Doggie Dentistry! (Sherley's Dental Gel)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Sherley's Dental Gel
Date:	28/08/08 (235 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, keeps teeth clean, freshens breath, once a week application

Disadvantages: Small tube sizes, messy

*What is Sherley's Dental Gel?*
This oral hygiene product for cats and dogs is part of the Care System range of products produced by the Sherleys company, owned by Beaphar, who produce a wide range of health & medical, grooming, feeding and general care products worldwide, catering for cats, dogs, birds and small animals.

*The product itself*
My last dog Ruby suffered terribly in her later years with problems with her teeth and gums caused by neglect and poor diet before I rescued her, it made eating sometimes slightly painful for her, she was occasionally in discomfort too and in the end she did have to have several teeth removed, it wasn't nice seeing her in having such problems with them that were caused before I had her and aside from the removal of the worst teeth there was very little else I could do to help her, but it did make me even more determined not to let my current dogs, Grace & Bensons teeth get in a bad way. I have had both of them since they were young pups, and although I decided not to go with brushing their teeth with a brush and paste (because lets face it, brushing a Rottweilers and Bernese Mountains Dogs teeth once they are fully grown wouldn't be an easy task!), I started a dental hygiene routine with them, using several products to help keep their teeth clean, aswell as the feeding of bones and chews to help keep their teeth free of plaque. One of the products is this Dental Gel, it is designed for use with either cats or dogs, and requires no brushing, you are simply meant to squeeze a thin line of the gel along your pets gum line once a week and that's it, your pets tongue will apparently do the rest, moving the gel around the teeth!

It is a clear fairly thick gel which contains Propolis which helps prevent bacteria sticking to your pets teeth and plaque/tartar forming, an antibacterial agent that helps kill germs on your pets teeth and gums and lastly breath freshening ingredients that keeps your pets breath fresh and pleasant. As mentioned before, the gel is clear and has no particular smell to it, just a fresh clean scent and isn't flavoured so it may not be something your pet really enjoys but adding flavours and smells to the product would defeat the object of it! It can be used on cats or dogs, and puppies and kittens over 4 months old, the packet warns that in rare cases it could cause mild stomach upsets in sensitive animals, if this happens you should stop using the product and try again in two months time. It must not be used on pregnant animals, those in heat or during the moulting period either, and you should avoid the product coming into contact with your pets nose or eyes.

*Packaging*
The gel comes contained inside a metal tube with a white plastic screw cap, much like a toothpaste tube but smaller, it has a foil seal over the opening which needs to be pierced before first use, this guarantees the product hasn't been tampered with. The tube is then packaged in a small light blue cardboard box which features pictures of dogs and a cat aswell as the product name on the front, and directions for use and warnings printed in several different languages along the back and sides. Contact information for Beaphar can also be found, aswell as the manufactures website.

*Price & Availability*
This product can be purchased from larger pet shops such as Pets At Home and online stores, as well as from some vet surgeries that have onsite shops. A 20g tube which contains around 15 applications for a medium sized dog will cost you £2.75.

*My opinion*
This product has become worth its weight in gold in my household for my dogs, despite the cheap price it really does do (or seem to do!) a fantastic job. Admittedly its not the only product I use on their teeth but it works very well in conjunction with the other products I use to keep their teeth clean and breath fresh smelling. Both dogs are still young, with Benson just at three years old and Grace not even a year and their teeth are snowy white, with just very little tartar only on Bensons back teeth. I started off using the product as recommended- squeezing a line of gel along their teeth but it proved very messy and the dogs really weren't keen on having it done and in my eyes it wasn't worth using it no matter how well it worked if it caused them distress. So now I use it by rubbing it over the knuckles of the marrowbones they get once a week, and as they chew them, their teeth scrape against the bones and the gel wipes off onto their teeth, so effectively its likes brushing their teeth- the products gets on their teeth without them even noticing and the taste of the bones disguises the taste of the gel so they really don't know its there. The gel didn't upset either of my dogs stomachs, but then again- they do have guts of steel, and it certainly does help keep their breath smelling fresh- not minty, just a nice clean smell. My only complaint is the size of the tubes, they contain only 20 grams of the gel, which doesn't go far with two very large dogs, but being so cheap I can't really complain.

The product can also be used on cats, however as I appreciate the use of my fingers I shall not even be attempting to open Jets mouth and squeeze the gel along his teeth! I did once try adding a small drop to his dry food but as any cat owner will know, cats seem to be born with a build in detector able to discover anything in their food that shouldn't be there, so obviously he had one sniff and walked away, I decided to leave it there- Jets teeth get enough cleaning crunching on all the bones of the birds and mice he gets. Good luck to anyone who does try to use this on a cat though!!

*Pro's & Con's*
+ Effective
+ Cheap
+ No brushing required
+ Keeps teeth clean, gums healthy and breath fresh
+ Clear gel, won't stain the fur around the mouth of a light coloured dog should any get round their mouth
+ Just squeeze along the teeth and your pets tongue does the rest
+ Can be used on cats and dogs, aswell as puppies and kittens
+ Widely available
+ Only needs to be applied once a week

- Proper way of application is messy and rather unpleasant for the animal
- Small tube sizes
- Can cause stomach upsets

Summary: We look after our teeth, look after your dogs/cats' too!