nope, that link does not work friends, try it this way:

First click here
www.ivillage.com

then paste in this string right after the .com
/pets/petsymptomsolver/eating/articles/0,,413225_417005,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=2

Thanks, Lord Pickleman. Good readins. That Woman took exception to the following statement in one of the related articles, though: "It is also a good idea to give her dry food and crunchy snacks since these will help scour the teeth clean."

She says that's the largest pile of marketing bullshit ever, and she gets hopping mad every time she sees the lie perpetrated. Dry food is better than wet food for dental health inasmuch that it doesn't leave behind as much residue when it's eaten, but it in NO WAY cleans teeth. Sloughing off plaque and residue requires prolonged contact and friction, and that means actual chewing action, not just the perfunctory crunching we do with our pointy teeth. Cleaning our teeth with food means eating whole prey, meaty bones, large meat chunks, or anything else we need to really work on to cut up with our teeth.

As an illustration: When we were kittens, our breath became pretty foul with Science Diet dry kibble, got better when we were switched to the raw diet, then got bad again when we started teething at about six months. At that point she started giving us large chunks of meat every day, and our breath improved again. And it's true that when we have a large piece of tough meat (like my favorite, lamb shank), we chew and chew and chew on those bastards before the pieces are small enough to swallow.

And she'd also like to point out that lots and lots of cats and dogs on dry-food only diets STILL need to get their teeth cleaned annually. So much for the teeth-cleaning properties of kibble. But then she's convinced that generally dry food is Satan incarnate especially for cats because it doesn't contain enough animal protein or moisture.

Please note, though, that as a true finicky bastard I thoroughly protest the removal of my beloved kibble, and that the rantings above are strictly the opinion of That Woman, who, as you all know, is a tyrant of the first order. Teeth, shmeeth, gimme back my crunchies, ya daft whore!