Good 'reward' treats?

[Kitty Beholder]

Hello! I'm in the process of accomodating my two adult cats to a new play-eat routine and I want to reward them with treats. I have heard questionable things about most mainline treat brands, so I decided to go with the freeze-dried chicken treats, which I have heard some good things about! Unfortunately, these pricey treats were not my cats fancy, and they have gone largely ignored.

Any advice for what to give them as far as 'reward-based' treats go?

 

[Jcatbird]

My cats like Greenies or a tiny lick of Gerber 2nd foods all meat baby food. They don’t get a quantity of either , I only use these as a rare treat. I actually asked my vet about the greenies. I don’t know if every vet would agree but she approved them.

 

[Tobermory]

I use two different kinds of treats. The first is Northwest Naturals Raw Rewards freeze-dried treats. There are several different varieties, but the girls seem to favor the pork liver.

And although I am not an advocate of kibble (I feed homemade and canned wet food), my cats LOVE Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein chicken flavor dry food as a treat. Since I’m using it only as a treat, a bag lasts a long time so my vet said I should freeze it for three days to kill food mites to keep them from multiplying. Then it goes into the fridge.

 

[molly92]

These are also freeze dried, but a bit different. They're very cost effective because they're sold as a meal mixer instead of a treat if they end up liking them. My cat likes some freeze dried treats but not others.

Otherwise I also think a dry food that's really high quality makes a good treat if they never get kibble otherwise.

Greenies are supposed to be addictive. I've never had them around because my aunt (a vet) told me some cats get digestive problems from them, but I don't have personal experience.

 

[Neko-chan's mama]

Neko-chan loves the salmon pure bites. I don't give fishy foods as meals, so fish treats work well for her.

 

[lisahe]

And although I am not an advocate of kibble (I feed homemade and canned wet food), my cats LOVE Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein chicken flavor dry food as a treat. Since I’m using it only as a treat, a bag lasts a long time so my vet said I should freeze it for three days to kill food mites to keep them from multiplying. Then it goes into the fridge.

Yes, Dr. Elsey's is great as a treat and a topper! I initially bought it for our cat who needs a tiny nighttime snack to keep from barfing bile -- it's perfect for that, too.

Thank you for the tip on the freezer... I was thinking of doing that since we also use very little of the stuff. Now I'll do it for sure!

 

[LTS3]

Did you try rehydrating the freeze dried treats first? Some picky cats will only eat the treats that way. Maybe also try a different brand or protein. Some are more crunchy like dry food.

Plain cooked chicken is also good and most cats like that.

A reward doesn't have to be food either. A quick brushing of the fur or scratching behind the ears work just as well to reinforce good behavior.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

Answer: Don't buy treats
You can boil (or if you're a raw feeder, don't boil) chicken or whatever meat they like, cut them into treat size and use that, that's the healthiest route

You could stick them one a plate in the freezer and once frozen, put them in a baggy so they don't stick to each other and just thaw the ones you're going to use overnight in the fridge, and use them accordingly

 

[Vega's Dad]

And although I am not an advocate of kibble (I feed homemade and canned wet food), my cats LOVE Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein chicken flavor dry food as a treat. Since I’m using it only as a treat, a bag lasts a long time so my vet said I should freeze it for three days to kill food mites to keep them from multiplying. Then it goes into the fridge.

Same here. Vega used to be a kibble baby. I switched her to canned food and still gave her kibbles as treats. She gets 4 Orijen kibbles daily. It was 5 but, since she's little over weight, I cut it to 4

 

[aliceneko]

Toffee and Fudge like Dreamies (Catisfactions for the rest of the world, I think) the most; but they also love Lily's Kitchen and Felix party mix.

 

[Rich K]

My vet likes greenies and so does my cat. Jasmine. Looking at the ingredients I can't see anything really special and the label seems to imply that it is the hard texture that is good for the cat's teeth. I bought another brand with essentially the same ingredients(actually more protein and fat) and texture that Jasmine also seems to like. Question . Is there anything special about Greenies? or just a fancy label?