tasty treats

What is your cat's favorite treat?  I recently adopted two sibling kittens ~ 7-8 months old that are very timid.   After a few weeks of letting them get used to their new surroundings I'd like to work more closely with them to get them more used to me.

What treat does your cat find irresistible?   TIA!

Plain boiled chicken!  I always try to keep some handy in the fridge.  I buy the boneless skinless flash-frozen kind and I have one of those Instant-Pot pressure cookers, I just throw a couple in there frozen with some water and let it go until it just falls apart with a fork.  I freeze it in small baggies and thaw it out a little at a time.

I started doing that when my oldest cat started having GI issues and it quickly became a hit with everyone, so I keep it handy.  You can boil it on the stove too until it is fork-shreddable, then freeze in baggies.

I had to edit this and add--they seem to like the boneless skinless thighs better than the breast meat too.

Orijen makes some great freeze dried treats that my little boy and his sensitive tummy really love. He eats the lamb ones and the regional red, I think? The ones that are lamb, beef, and wild boar. Fancy Feast also makes some fresh treats that are just boiled chicken, salmon or tuna. Gizmo can't eat chicken and I limit his fish but he loves the salmon one of those!

I don't give my cats boiled boneless cooked chicken as treats, but they are determined to be on the counter if I'm chopping up chicken for either noodles or enchiladas, without fail. So that's a thing.

I usually just use Greenies or  freeze dried chicken. Purebites work. Petco did away with their entire freeze dried cat line of Good Lovin, so I can't get hearts anymore.

And Tommy is weird. He likes freeze dried raw blue or green mussels. Petco used to put them out with their Good Lovin line, so meh.. Honest Kitchen has them now but markets them as dog treats so I don't know if they are larger (probably not) but I need to get a bag and see if Tommy still loves his stinky mussels.

Thanks for the ideas!

There are lots of threads on favorites treats and best treats:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/314398/what-treats-do-you-feed-your-cat

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/291266/best-brand-of-treats

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/266572/what-treats-are-best-for-cats

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/316911/safe-human-food-for-treats

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/202821/canned-salmon-ok-as-a-treat

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/273035/what-is-your-kitties-favorite-treat

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/332242/cat-treats

Coco and Callie love freeze-dried treats!

I purchase PureBites and PetSmart's Simply Nourish brand.

Temptations. In very limited amounts. He goes crazy for the stuff, I was given 5 bags of it for free so I figured I'd use it.
He also really enjoys those instincts freeze dried raw toppers. It's his healthier treat.

None of my 3 will eat any freeze dried treats, or Bonito flakes either as toppers.  They will walk away from it.  But--I learned a trick--I soak the freeze dried ones in warm water, then they will eat them.  But it's not very convenient for me!

Now those Temptations treats--Wurp will eat those, and if he sees the container he goes absolutely insane. He is deaf and doesn't make a lot of meows or noises anymore at all, but he will howl for them. My other two really don't care one way or another, they might eat one or two and they are done.  I keep some at the house all the time, but only give them to Wurp when I need to get him in the carrier or something like that, or as a distraction if he is plotting to kill one of the others when he has a bad-mood day.

I have tried to give my cat various treats, but he was not interested in any "normal" treat that I gave him. That is, until I tried Orijen freeze-dried. I have given him Tundra and Alberta something, and he is crazily infatuated with this stuff.

The idea was to use treats to make him come to terms with the carrier, but they are not of much help. No matter how much I try, he just hates being put in the carrier, which is a necessity when I weigh him.

Purebites and boiled chicken are what my cat enjoys. He also likes Natural Balance treats (in salmon & rabbit), but I don't give him a lot of those since they aren't too healthy

LTS3 thanks for the links - so helpful!!

Thanks for all the great suggestions!   I am working to bond with my two kittens and over the past few days I've given them sardines in water with no added salt and I cooked up some plain chicken thighs.   Now I'm their new best friend.