My cat loved these things and she died at age 20 with all her teeth and
healthy gums--but of course heredity probably played a huge role in that

I have seen people more knowledgable than I say that this particular
"dental" food has a better chance of working because the pieces are so
large the cats actually HAVE to chew them. (Cats do not generally
chew their food they just rip it into manageable hunks and swallow.)
I used to hear my cat crunching those big round pieces up. She ate
it for probably her last five years of life and never had any health
problems. But then, she was the Bulletproof cat. :) The really mean,
dumb ones that don't like people usually are. (I did love her very
much, though.)

Well, this is my experience with FDD. I'm not a Friskie's fan, but I
received a sample pack of Friskie's Dental Diet in the mail several
years ago. The cats, Cherokee in particular, just went nuts for the
stuff. So I continued to buy the smallest size box and just dole them
out like treats, just a few pellets occasionally. It never seemed to
upset their tummies. I imagine it probably was at least somewhat
effective in cleaning their teeth, the way they had to crunch it.

Sherry

I keep a bowl of Dental Diet out along with 4 other kinds of dry cat
food. Also I open 2 or 3 cans of cat food a day. They eat little of the
Dental Diet, guess they know when they need it. This sounds like a lot
but there are 7 grown cats.

The Veterinary Oral Health Care council maintains a website of VOHC
approved products. You can review the methodology required to gain
approval and find out if the food is approved for tartar, or plaque or
both. VOHC does not currently grant approval for gingivitis claims, so
manufacturers making this claim will need to support that claim with
other methods.

http://www.vohc.org/