dog.

I'm not now.

Thank you for posting.

[proud patriot]

43. Abathar please read

In the future please limit your snips of articles to 4
paragraphs as per the Democratic Underground copyright
rules .

proud patriot Moderator
Democratic Underground

[BrklynLiberal]

44. Here is a link to a thread in Pet Forum that has link to the story

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=243x11875

My GSD loves raw carrots. They are cheaper and healthier than Greenies and do just as good a job of keeping his teeth clean.

[tuvor]

45. Go natural. Feed your dog RAW meat and veggies.

Same genetic makeup as a wolf, so why would you feed him grain and filler?

[Ms. Clio]

47. My dogs love these, but only 85% digestible?

Sorry, babes, but no more Greenies.

Thanks very much for posting this, I would never have known!

[freeplessinseattle]

48. kick n/t

[Straight Shooter]

50. My dog sniffed at one of them offered by my neighbor, and walked away.

Thank goodness for that. But I'll need to tell my neighbor about this report. She's been giving them to her dog, and if anything were to go wrong, she would be absolutely heartbroken.

Thanks for the info. :thumbsup:

[BrklynLiberal]

52. Just got an email about them with detailed nutritional info..

And here: a real warning!

Have you heard of Greenies®?

It is the most popular dog treat on the US market - measured in sales. It has had an explosive success.

It should also be just about the very last thing you should ever give to your dog...

At least, the people who manufacturer it appear to be honest about how their product is mproduceded. Here is what they disclose on their web site - my comments are in green:
Greenies® Ingredients:

Processed wheat gluten (wheat protein), glycerin, natural flavor, powdered cellulose fiber, monosodium phosphate, monoglycerides of edible fatty acid, magnesium stearate and chlorophyll. Not a single ingredient here that has has any nutritional value whatsoever!

Processed wheat gluten (protein): The wheat gluten used is concentrated by using hot water to extract the starch out of the wheat. What is left over is wheat protein. No chemicals are used. You cannot extract starch with hot water.
What you get out of this is some kind of coagulated cake, consisting primarily of indigestible proteins and carbohydrates. This could actually be a great recipe for glue!

Glycerin: This is a 3-carbon molecule that occurs naturally in fats and oils. Glycerin is split from the three fatty acids of fats and oil. It is used as an ingredient and serves to allow the processed wheat protein to be molded into Greenies® physical form.
Without glycerin, Greenies® would crumble and not provide the dental benefit that comes from chewing. The glycerin used in Greenies® is produced from vegetable (non-animal origin) ingredients.
Glycerin is a natural substance that exists in plant and animal tissues. Sure, it does no harm, chemically, on its own - but it is a completely unnatural ingredient that can cause a lot of micro-biological processes that do not do much good - and it could most certainly lead to some chemical processes in the dog's gastrointestinal system that would be highly undesirable....

Powdered Cellulose Fiber: This is made from powdered plant material. It is cleaned, than ground into a powder. It helps the dog maintain firm stool. Cellulose is present in nearly all plant origin food. We use a purified cellulose so it is non-antigenic, meaning it will not cause allergic reactions. "Firm stool" means that this ingredient is completely indigestible. As all cellulose fiber is. It is no better than saw dust - which, by the way, is a common ingredient in kibble; for this very reason....

Natural Flavor: The ingredient used for the natural flavor is proprietary. However, we can tell you that it contains no beef protein and a very small amount of natural flavor is used. This is scary - so you are supposed to feed you dog something that contains a secret ingredient? What if it were heroin? Or a cancer-causing drug? Remember: for pet foods, there are no laws to protect your dog! ANYTHING is legal here! And it is common practice by the pet food manufacturers to add "palatability enhancers", which are nothing but addicting drugs.

Monosodium Phosphate: This is a source of phosphorous, which is a required nutritional mineral. You should not feed Phosphates without properly balancing with Calcium. I bet that they add this as a preservative and pH adjuster, not for the nutritional value - which is more than dubious anyway...

Monoglycerides of edible fatty acid: Greenies® contain fatty acids derived from vegetable oil sources. Such fatty acids are often derived from fats and oils that represent the other major part of fats when glycerin is split off. "Edible fatty acids" could very well include saturated trans-fatty acids - which are outright dangerous to eat because of the long-term damage to the cardio-vascular system... When such fatty acids are "derived" from another source, heat is generally applied, and whenever that is the case, you get saturated
trans-fatty acids. Chemically, this is completely unavoidable when heating natural fats.

Magnesium stearate: This serves as a lubricant in molding Greenies®.
Magnesium stearate is used in production of nutritional supplements and pharmaceutical products as well as a lubricant in commercial baking of cookies and breads. Yes, it is commonly used - and probably neither particularly harmful nor nutritionally valuable. But that is under the assumption that you eat a few milligrams in a pill - not several grams per treat, and several treats per day!

Chlorophyll: Naturally makes Greenies® green. Chlorophyll does have an
effect on odor. It is indeed a natural product that you can feed for that purpose.
I have often used it to reduce the natural smell of a bitch in heat, so the neighbors' male dogs would quit howling all night - and it works 80% of the time. (It also works on people who have problems with "too much body odor" - it tastes horrible, though... and we're back at what is that secret ingredient that makes it taste good, despite the Chlorophyll?)

Now, you will notice that there are no amounts given in this "recipe". You cannot expect any manufacturer to reveal that. But we do not need it. From this list alone you can conclude that these treats are made of stuff that is largely indigestible; it consist of very little but unnatural ingredients in an unnatural form that under no circumstances should be added to a list of responsible and adequate dog food, not even in small amounts.

I have heard of horror stories telling of dogs that have got intestinal blockages from eating this stuff. I cannot say that they are true and confirmed, but I will say that it is certainly not something you can safely exclude from happening if you feed more than one of these green monster treats per day to a medium-sized dog.

Is the average dog owner a plain idiot or what? What the heck makes people buy crap like this for their dogs? Don't people care? Are they just swallowing anything that is presented on TV commercials as "truth"? I am totally stunned - I do not understand; there is not one single ingredient in those treats that comes even close to being classified as "nutritionally valuable". It is nothing more than chewing gum for people, just worse, because the dogs ingest it -
and in far larger quantities....

And the very worst part: Many vets and veterinary associations recommend this ! Officially