Safety of Cat treats?

Hi guys/gals,

I just did a little shopping spree at Petsmart for my future cat, including window perches and treats.

I'm concerned about the treats though: Feline 'Greenies' (dental care) and Authority 'Dental Cat Treats'.   

I should have read the ingredients first as they're on the nasty side, including corn gluten meal, rice flour/wheat flour. 

Authority brand looks less offensive, but still has tapioca starch, which I presume is bad as well.

Worse, I've just come across some scathing reviews on 'Greenies' on consumeraffairs website.  Many claiming that this product has caused the death of their cats, including inability to digest resulting  in the 'Greenies' lodging in their intestines and so on.  Same reports with very sick dogs. 

I wanted peoples' opinions on those reviews; is it fear mongering or legitimate complaints? 

What treat brand(s) would you recommend? Are Temptations ok, or are there issues there as well? 

I suppose I could get a different brand of kibble and use that exclusively as a treat food as well.  

thanks for any treat insight,

Marc 

Edit - I should be looking for freeze dried meat only products, didn't realize they had those, like  'Simply Nourish'. 

Edit again - apparently Consumeraffairs website is not a reliable source.  

Well done you for looking at the ingredients of treats!  So few people do, and feed them for years without ever stopping to think what is in them.

My cats have always had little snacks of their favourite wet food for treats as it tended to be more expensive then the stuff I fed every day, and my current boy is on a strict prescription diet of kibble which is low in protein so he gets high protein wet food, sardines or pilchards in teaspoon fulls as little daily treats, plus the 100% freeze fried meat / poultry / fish treats.  Again they are more expensive but at least they are nutritional, and they are not meant to get many so it doesn't add up too much as long as you figure out quickly which ones they like. My boy only likes the Thrive fish but he is a bit fussy!     Your idea of using ordinary dried food / kibble is a main staple of mine so I think your idea is great!    Mouse is mostly fed through play and it is his ordinary dry food that I throw for him to chase, or leave in litte hiding places he goes off in search of when I'm not in.  Cheeper and healthier!

I hope you are getting your cat soon and it all goes smoothlyt.    

Yeah, I'm going to be feeding canned, or at least that's my intention.

I already bought 3 slats (x24 each) of Fancy Feast (chicken, liver&chicken, turkey&giblets), which I presume are the 'classics'.  According to some here, they are healthy enough even though they're by-products and/or food coloring/flavoring in them. I have a big bag of premium dry too.

Treats I'll try to stay with some alternate brand dry, or freeze dried 100% meat product, or chicken wing raw etc. 

Try and resist buying too much of one thing until you are sure your cat a) will eat it and b) doesn't have any food alergies or sensitivities and stuff ends up being wasted or thrown away.  Unless you know who you are getting the cat from and they have already told you what it is eating and is OK with.  It might also vary with the age of the cat you get.

I don't usually post much in the nutrition forum as many of the brands are different in the UK and I don't feed raw like many do on the site: there is some really good information in the nutrition forum though so it is worth a good look around while you find out more about your cat.  Think you are heading in the right direction with the treats.

Do you know when you are getting your cat, where from, any information on him or her?  ( I am very nosy). 

Likely in the new year, adult/male preferred, from the local shelter. He'll have all the up to date shots/neutered and so on as per their policy.   It's a gamble of course, because you don't really know the complete history of the cats there, including their diet.  

At the same time, I'm tempted by the idea of a kitten, but lack any experience with kittens.  

I'm taking care of my sister's dog for a couple weeks though, so I'm holding off on actually getting a cat until I'm finished taking care of the dog. 

Good luck with some lovely cat or kitten selecting you in the new year then!  Definitely a good idea to TRY and resist getting too much stuff until you know more or bring him or her home as you can waste a lot if it turns out they don't like or can't eat something, or only use a certain type of litter for some reason. Great idea doing all your research and preparation, your new arrival should be one very lucky feline having someone paying so much care to their needs - talk about spoiled.    Mind you, I am no one to talk, I could barely wait the 4 months I had to before I brought Mouse home and anyone I came in to contact had to live through me yabbering on like an expectant parent the whole time.

One thing I missed in your starter post was the dental care.  If you get a kitten or a cat that isn't used to dental care, you can introduce them using dental wipes that you wrap round your finger or a cotton bud and rub gently around the teeth, you can introduce it even just letting them chew on it a little like that. You build up to rubbing all around their teeth, inside and outside edges.  Rather than dental treets it might look expensive but probably not much different is the enzyme toothpaste you can get in many larger pet stores and vet surgeries.  It is poultry or fish flavoured most regularly and many cats really like it. My boy licks it off the little silicone finger brush like it is a treetand lets me rub around his mouth.  He gets a tiny amount twice a day, and will come running and jumps up on to the too brushing bit of the worktop  if I say 'tooth time'!    Most cats would be fine with a tiny bit rubbed or licked off the silicone brush daily or every other day and the tube would last for ages like that.  For Mouse it lasts around 3 months and costs about £11.  Actually, it probably does work out cheeper than all those treet chews....  When you get your cat, when you first take them along to see a vet ask the vet about the toothpaste as they may well have a little sample you can try to see if the cat likes it or not. 

Hi MServant, 

Thanks for all the information.  So, do you use both the finger brush and dental wipes, or either or? 

Yes, I have gone a bit bonkers with the canned cat food purchases - thankfully petsmart has a 60 day return policy.   

hello, yes, I bought the regular cat treats, (let me go get one) and now, the last one was "Pounce – let's play!" Treats. And the other was in the blue packages. Huge mistake!.

I mistakenly decided to spoil my cat, my three-year-old Burmese female, and give her a lot of these traits. For one thing, she's crazy about them like they are a DRUG. In fact she got so addicted to them, she thought hostile, coming after me and demanding them.was never satisfied with six a day, which is all you're supposed to give them, so I gave her more, and that was a bad idea even worse. (Although this one says you can give your cat 14 to 18 pieces a day, depending on the Size)

Well, I've finally stopped giving them to her at all! Why? They act like drugs! They act like Kitty heroin! I can't believe the damn things and I haven't read all the ingredients. But the way she acts,  them demanding more and more I'm not giving them to her anymore. That was about a week ago, and she's still going crazy looking everywhere for them.

What the hell is in these Kitty treats? I am not giving her any more of them no matter what they say. I'll give her pieces of meat and fish and stuff like that for treats. But not this junk! No way is my cat getting hopped up on some kind of drugs or extra caffeine, and going bonkers for it so she can't even forget it 1 min.

Is anybody else having this problem with. Commercial cat treats? I don't know if I have given them a green treats or not, probably. But they all act like this! Is it just because they're so good? I don't believe that. She likes yogurt, licked off my finger. But when I put it in the day she won't touch it. She is absolutely crazy she cannot forget these things, these commercial traits and I'm not giving them to her anymore, because she's too hooked on them. Am I doing wrong or am I doing right? I like your idea of giving them little pieces of meat or fish or real protein.

I have behavior problems with this kitty anyhow, she can't stand to see me on the computer, drawing, she comes over and knock the pen out of my hand. She seems to want attention all the time. I tried doing that, and had to cut it out, I'm old and I can't run up and down playing with her all the time. This seems to be a very needy cat, like she never was a regular kitten, and didn't have play time at Cetera.

So giving her these treats is just complicating our problems of the behavior between the two of us. I have to find some happy ground, with pleasing her but she just require so much play, I can't do it all. I'm seriously consider trying to give her a little kitty, a baby, that's old enough to play with her, because a friend of mine did that with her old cat, and the old cat loveed the little kitty and took care of it like it was her own.I know that a lot of cats need another cat to be happy, we are often not enough.so I am open to that. I tried giving her a little yogurt on my finger, and she licked it all off she loved it.

But when I put it in her bowl, she doesn't like it. Ditto butter and olive oil mixed together and warmed. But if I put her in her bowl she won't eat it. I was told that putting a little olive oil on the dry cat treats will help with skin dryness and hairballs.maybe I am being too oversensitive about how my cat feels, all the time, and trying to please her. But I've already nixed some of her bad behavior, and when she does it, shoved her off the bed or the couch. You know, scratching and biting badly! I let her know I will not put up with it. I think Are like children, and I have never had a kid. But I know you have to discipline them, and set limits. Not being mean, just set limits on what you will except.

Okay, sorry for jawing so much, but you guys are right about treats, and even green ones. They just put all kinds of junk in them. You are correct. I just think I'm going to give her little bits of fish and meat cause I know what's in them. (The same pollutions that are getting to us, in meat and fish, but what can you do? The world is very very polluted, probably all of the countries.) Anyhow thanks for listening to me and reading this, you guys are good to talk to and very smart. ..

Good for PetSmart.    Being me I'd probably loose all the receipts or something - if the cat hadn't already chewed them up. 

@doreet, you can give your cat the freeze dried meet and protein snacks or you could just give little wet food treets like bits of sardine or pilchard.  Someone at a cat show the other day told me her cats liked tinned pilchards in tomato sauce the best! Strange!  As being cheeper things like pilchards, mackeral and sardines are lower on the food chain sothey have fewer toxins in too. Cats tend not to like them in oil so get in spring water or tomato sauce, but make sure there's no garlic or onion in the sauce and it's not high in salt.

If you want your cat to run about and play you can feed ordinary cat kibble / biscuits like treats and throw them for your cat to chase after.  You hardly have go move and your cat will race around happily.....  DaBird is good too as it only takes a very slight wrist action for the feather end to fly across over about a 5 meter line around the room and it isn't heavy either.  Costs a bit unforunately.  2 cats entertain each othe more but that is very dependent on whethe they get on, and you will have to spend a good amount of time on initial introductions to have a reasonable chance of them getting on.

There is a home made cag treat thread too if you fancy giving your cat something that you know exactly what's in it.     

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/268498/homemade-kitty-treats-thoughts-opinions

I'm not sure what you want a treat to do.  Cats generally seem to love Temptations brand and mine will find herself doing things she really didnt want to do, like go to bed, to get her "cookies."  They do meet the AAFCO guidelines for what that's worth.  She only gets about 2-3 most days.

I've seen bonito flakes mentioned but haven't had a chance to try them.

You could look into feeding gizzards, necks, and etc as treats as well. Safe for human consumption and some dental benefits too.

Did I read something about tomatoes not being OK for cats? I truly don't remember. I give sardines in water because of lower fat than oil packed ones. And I agree that play is probably the best treat there is.

peaches08 said:

You could look into feeding gizzards, necks, and etc as treats as well. Safe for human consumption and some dental benefits too.

Did I read something about tomatoes not being OK for cats? I truly don't remember. I give sardines in water because of lower fat than oil packed ones. And I agree that play is probably the best treat there is.

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Yet another benefit of cats over kids - they don't get hung up on adverts for junk food so if you give them something healthy that they like they think it's a treat no matter how old they get.    It's humans that think Dreamies and things are what cats want as a treat, cats want tasty, nice food, attention and play.  Tomatoes are fine as far as I know - as long as they're not green and it's not the plant you're feeding them.  It's the salt and any added onion and garlic you need to watch for in the sauce. 

Of course if you're throwing the treats around the room for chasing games or the end point of a frantic session with the lazer pointer then only use the kibble / biscuits and not the wet food!     Great trick if you want a bit of 'me' time on the computer without your arm being chewed.....  wear cat out, feed cat treat, wait for cat to find comfy spot, then get that keyboard busy.  You can even throw the odd biscuit while you type if you're really desperate and kitty wants more fun, but if your cat's like Mouse they won't put up with that for long.