Treats

[Purrfect Meow]

I read the article on Cat Treats in the cheatsheet and wondered are Pure Bites Raw Freeze Dried Treats for cats dangerous. What is everyones opinion. My cat loves them, but I would not want to make him sick.

 

[Tobermory]

I use them. I find them particularly helpful when we have a reluctant eater. They make great toppers. I crush them and sprinkle them on the wet food.

 

[downton ali]

I like them for my cat as treats, however the fish ones can sometimes have hard edges to them so I inspect them before I feed them to my cats.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I ONLY feed freeze dried treats to my furry friends when I give them treats. In my opinion, they are much less dangerous to give them than something like Temptations or "party mix" (forget makes that one). I also use them as toppers when necessary. But then again, I also feed raw, which many Vets poo poo, but luckily my Vet is on board with.

 

[Purrfect Meow]

Thanks for the opinions thus far, I look forward to any other comments. I was worried that raw freeze dried food might contain pathogens and I was doing the wrong thing. Does anyone know, doesn't the freeze drying process kill most pathogens?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Does anyone know, doesn't the freeze drying process kill most pathogens?

I don't know the answer to this, but all I can tell you is that I have been feeding freeze dried food and treats for years and my cats are both 14 years old and both just had their semi annual exams with complete blood panels done. Both are extremely healthy and have never in all their lives ended up with any type of intestinal issue other than that caused by antibiotics from getting a dental. That doesn't mean I don't still wash up well after serving their food and treats though. I'm still paranoid about that

 

[amethyst]

Freeze drying doesn't kill pathogens that are already there before they freeze dried, so if it's bad meat going in it's bad meat coming out. However it will cause them to go dominate, so if it's got safe levels going into the freeze dry process it will stay at those levels, so long as it's kept dry in a low oxygen environment (in an air tight sealed bag or jar), so I would say they are about as safe or maybe slightly safer then feeding fresh raw, assuming your cat is healthy. Most of the issues with raw meat comes from exposure to air and moisture, so once opened, or if you rehydrate the treats, don't leave them out for hours and try to use them up once the bag has been opened.

 

[lisahe]

Agreeing with amethyst about freeze-drying and pathogens -- we had conversations with the vet about this last year when she suspected parasites from various raw foods were causing a cat's stomach issues. That was never confirmed (and I still think eating insects was a far more likely source of parasites) but I started lightly toasting freeze-dried raw treats in the oven (low temperature, 180-ish, about a half-hour, depending on how many treats there are in the dish), which makes them crumble much better.

There's also a brand, Whole Life, that makes cooked freeze-dried chicken breast treats. The consistency is pretty different from Pure Bites and other raw chicken treats but the Whole Life treats make an excellent powder for sprinkling on food.

 

[Purrfect Meow]

I will look into the Whole Life treats. Thankyou for the information.