Choosing the best cat treat takes effort, given the variety of options available from several brands. There are many things to consider before buying a treat for your feline as it needs to be safe, yummy, and nourishing. Moreover, overfeeding treats is a terrible idea, as an obese cat can develop health ailments like heart diseases and arthritis. To avoid the same, here are some tips for buying healthy cat treats.
Tips for choosing the best cat treats
It’s important to incorporate certain groundwork rules while picking the right treats for your pet. The following tips will guide you in your quest to ensure you’re feeding your cat the right way:
1. Understand cat treat ingredients
Always check out the ingredients on the pack before buying one. If you don’t understand most of the words shown on the list, you can consult a vet about it. Look out for ingredients that are recognizable. You should also avoid treats prepared with dyes, preservatives, excess sodium, fat, and calories. Artificial dyes are suspected to be carcinogens that are very harmful to cats. Glycerin is a common preservative that is derived from petrolatum and causes methanol contamination in cats. Additionally, excess sodium can cause dehydration and lead to painful kidney stones.
2. Always consult your veterinarian
Your veterinarian is the best source to provide valuable information and guidance on giving treats or daily meals. Most vets know that several brands don’t have the essential nutrients to support your pet’s health. Feeding your cat several treats without consulting your vet can lead to unhealthy weight gain and severe health complications. They are likely to, thus, ask you to feed your cat any treat in moderation along with homemade food for better balance.
3. Set limits on feeding cat treats
Giving cat treats in excess can be detrimental to their health. Treats should make a maximum of 10% of your cat’s diet since they’re not nutritionally balanced. Too many treats cause an imbalance in your cat, leading to too many calories and a deficit of vitamins and minerals.
4. Avoid treats with corn, soy, and wheat
Whether it’s a house cat or wildcat, the dietary needs are the same. Carbs don’t go with cats’ nutritional needs and cause various health issues. Treats with corn, soy, and wheat are mere fillers, and they don’t do anything good for your kitty.
5. Stay away from treats with by-products and meat meals
While meat meals and meat by-products prepared from various parts of animal carcasses like bones, viscera, and others, can taste good, they also affect cats in a negative way. By-products and poor quality meats are extremely low on nutrients and are highly undesirable for overall good health.
6. Choose treats from reputed brands
Commercial pet treats from renowned brands are a safe choice since they do thorough research and prepare safe foods for cats. These companies also respond quickly in case you have any queries regarding cat treats and their nutritional value.
7. Make your own cat treats
As per qualified veterinarians, baking your own biscuits or cookies at home using the wet cat formula is safe and effective. However, tips for buying healthy cat treats include remembering to avoid combining them with raw meat or raw organs since it can lead to food poisoning.
