By admin [ad_1]
Cats are finicky friends, even when it comes to treat time. Luckily, the market is filled with options for giving your kitty a few tasty tokens of appreciation, whether you’re looking to reward good behavior, improve their health, or simply say “I love you.” Cat treats can serve several purposes, including bonding, dental health, hiding pills, training, or helping your cat relax. It’s particularly important to be aware of the number of calories in treats and the intended life stage, so you can provide appropriate nutrition.
:strip_icc()/temptations-mixups-crunchy-and-soft-cat-treats-37d25515f2db40ad9b0c20cdc9e574bc.jpg)
Temptations cat treats are a long-standing favorite among cats everywhere. In fact, these treats are known to be incredibly irresistible to cats, so don’t be surprised if they literally beg for more. The bite-sized Temptation MixUps Crunchy and Soft Cat Treats combine the best of two treat types with a crunchy outside and soft, creamy inside, and come in three tasty flavors: Backyard Cookout, Catnip Fever, and Surfer’s Delight. Backyard Cookout includes pieces flavored like chicken, liver, and beef, while Surfer’s Delight features shrimp, tuna, and salmon flavors. The Catnip Fever flavors are catnip, cheese, and chicken.
We are big fans of the multiple sizes available, including up to a 30-ounce tub, and the price is incredibly affordable, even if you don’t buy in bulk. While the ingredients aren’t the healthiest on the list—they contain grains and protein by-product and meals—we do like that they are less than two calories per treat, so you don’t have to feel too guilty when you cave to their cute faces. A word of warning: Be careful to keep the tub lids closed tightly and treat bags stored away in cabinets—cats have been known to break into tubs and chew through the plastic treat bags in order to reach these highly popular treats.
Fewer than 2 calories per treat
:strip_icc()/inaba-churu-lickable-cat-treat-bd62d0ba65f54b96a24b4c7838e47518.jpg)
Churu are just as irresistible to cats as Temptations, and I’ve personally never met a cat that has turned their nose up to any flavor of Churu. These wet treats are packaged in individual skinny plastic tubes (great for portability, bad for the environment), and require you to hold the tube and “feed” your cat the treat by applying pressure to the tube (kind of like a toothpaste tube). This direct delivery of such a desirable treat can help foster and strengthen a bond between you and your cat, or help establish trust between you and a new cat. Churu treats are popular with cat foster parents who are tasked with socializing cats who have been rescued from outdoor situations, and you may even see them used as a tool to gain kitty trust at vet offices and cat rescues.
Besides being absolutely loved by cats, these wet treats can add some extra hydration to your cat’s diet. Churu treats are available in a host of grain-free flavors ranging from basics like chicken, beef, and tuna to combinations including tuna and bonito flakes, beef and cheese, and chicken and scallop (among many, many, many others). This makes it easy to provide your cat with several flavor options, even if they have a food sensitivity. Plus, they come in several quantities and variety pack combinations. Packets can also be squeezed onto a plate or on top of food for a picky eater. If you want to save some of the 2-ounce treat for later, the opened tube should be stored in the fridge.
Six calories per treat
How We Picked
Our top picks for the best cat treats were selected based on their combined appeal in several categories. Our first order of business was to collect reliable recommendations from friends and colleagues who have had real-world experience with certain types of cat treats, down to the best flavors. We then did additional research to find treats that covered a wide range of cat needs, from helping to maintain a certain diet, aiding in dental hygiene, and calming the nervous system. We also considered best-sellers, long-standing cat favorites, and newbies to the market.
What to Look For
Ingredients
It can be easy to overlook the ingredients in cat treats since they’re just used as an intermittent or supplemental source of food, but you should treat the ingredients in your cat’s treats just as you would their regular food. This means looking for any possible ingredients they may be sensitive or allergic to, and the overuse of subpar ingredients like fillers. Grains, flours, meals, and starches are common fillers in cat treats because they help keep costs down and provide a good crunchy or chewy texture, but if your cat isn’t used to these ingredients, they may cause stomach upset or gastrointestinal discomfort.
Serving Size
Check the treat label to see if there is a limit for how many treats you should feed your cat. This is often broken down by weight and number of treats. This is especially important if your cat is on a diet. Either way, treats are not meant to exceed 10% of your cat’s total daily caloric intake. Depending on how often you want to dole out the treats, this can be an important number to crunch.
Life Stage
Just like with regular food, you’ll want to make sure the treat you feed your cat is appropriate for the specific life stage of your cat. For example, many treats have a minimum age because of certain ingredients, or a maximum age because of calories or fat content. This is most important when choosing a treat for kittens or senior cats.
Storage requirements
Treats have specific storage requirements, so read the fine print before sealing up the bag and stuffing it in the cabinet. Some raw treats need to be refrigerated, while others are fine tucked away on a shelf. Check the expiration of the treats, too—including how long the shelf life is and how long they’ll stay good once opened. (I’m personally guilty of leaving open bags of treats in the fridge for lengthy periods of time, so no judgment here.)
Types of Cat Treats
- Crunchy: These kibble-like treats are a favorite among most cats and are usually budget-friendly for most humans.
- Lickable: Hilariously called “meat gogurts” by a friend of mine, lickable treats have a puree consistency and are often packaged in individual tubes that you open at one end and squeeze into your cat’s mouth.
- Meat sticks: More common in the canine world, meat stick treats are basically Slim Jims for your cat, made with cat-friendly ingredients, in cat-friendly flavors.
- Raw: Raw treats are usually freeze-dried to preserve nutrients and keep the treats portable, though some may be frozen. These treats are full of protein, usually on the more expensive side because of their lack of fillers, and require you to wash your hands after dispensing.
- Functional: Functional treats are the best of both worlds—a delicious treat for your cat that sneaks in a hidden health benefit. These include dental treats, calming treats, treats that can hide medicine, and those that act as supplements.
More We Recommend
:strip_icc()/greenies-feline-dental-cat-treats-d28abc6e00d04910b06724451dcf6166.jpg)
Best for Dental Care: While brushing your cat’s teeth is still the best way to provide at-home dental care, offering dental treats for cats proven to help oral health is also a great option. Greenies Feline Dental Treats are crunchy treats proven by the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) to slow or reduce tartar, and can freshen breath by “cleaning” your cat’s teeth with their crunchy texture.
They are available in tuna, catnip, chicken, and salmon flavors. We love that they are designed to improve dental health, but know that you’ll need to feed an average-sized cat 16 treats a day to see these benefits. Thankfully, these dental treats are a hit with cats and available in a variety of sizes, including a 1.3-pound tub, so you won’t have trouble getting them gobbled down or have to worry about running out. Greenies should not be fed to kittens under 1 year old (unless noted on the packaging).
Under 2 calories per treat
:strip_icc()/purebites-freeze-dried-chicken-breast-cat-treats-f25b5a883cee4db08f9dc9c035ec4d4b.jpg)
Best for Grain-Free Diets: If you’ve got a cat that relies on a grain-free diet, you’ll likely need to stick to a single-ingredient cat treat like PureBites. In order to make them more affordable, a lot of cat treats contain grains or other fillers. These PureBite Freeze-Dried Chicken Breast Treats contain just one ingredient—chicken breast. This makes them a fantastic, low-calorie, high-protein, high-quality treat for your cat.
They are freeze-dried and come in bite-sized pieces that make healthy treats for your cat. They have no added grains or other ingredients, so it’s easy to avoid things your cat can’t have, and the unique texture will be an appealing reward. These treats are affordable, all-natural, and have about 2 calories each. Salmon and shrimp treat options are also available from PureBites for cats that need to avoid both grains and chicken.
Two calories per treat
:strip_icc()/Screenshot2024-06-26at8.00.36AM-3b8162e0e79a491d93e6615b3745bb79.jpg)
Best for Raw Diets: If your cat is on a raw diet, these Vital Essentials Freeze-Dried Cat Treats offer a single-ingredient, protein-packed raw treat without the fuss and hassle of having to defrost anything. Vital Essentials treats are frozen fresh and then slowly freeze-dried over two days to preserve the most natural nutrients possible. These treats can be great for cats with food allergies since some of the recipes only contain one ingredient, such as minnows, chicken hearts, and duck liver. The crunchy texture is also good for naturally “cleaning” your cat’s teeth.
Each treat includes as much of the animal protein source as possible, which for the freeze-dried minnows means bones, tails, and organs—mimicking the way your cat would naturally eat any prey. We love that these treats are fresh, but they can definitely be a bit smelly (to be fair, that’s part of the reason cats dig them, too). The size of each piece varies within a package and across the full line of freeze-dried treats. You might also find that your cat has a preference for certain flavors over others. My cat Bo does not like the minnows, but he gobbles down the raw, freeze-dried duck livers, chicken giblets, and chicken hearts.
Two calories per treat
:strip_icc()/royal-canin-veterinary-diet-adult-hydrolyzed-protein-cat-treats--597cf3d82ecf4c12b1587c5b470e78d9.jpg)
Best for Sensitive Stomachs: These Royal Canin Veterinary Diet treats will require a prescription from your vet—and being a prescription-only product makes them one of the more expensive picks on the list—but if your cat suffers from food allergies or stomach issues, they might just be worth it to give your BFF some treats that don’t upset their digestive tract.
Not only do they improve the skin of cats with food sensitivities, they are also formulated to create an inhospitable environment within a cat’s urinary tract, reducing the likelihood of struvite and calcium oxalate crystals, making them ace for urinary health, too. We like that Royal Canin offers a 100 percent guarantee on these treats, including that your cat will like the texture and flavor (a mix between fish and chicken). Right now, these treats are only formulated for adult cats.
Fewer than 6 calories per treat
:strip_icc()/vetriscience-composure-calming-treats-for-cats-3c2797a631b54d57881592eebf70cae6.jpg)
Best Calming Aid: Many cats are stressed, anxious, or overly excitable and can act out by scratching things they shouldn’t, urinating outside the litter box, and even acting aggressively towards other pets and people. VertiScience’s Composure Calming Treats for Cats are chews with ingredients like L-theanine, colostrum biopeptides, and thiamine that research has shown to have calming effects without the need for sedation.
These chews can be given as needed, 30 minutes before a stressful event, or daily for more consistent calming. They come in chicken, trout, and a chicken and trout flavor, and are a fish-shaped soft chew for easy administration (which we also like for their ease of chewing for senior cats or cats with mouth issues).
Five calories per treat
:strip_icc()/feline-greenies-pill-pockets-88f6acce8d12413aa2e4972679d0788b.jpg)
Best for Hiding Medicine: Giving pills to cats is not easy, but if your cat will eat a soft treat, Greenies Feline Pill Pockets will be an extremely helpful tool in your belt to get the task done. Although not quite as irresistible to cats as the crunchy Greenie treats, most cats still find these soft pills to be plenty tasty. One of the reasons these treats work so well to hide pills is that you can use your fingers to mold the soft treat around the pill, usually completely encasing it in a Trojan horse treat.
There is also enough treat to work for larger pills, too, but you can also use multiple Pill Pockets if you need more “dough” to disguise a pill or capsule. Pill Pockets are available in three flavors: salmon, catnip, and chicken, and come in a resealable bag for freshness. Note that some cats may eventually catch onto your game and begin to eat around the encased pill or refuse the Pill Pocket.
Three calories per treat
:strip_icc()/blue-buffalo-baby-blue-crunchies-natural-grain-free-savory-salmon-kitten-treats-54a832d1f2b74baf868c4b4f3fd2da78.jpg)
Best for Kittens: Kittens have little mouths with baby teeth, so it’s imperative to only feed them treats that are the right size for them. Airy, crunchy textures are also preferred because they are easy to break up with little bites and are less likely to cause choking compared to soft chews. These Blue Buffalo Baby Blue Grain-Free Kitten Crunchies are not only the right size and consistency for kittens, but they are healthy, too. We love the grain-free formula and that there are no meat by-products or meals. Plus, they are oven-baked for a good but not sharp crunch. Flavors are your basic chicken or salmon, but that’s not a problem with most kittens. These treats are also low in calories, so you won’t have to worry about giving too many treats when you want to reward your new furry friend.
Under 2 calories per treat
:strip_icc()/Pet-Honesty--Cat-Hairball-Support-Chews-173eb0b4d98b46d4a701954653ae3abd.jpg)
Best for Hairball Prevention: Wouldn’t it be nice to have a healthy and tasty treat on hand to remedy the inevitable hairball problem? Pet Honesty Cat Hairball Support Chews may be the answer, and it’s a daily treat with clean ingredients, including apple pomace, citrus fiber, psyllium husk, and omega-3s, without corn, soy, or wheat additives. Reviewers say their cats even love the apple flavoring, and it certainly helps that each pellet-shaped treat is dual-textured, with a crunchy outer shell and a creamy filling that cats can’t resist.
Each bite-sized treat is formulated with clean ingredients to help reduce clogs by gently moving hairballs through your cat’s digestive tract. The manufacturer recommends the number of pellets based on your cat’s weight. For example, a 10-pound cat can have 10 treats a day. A 30-day supply of treats comes in a resealable bag.
Calorie information not listed
FAQ
-
What ingredients should you look for or avoid in cat treats?
Since treats are not the bulk of a cat’s diet, the ingredients need to be safe, but they aren’t as important as the food you are feeding your cat. The first ingredient on the label should ideally be meat, and while many owners try to avoid grains, some grains are not a problem for most cats. Avoid treats with food dyes, BHA, BHT, and ingredients your specific cat is sensitive or allergic to.
-
How often should you give your cat treats?
Treats should not make up more than 10 percent of your cat’s diet, so they should not be given all the time. They should be something that your cat gets infrequently, and as a reward or motivator. Once or twice a day, your cat can get some treats while you are petting it or to entice it to exercise, but they should not be a constant offering.
-
What’s the difference between catnip and cat treats?
Catnip is a plant, and cat treats are edible food items. Catnip is often dried and sprinkled onto surfaces to attract your cat. If your cat consumes it or smells it, it may cause it to act excited or exhibit other behaviors. Catnip should not be used in place of a treat, but rather more as an occasional cat toy.
Cat treats, on the other hand, are edible and used to train, reward, or motivate a cat. They can both be used as attractants, but catnip should not be given regularly as a treat.
Why Trust The Spruce Pets?
For this update, K. Alex Beaven refreshed current product information and reviewed our top picks, adjusting, removing, and adding cat treat products as needed. She also relied on her own experience as a lifelong cat owner trying to find cat treats that check as many boxes as possible. Alex has also written stories on the best probiotics for cats, the best lickable cat treats, and the best cat trees for The Spruce Pets.
A previous version was written by Adrienne Kruzer, a registered and licensed veterinary technician in three states, who has been writing on pet and vet topics for over a decade.
[ad_2]