Sunday's Quesrion of the Day - Apr 26, 2015

pinkdagger

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I used to petsit for a friend whose mother thought I was cruel for only giving their 16lb obese (like horribly obese, can't groom herself) cat 1 treat a day split into quarters, and making her run up the hall or down the stairs for each piece. They said they give her a minimum of 5 Temptations a day, just for lying there and being cute.

 

How often do your cats get treats? What kind of treats? How do you offer them? (incentive for trick training, conditioning, hiding them, throwing them, just feeding them right to the cat, etc.)


The cats' only guarantee of getting commercial treats like Temptations or Whiskas is if they're at the vet. Mo loves it because he never gets as many treats at home, ever, and Kismet is too terrified to eat them. At home, I give visitors treats to entice the cats. They usually get tossed so the cats have to chase them down to get them. Mo is used to getting treats for little tricks like jumping up a wall or standing on his hind legs and holding your hand with his front paws (although he tends to think he's being teased because he defaults to standing and whapping/grabbing at hands really quickly so it looks like it's going to be an attack so I don't have the guts to do this).

Their kibble is their daily treat though, and that can be tossed, put in a treat ball, and hidden all over the apartment on door hinges, all over the towers, on chairs, sofas, window sills, in enclosed tracks, in boxes, etc. I save freeze dried treats like Pure Bites as toppers.

edit; BOO FOR TYPOS IN TITLES
 
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Columbine

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The primary treat I use is home cooked chicken or turkey. I don't use it as treats as such, more as a treat mini meal (I feed 6-8 times a day).

I do have nature's menu cat treats for my greyhound :rolleyes: If Asha's in the room when they come out she gets one, but that's it. On the rare occasions that she manages to dig the bag out from its hiding place and bring it to me, she gets one for sheer ingenuity and perseverance :lol3: Just remembered - if I need to get her back into her room at night I'll sometimes bribe her in with a treat or two, but I generally work things so she has a last meal when I take her to bed, so it's a rare thing.

The only treats Shadow's bothered about are fresh cooked chicken/turkey/salmon, or occasionally a little cheese or canned tuna, or maybe smoked salmon. Again, it's usually at a mealtime, either in place of a meal or alongside one.
 

Winchester

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Every night. They each get 3 treats. I keep the container back in my bureau drawer and they know that when I say the word "Treat!" they should immediately run back to the bedroom and line up at the foot of the bed. It's kind of funny to see six cats at the foot of the bed in a line.....esp since Muffin and Mollipop don't get along. One will be at one end of the line and the other will be at the other end; that way they don't have to deal with each other.

I always do a head count before I leave the house. If I can't find a cat, I'll yell "Treat!" and that cat, along with everybody else, will come running. Then I have to give them each one treat because I would never say the word without meaning it. Sometimes I think Mollipop hides on purpose in the morning, just so I have to give them a treat. 
ETA: We have a Deli Dome, which can be timed. I think we had it set so the balls would roll out in 2-hour intervals. Banshee used to sit there and wait for the ball to roll out, then she'd chase it all over the kitchen and living room. As the treats would come out of the holes in the balls, she'd gobble them down. 

And here is Boo with his bubble gum-like machine. This was an excellent paw-cep builder. He would turn the wheel, the treats would fall out and then he got to eat his treats. The problem with that was that Banshee caught on quickly that Boo could turn the wheel. She'd sit there and wait for the food to fall out and then she'd go in and grab the treats. Boo would look at her and I swear he'd sigh. Then he'd turn the wheel again for more food. Once Banshee was done scarfing, then he'd be able to get what he wanted to eat. He had great paw-ceps! Alas, the wheel broke off and we haven't bought another machine. I know you can still get them, but they've gotten quite a bit more expensive. I would take the machine apart every week and clean it out, then put it back together and refill it. He and his mom, who also knew how to turn the wheel, would go through pretty much a half-full container in about a week. We considered that part of their dry foot allotment.

 
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sivyaleah

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We don't give treats daily. When we do it's plain, freeze dried proteins such as chicken, turkey, etc.  Usually given if they seem really needy for food. Most days they go between meals just fine.

If I'm cooking something for us which they are allowed to eat such as a relatively plain piece of chicken or fish, I will give them some of that but more as a supplement to their dinner.

We also try hard not to give treats where we eat.  It only encourages begging.  I almost always (I have weak moments!) lead them to the kitchen instead.
 
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Draco

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They get them after each claw trimming session. when I can't find the cats and fear they might've run outside, I pull out the treats. It gets them running out of their hiding spots. I do t treat them too often just because
 

denice

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I rarely give treats.  One kitty has IBD so I don't like to give him commercial treats and the other kitty has that cobbie build that makes her prone to weight issues.  On the rare occasions that I have deli turkey I will give them a little piece of that when I am making a sandwich.  I occasionally open a can of tuna and they come running and begging.  I give them each a little pinch.  I don't use treats as a reward it's just a special treat when I have either of those things..
 

larussa

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Since Autumn is on a diet that the vet prescribed for her, she only gets Hills Prescription Diet T/D instead of the Temptations I was giving her. The vet says to use them as a snack and they have a lot less fat than other cat treats.

I give her a few in the day but mostly at night when she has only a small amount of her dry food left.
 

angels mommy

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I buy the Pure Bites freeze dried chicken (the big bag for dogs) as it's the same thing, but you get a much better buy that way, rather than those tiny bags for cats. I break a couple of larger pieces up for him as a treat.

I also buy the chicken & duck Blue wilderness treats that are like pieces of jerky.  I usually give him treats at night around 9:00, because he gets his 1/2 of an allergy pill in a piece of pill pocket then, so I call it his "night, night treats. 
 He will occasionally get them in the afternoon as well, but only if he is "asking" for them, sense he gets breakfast & dinner, it's his little in between snack to tie him over until dinner, otherwise, he is sometimes ready for dinner as early as 4:00, but I try to hold out until at least 5:00.  (he gets breakfast between 7 & 7:30).  
 

sivyaleah

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I buy the Pure Bites freeze dried chicken (the big bag for dogs) as it's the same thing, but you get a much better buy that way, rather than those tiny bags for cats. I break a couple of larger pieces up for him as a treat.
I do the same thing! 
 

LTS3

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I give freeze dried meat or fish treats. Right now I have Bravo Healthy Medleys, Salmon Paws, and The Honest Kitchen Smittens. The cats don't get treats too often, usually one or two pieces on the weekends. Occasionally I need to give a treat as a bribe to get the cats out from under the bed or something. Once in awhile if I'm cutting up raw chicken for my own dinner, I'll give my Aby a little piece. He loves it.
 

MoochNNoodles

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For a long time my 2 didn't get treats.  Then when Noodles got sick last December I was searching on here for pilling techniques and I heard about using Whisker Lickins to hide pills.  So now Noodles gets probably 5 of the Whisker Lickins and 1 calming treat a day.  Mooch is also on medications now.  I use 3 pill pockets a day and a few Temptations treats to help the pills go down.  Mooch lost a good bit of weight with her illness; so I don't mind that she has more treats right now.  It's more important that she gets her meds.  Before she got sick I would toss a few treats to distract her from Noodles eating her ones with the medicine in them.  She had to do a little work for them! 
  Now I just put them down in front of them.  I'm more concerned that they get what they need.
 

miagi's_mommy

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Miagi & Angel get treats every night before bed. If they eat before bed, they don't get treats I don't want them having an upset tummy.  They are temptations treats and sometimes Friskies Party Mix. They seem to like Temptations more but Tiger liked the party mix more.
 
 
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jcat

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Mogli can only eat all-meat treats due to his IBD. I get freeze-dried strips and cubes, break a strip into 5 little pieces for his daily clicker training sessions, and give him one cube at bedtime. I'm not really sure how the regular bedtime snack started - probably as an enticement to come up from the cellar after following me down there - but he won't settle down till he gets it.

The shelter cats, especially the ferals or semi-ferals, get 2 or 3 treats a day as bribes. Greed often outweighs shyness, and it's real progress when you can eventually get them to take a treat from your fingers. They prefer Dreamies or Temptations, but Dreamies are the more popular. We use soft or liquid treats for meds.
 
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stewball

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Gosh how spoilt your cats are. Mine get every few months i fill the Kong wobbly thing and leave them to it. Blighty does all the work and whisky sits and waits for him to get them out. They never ask for treats but when I get Mr.Wobbly out they come running.
A few weeks ago I bought then cat nip treats. They wouldn't touch them. Anybody have any ideas why?
 

Norachan

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They get cooked chicken, cut up into little cubes once a week. They really like any kind of treats but their favourites are Krispy Kisses. There are 10 packets in a bag so they get one bag between 20 of them a day. I usually hand them out just before I leave. That way I know they're all there and no one tries to follow me out of the door when I go.
 
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