What's the deal with Greenies?

Question

I've only had dogs for 6 months. I heard a lot of negative things about Greenies so I've never purchased them until tonight.

My dog has had a very nasty habit of using the cat box as her dessert tray and I wanted something - anything to help with her breath.

I purchased the Teeny form of Greenies for my girls (15lbs and 5lbs) and they devoured them - it was like they died and went to heaven they enjoyed those little green toothbrushes so much!

So, experienced dog owners - what's the deal with Greenies/ What's with the bad press? Are they ok? If not, why are they still on the market? Pros/Cons please?

Thanks for the info everyone!

I enquired at my pet store, and they told me the problems stemmed from pet owners feeding their dogs the inappropriate size of Greenies. Such as giving a large dog a teeny Greenie, and the dog basically swallowed it whole. OR the flipside - the tiny dogs being given Greenies labeled for large breeds.

Whatever the case, this will be a weekly if not monthly snack for my girls.

And about the kitty rocha snackbar - it is now closed. Tonight I purchased a new litterbox that looks like a plastic storage container with a hole in the lid. The cats have to climb in from the top and even if my dog sticks her head in the box, she can't get to the kitty rocha any longer! Woot!

Thanks again everyone! Knowledge is power!

Answer 1

it's not very common, but quite a few dogs have become seriously ill from these. they don't digest completely. my sister in law's dog a chihuahua actually died from swallowing too much of an incorrectly chewed greenie and it became lodged in the esophagus and caused a perferation. the little dog suffered horribly and eventually was euthanised. we have at my work put a dog under anestesia and the dog vomited two whole pieces of a greenie after surgery. they had not been digested a bit, and the owner had given this to her dog 3 days before. i was at a vet conference in aug. and i asked about this and the sales person assured me they had changed the formula and now they were over 80% digestable. well what about the other 20%. now many people swear by these and their dogs do love them. but i love cheesecake, doesn't mean it's good for me. many pet owners never have a problem. but there are many issues out there, and i'm not sure why they haven't been brought up before, but they haven't. just be careful. have you tried a tall covered cat box the dogs can't reach? i called my cat box the snack bar for the dog until i got one of these cat boxes. then the snack bar was closed.

Answer 2

The bad press is because a few dogs died after eating greenies, and to be honest I have had problems with them not digesting and getting stuck (a $800 vet bill because of it). They recently reformulated the greenies so they are now much softer, flexible, and supposedly easier to digest. The good thing about that is that it is safer for the dog, the bad part is that my dogs can now eat them in about 2 minutes. I do not think that they are that bad as long as you do actually chews them, not just try to swallow. I will used them now with my dogs, but not very often.

You can go to the website listed and read about the new formula. Also, you can sign up to receive a free greenie.

Also to Cagney: I will not let him chew on the greenies anymore, but I sometimes (like maybe twice a year and only because they reformulated and only the little bits) will let my other dogs have them, and only under strict supervision. I didn't have to pay the vet bill because I threatened the makers of Greenies with a lawsuit that included the vet bill and personal suffering (he is a service dog). They told me that if I signed a document saying I would not go to the media (that was when they were just starting to get so much bad publicity, plus he had the correct size for his weight and only recieved one a week) that they would pay my vet bill. I do not want to sound mean and greedy about the whole ordeal, but my dog actually almost died on the operating table. My vet said that the dog was luckily that I notices so soon, and if I would of waited a few days he would of died. I didn't know that they are still 20% indigestible (I was told that they were completely digestible, but that was by a greenies rep), but they are not going to get them anymore.

Answer 3

We used to sell them at our hospital, but we pulled them after hearing from other vets in the area who had done surgery on dogs with blockages. It seems the pieces, even when given the "right size," are not always disolving once they are swallowed.

In addition, one of our clients, who also happens to be a lawyer, came in and asked one of our doctors directly why we were still selling them. The doctor told him what the company had said about the proper sizes for the dogs. We had copies of the letter the company had faxed us posted and were handing copies out to clients if they had questions. The lawyer asked him directly, "Are you giving them to YOUR dogs with the possible risk and the company's explanation?" The doctor replied, "No, I'm not recommending them, even though they're still on the market." The lawyer's reply was, "Boy, I'd love to get you up on the stand if my dog died. You won't give them to your own dogs because you think they're a risk, but you're selling them in your hospital?" The owner/head veterinarian took them off the shelves immediately.

Again, the risk I'm talking about has nothing to do with the dogs being given the wrong size treat. Since you can't reason with a dog and say, "You must chew these up into small enough pieces when eating them or they might get stuck somewhere inside you," we stopped selling them. This is just my opinion. You can form your own.


Check out this site. The story about Burt the dachshund is one of the worst.

http://www.optimumchoices.com/Greenies.htm

Answer 4

That's BS, I gave my dog the appropriate "recommended" size. She still broke off a large chunk, it became lodged in her intestinal tract, she vomited for 3 days, took her to vet, after MRI and over a grand in bills, she finally passed it, but they were considering surgery. Give your dog carrots, the small ones, I would never recommend the greenies again.........kindof stupid that the manufacturer's "out" is the comment that people don't use the appropriate size, instead of making a product that is EASILY DIGESTED no matter what size.

Answer 5

The problem with them is that they don't digest properly and can accumulate in the stomach causing an obstruction. As it can't be passed this has to be surgically removed and if you don't catch it in time your dog can die. I would never feed them with the things I've seen from them (I've even seen the green ball removed from a dogs stomach). Maybe they don't always end up like that but I wouldn't take the chance with my babys.
Edit: As to why they haven't been removed? Probably haven't been enough reported cases of this happening for them to concider it a "problem". I'm sorry but even one dog dieing is a VERY BIG problem for me. These animals mean way too much to let this happen.

Answer 6

The recently remade their recipe to make it more digestible, previously there were stories of dogs that had to get their stomached pumped. Not because of the greenies themselves but for the reason that owners give their dogs three plus a day.

It OK for a dog but its a treat so apply it as one, no more than once a day, if not once a week.

Answer 7

I've never heard anything negative about Greenies, I buy them
every so often for my chihuahua and she loves them. Her
breath isn't that bad since I quit giving her canned dog food,
now she gets her own "chicken soup" I make for her out of
brown rice, chicken and raw carrots, on top of her NutroMax
Tiny bites. But a lot of my friends use Greenies for their dogs,
no ptoblems at all but I think the key thing is not to give them to
them all the time, just once in a while as a special treat.

Answer 8

i guess they are ok in moderation. like once a week. if you give them to them too much then its like its comes out the same way it goes in. it doesn't even seem like they chew them. its like crack for dogs. i just mention them around my moms dogs and they go psycho. if you give them too much it turns thier stool green and they will start scooting on thier booty because they are constipated from eating too many so be careful. make sure they are chewing them!

Answer 9

According to the manufacturer, they are 80% indigestible. They are still sold because the manufacturer admitted this, so that is supposed to be proper warning for the consumer.

Answer 10

I heard they did something like block up the colon or did something to the kidney/liver (or some other important organ).