Thursday, October 4, 2012

More Neutral Than Impressed, Myah Is Slow To Pick Up Zuke’s Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones Treats!


The Good: Freshens breath and cleans teeth as the product promises to . . . when Myah finally eats it, Nothing actually bad in it.
The Bad: Comparatively expensive, I’m not wild about the environmental impact of the single bones, Myah was not impressed with the taste.
The Basics: Myah passed by the Zuke’s Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones treats we picked up for her, leaving me unimpressed.


Poor Myah! As it turns out, my Siberian Husky, Myah, has gotten a bit thinner than I realized. My wife is much more knowledgeable about such things than me and she is working now to fatten Myah up a little bit. That means that Myah has been eating a puréed blend of chicken livers and gizzards and some chunks of raw food like that which I would never have considered giving to her. Myah initially eagerly began eating the gross blend that my wife made for her. At one point, she looked at the mash and at me with an expression I thought was saying “Daddy, why are you letting mommy feed me this?!” So, trying to win her back to my side, I picked her up a Zuke’s Large Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones Treat.

The Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones Treats are only my second experience with the Zuke’s brand. Our cat, Gollum, once had Zuke’s Natural Purrz Tender Chicken cat treats (reviewed here!) , but the Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones were Myah’s first experience with Zuke’s. They left her underwhelmed, which surprised me because I thought she would have leapt on the different flavor. I mean, cherry flavor should be a nice change from raw meat, yet Myah did not go right for the new treat. In fact, she was mostly indifferent to it!

Basics

The Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones are a treat that seems to be trying to take over (or at least compete in) the Greenies niche. Made to look like a bright red bone, much like Greenies, the Zuke’s Large Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones is supposed to be difficult for the dog to chew, which helps them scrape the plaque and tartar off their teeth. In addition to appearing to enjoy the Zuke’s Large Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones, it cleaned Myah’s teeth and leave her breath fresher than without using them, so they do exactly what they claim to on the package.

Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones, a new-to-me and Myah treat, but given Myah’s antipathy toward them, I doubt they will be in our regular rotation. The Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones Treats are red and shaped like a bone, though they are flat and have the brand name embossed on the side. It is 4 5/8” long and 1 3/4” wide at its widest point. The Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones is a treat that trades on being flavored like fruit – which Myah likes – but smells surprisingly more like meat than fruit. Each Large Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones 2.5 oz. treat comes individually as a wrapped bone-shaped treat and it was fairly reasonably priced $2.99.

Ease Of Preparation

The red pressed meal "bone" is designed to help fight plaque and tartar build-up by having a texture to it and being very hard. The bone-shaped treat is smooth until the dog bites into it and fractures it. Then it becomes very mealy and the texture helps remove matter from a dog's mouth. Because the bone is too big to simply be swallowed, the Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones effectively brushes the dog's teeth and tongue using friction whenever the dog bites into it to split it and swallows it, dragging the bolus across their tongue. When Myag finally ate this, this is exactly what happened.

Preparing the treat for consumption is very easy; simply unwrap the individually-wrapped bone treat and give it to your dog. I highly recommend having water nearby for the dog to drink as they eat the Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bone!

Myah’s Reaction

Myah took a full half hour to get around to eating the Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bone. When she did begin eating it, she did not do so with her customary gusto. In fact, it appeared like it was a chore to her, like eating the food she seems tired of to fatten up!

Nutrition

These treats are not bad for dogs and the package recommends that dog owners have clean drinking water available to their dog when they feed them this treat. This treat is a dietary supplement, not a full meal. Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bones in the large size have at least 1% crude protein, 1% crude fat, and no more than 2% crude fiber and 20% moisture, so those looking out for their dog's specific dietary needs, that might help. They are made primarily of potato starch, tapioca, and vegetable glycerin! There are not a lot of preservatives, so these treats are actually very natural! The bone we picked up in early September had a June 2, 2013 expiration date.

Overall

Myah is mostly indifferent to the Zuke’s Clean Cherry Berry Z-Bone. So, while they intrigued me, they were not enough to impress her, making them absolutely impossible to recommend.

For other dog treat reviews, please check out my takes on:
Waggin' Train Wholesome Pork Skin Twists Wrapped With Duck Jerky With Chicken Liver
Hill's Science Diet Simple Essentials Skin & Coat Adult Jerky Treats
Milk-Bone Trail Mix

3.5/10

For other pet product reviews, please click here to visit my index page on the subject!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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