November 29, 2005

Beware of Greenies

According to Snopes, the internet hoax debunking site, the danger posed by Greenie dog treats is undetermined. KiroTV in Seattle produced a report (video here) about three dogs who suffered intestinal blockage from eating the Greenie treats. CBS in Los Angeles also has a story about the supposed green menace. I don't know. Greenies are one of Cairo's favorite treats. She'll chew on them for hours. After watching the report I don't think we'll be buying them anymore. Sorry Cairo.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh no - my Smokey adores Greenies! They are his absolute favorite treat! I hadn't heard about the problem. Blast - first no rawhide, now no Greenies - what's a dog to do?

Anonymous said...

My dogs love 'm too -- and since they are picky dogs, I had to wonder what they loved about them. I researched the main ingredient, which is the sticky, gummy "head" part of the wheat, ahem...wheat sperm, or wheat gum. So, very basically, that's the problem. If you feed lots of gum to any mammal, that mammal will suffer constipation.

The makers of Greenies add chlorophyll to help break down the highly concentrated gum as it is digested. So, generally speaking, Greenies are fairly innocent in and of themselves -- yet, pragmatically, the problems arise when we humans too easily cave in to giving our pups too much product. I have a sneaking suspicion that most who report problems have allowed poochy too many snacks, or are feeding them to dogs who already have delicate systems.

I give my dogs half (or less) of the recommended serving allowed (as indicated on package), -- just as make constant practice of using about half the recommended amount of almost every consumer good I purchase, my snacks included -- fully understanding that, above all, and as always, profit motive cancels honest health concerns (Capitalism's constant)...and in this case it's important to practice moderation or restraint, since dogs really dig this green wheat gum snacky. All I have to do is think about eating and attempting to successfully digest two packages (not pieces) of Bubble Yum, and I'm able to transcend my schnauzer's and schnoodle's big beg-worthy eyes as they try for another...each dog is approx. 18 pounds, they get a half of a "petite" greenie after dinner. They've never had a problem. In fact, they've had worse distress reaction from "snobby" foods with inferior ingredients, such as Science Diet and that horrid Newman dogfood -- lots of crappy ingredients, by-products disguised as healthy nonby-products....

Anonymous said...

BEWARE OF GREENIES FOR CATS. TUCKER PASSED AWAY DUE TO GREENIES TREATS. I WAS GIVING HIM THE RIGHT RECOMMENDED CHEWS FOR HIS WEIGHT. A FEW MONTHS LATER, MY HEALTHY AND HAPPY GO CAT DIED OF KINNEY FAILURES. I CONTACTED THE COMPANY AND NEVER HEARD FROM THEM.