Whimzees Dental Treats Review

Imagine your dentist advising you to clean your teeth with processed food.

You would laugh, wouldn’t you?

It’s utterly ridiculous.

Yet we’re ready to believe processed treats will keep our dog’s teeth clean!

Let’s take a look at the Whimzees dog treats. After all, many Australians are drawn in by the marketing and claims about dental health.

In this review we’ll find out what those claims really mean.

Why would we give Whimzees to our dogs?

We all want our dogs to be happy and feel loved, so giving them tasty treats is in our nature. A bit like giving a kid lollies, even though we know it’s not good for them.

The key difference is lollies for kids aren’t often marketed as having health benefits. Imagine if they were?

Did you know our dogs love us more when we give them food they have a natural instinct for. Do you think potato starch, glycerine, or powdered cellulose are foods your dog would seek out in the wild?

What the marketing says

Take a look at a bag of Whimzees and you’ll read Whimzees Wellness, suggesting these treats are good for wellbeing.

Take a closer look, and just before “Wellness” in very small letters you’ll find the word “BY”.

It’s a clever trick. “Wellness” is merely a brand name, not any kind of guarantee to you these treats will support the wellness of your dog. Personally I think this kind of marketing shouldn’t be allowed, but I see these devious tricks all the time.

In the top left corned you’ll see NO ADDED… MEAT!

That one brought me to tears, as meat is what I consider the #1 most important food we should give our dogs!

It’s nice to see wheat, corn, sugar, and artificial colours and preservatives aren’t included, but eggs?

Eggs are a wonderful food for wellness, so this will be totally irrelevant to you unless you have an edge case dog who’s allergic to eggs.

Do Whimzees really clean your dog’s teeth?

With claims like Daily Dental Treats and Reduces Plaque & Tartar* on the pack I forgive you for thinking a processed food will be good for dental health.

Read the small print and you’ll find, just like other “dental treats for dogs”, it’s not the ingredients which keep teeth clean, but the shape of the treat.

Did you know wild meat-eating mammals often have excellent dental health from gnawing on flesh and bone?

Most domestic dogs and cats fed raw meaty bones have excellent dental health as well. I can’t say that’s been the case for many pets I’ve seen over the years fed kibble and dental treats.

Honestly, can you imagine throwing away your tooth brush and toothpaste and cleaning your teeth with Whimzees instead?

As for the “Daily” in “Daily Dental Treats”, that simply helps them sell more by convincing you to make these treats a daily routine.

Are the ingredients in Whimzees good for your dog?

The main ingredient is potato starch which is generally safe for dogs but with very little nutritional value.

Glycerin is what’s used to make the treat moist or have the texture it has. Again, not exactly nutritious, and if fed in excess will likely give your dog the runs (small breed dogs are most at risk of being fed treats in excess).

Then we have powdered cellulose, another ingredient which doesn’t really have any benefit for your dog whatsoever.

Emulsifiers like lecithin are typically used in processed foods to hold them together into what looks more appealing to you. Again, don’t count on your dog getting any nutritional benefit.

Dried yeast and lupine may have some tiny benefit, but may also cause your dog to react. Personally I’d prefer to see eggs in the ingredients!

As for “no added sugar” on the packaging, malt extract ironically contains sugars. I expect it’s added in Whimzees as a flavour enhancer, and little more than that.

Do those ingredients sound good for your dog’s wellness?

I can’t say they do to me, which is why I don’t feed Whimzees to my dog.

Fair enough, if you’re out and about and someone with good intentions wants to give one to your dog then don’t be too concerned, but it’s not something I’d waste my own money on in the belief they’re beneficial for my dog.

Ingredients

The ingredients of Whimzees Dental Treats for dogs are typically:

Potato starch, glycerine, powdered cellulose, lecithin, dried yeast, malt extract, lupine with additives Natural Colourants (Alfalfa Extract 1%, Paprika Extract 0.25%).