Chewing offers many benefits, including improved dental hygiene, the release of happy and calming hormones in your carnivore's brain, building strength, and keeping them busy for a while. But not all chew options are created equal. Let’s dive into the differences between raw meaty bones, chew toys, and traditional dental chews.

Digestibility

• Raw Meaty Bones: Fully digestible, making them a natural choice for your pet's diet.
• Chew Toys: Should not be digested. These are designed to withstand chewing but not for consumption.
• Dental Chews: Fairly digestible, but the ingredients used can vary widely, affecting overall digestibility.

Ingredients

• Raw Meaty Bones: Contain meat, bone, cartilage, healthy fats, and marrow. These are all-natural and healthy ingredients for a carnivore to munch on.
• Chew Toys: Typically made with rubber or plastic, often with added colorants and other manmade chemicals, including flavorings that your pet absorbs through their gums and tongue.
• Dental Chews: Usually made with a variety of sugars, starches, preservatives, synthetic nutrients, grains, and added color. In the human world, sugar isn't good for our dental health, yet many pet dental chews are filled with sugar. It’s like a dentist telling you that letting your child chew on a candy cane every day is good for their teeth.

Dental Cleaning Action

• Raw Meaty Bones: The ideal toothbrush nature intended for carnivores. The chewing and gnawing action massages and cleans the gums and teeth, while the meat, tendons, and stringy bits act as natural dental floss.
• Chew Toys: Come in various shapes and sizes. Smooth ones are the least helpful, while those with bumps and ridges offer better cleaning power by scraping and massaging the teeth and gums. However, they lack the flossing action that raw meaty bones provide.
• Dental Chews: Similar to chew toys, their main cleaning action is through massaging and scraping against the gums and teeth. Finding the right texture can be challenging; some are too soft to help much, while others are too hard and can cause dental issues.

Non-Dental Benefits

• Raw Meaty Bones: Gnawing, ripping, and tearing supports superior jaw and upper body strength, especially in the neck and shoulders as the pet holds the bone with their front paws to tear off a chunk of meat. The nutrients found in the bone, meat, and cartilage are superior to those found in any other dental treat, offering essential amino acids, collagen, fats, and many other wonderful nutrients.
• Chew Toys: Can be used to play fetch and other games and are safe to have in the house.
• Dental Chews: Can usually be fed in the house without danger to your carpets.

Duration

• Raw Meaty Bones: Depending on the bone and the determination of your pet, a raw meaty bone can last from several minutes to days. For larger bones, offer them for an hour or so before refrigerating for another day. Never leave a raw meaty bone outside in the sun as it can become brittle and likely to splinter.
• Chew Toys: These can last a lifetime, depending on the pet. If your pet only shows interest when there are treats in it, the toy may last long but get little use. Some pets enjoy a good chew toy and can go through them quickly, sometimes in minutes or days.
• Dental Chews: Rarely last longer than a few minutes, with 10 minutes usually being the max.

Choosing the Right Size Bone

For optimal benefits and safety, choose the right size bone based on your pet’s size: