Won't Eat Any Other Treats Other Than Temptations...

LoveIgor18

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I have a 1 year old cat and I've been trying to switch treats to give him in the past month. Since I adopted him 5 months ago, I've been giving him the salmon Temptations treats. Upon recently reading about how they aren't so great for your cat, I decided I would switch to "better" treats. Each weekend, I got a different treat to try out and he seems to be ignoring all of them :( I've tried soft treat, hard treat, dental treat, soft-filled treat, bonito flakes... he just smelled them and walked away. If I tried bring the treat close to him, he jumps and run away. When I tried giving him Temptations again, he does the paw thing (in photo) and eats them happily.
I've switched kibble brands a couple times and he seem to eat them all (doesn't eat wet food either). Why is he so picky on treats then? What should I do next?
 

FeebysOwner

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Any particular reason you want to change his treats - since I am guessing he gets them as treats and not in large amounts as if they are a regular meal? Is it because of the salmon? If you read the ingredients one of the very last items listed is natural salmon flavor, which means it must be a very small amount.

As far as dry food only, have you ever tried to add a bit of water to the dry food to see if he will eat it that way? If he does, you could continue to add a little more water gradually over time to see how much water you could add before he would stop eating it. Maybe it would help to convert him to eating some wet food as well as dry - and, perhaps, even help to expand his treat preferences?
 

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I have a 1 year old cat and I've been trying to switch treats to give him in the past month. Since I adopted him 5 months ago, I've been giving him the salmon Temptations treats. Upon recently reading about how they aren't so great for your cat, I decided I would switch to "better" treats. Each weekend, I got a different treat to try out and he seems to be ignoring all of them :( I've tried soft treat, hard treat, dental treat, soft-filled treat, bonito flakes... he just smelled them and walked away. If I tried bring the treat close to him, he jumps and run away. When I tried giving him Temptations again, he does the paw thing (in photo) and eats them happily.
I've switched kibble brands a couple times and he seem to eat them all (doesn't eat wet food either). Why is he so picky on treats then? What should I do next?
U may not b able to change his treats:especially if hes been eating same ones for awhile.Just Remember treats are just THAT.So b careful not to let the treats become what he may think is his food.
 
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LoveIgor18

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I wanted to change his treats because it seems like Temptations has some amounts of oilsna
Any particular reason you want to change his treats - since I am guessing he gets them as treats and not in large amounts as if they are a regular meal? Is it because of the salmon? If you read the ingredients one of the very last items listed is natural salmon flavor, which means it must be a very small amount.

As far as dry food only, have you ever tried to add a bit of water to the dry food to see if he will eat it that way? If he does, you could continue to add a little more water gradually over time to see how much water you could add before he would stop eating it. Maybe it would help to convert him to eating some wet food as well as dry - and, perhaps, even help to expand his treat preferences?
I wanted to change his treats because it seems like Temptations has some amounts of oils, fats, and heavy grains. So I was trying out new treats that doesn't contain these ingredients. I give him treats at most once or twice per day, but just thought it would be good to give him healthier treats.

I'll try adding water to the dry food and see how that goes. Thanks for the advice! :)
 
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LoveIgor18

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U may not b able to change his treats:especially if hes been eating same ones for awhile.Just Remember treats are just THAT.So b careful not to let the treats become what he may think is his food.
Does that mean I should just stick to Temptations? I was just thinking that it's been some months and I thought I could switch to other treats instead of feeding him the same thing for the next many years to come.
 

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If he gets one or two a day, I wouldn't worry too much as long as he's eating a good quality diet. I think Temptations are easy to break, so you could always break the one or two into fourths so he gets 4 or 8 little treats instead of just 1 or 2.
Curious, have you ever tried taking these treats and mashing a few into crumbs and sprinkling them on a small amount of canned food? I'm curious if he'd eat it that way.
I think animal treats are like human treats, the companies spend a lot of time and money to get that "wow" factor out of a treat or snack. (For example: If you really enjoy Oreo's, an oreo rice cake just won't be "the same".) Our raw fed cats still act like monkeys if they hear a kibble bag!
 

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You could also experiment with homemade cat treats (if you're up for that kind of thing). Even these recipes have stuff in them you might not want. But, at least that way, you could become your own cat treat 'guru'!! And, to help interest him, you could add some catnip?

Delicious homemade cat treats
 

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You could also experiment with homemade cat treats (if you're up for that kind of thing). Even these recipes have stuff in them you might not want. But, at least that way, you could become your own cat treat 'guru'!! And, to help interest him, you could add some catnip?

Delicious homemade cat treats
:thumbsup:

Confession! We have a very simple cookie recipe that's flour, butter, egg, sugar and a few other things. We mix up the dough, omit sugar and non-animal friendly things, split the batch and bake the sugar-less one for the pets and add the other stuff and make a batch for humans :thumbsup:
 

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Does that mean I should just stick to Temptations? I was just thinking that it's been some months and I thought I could switch to other treats instead of feeding him the same thing for the next many years to come.
No I dont mean you just stay with Temptations by choice;I mean ure kitty may be set in his ways as far as the treats go.Meaning could b a picky eater n its like turns his nose up to other treats.Like with my boy hes a picky eater: I dont give him treats but hes set in his ways as far as foods.But I see other members have some great advice also.But im just saying sometimes our kitties get set in their ways..
:goodluck::clapcat:
 

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No I dont mean you just stay with Temptations by choice;I mean ure kitty may be set in his ways as far as the treats go.Meaning could b a picky eater n its like turns his nose up to other treats.Like with my boy hes a picky eater: I dont give him treats but hes set in his ways as far as foods.But I see other members have some great advice also.But im just saying sometimes our kitties get set in their ways..
:goodluck::clapcat:
I agree with CatLover49 about cats getting set in their way: our previous cat was pretty much addicted to Temptations. That was our fault because we gave them to her every day. She waited for them every evening -- it was annoying and pretty much unstoppable in a senior cat -- and I swore we wouldn't feed our next cats treats for the sake of giving them treats. And we don't. I also couldn't agree more with CatLover49's previous comment saying not to let the cat start to think the treats are his food: treats can get a little tricky.

The cats we have now are very happy with attention as a treat: playing with them or rubbing their bellies seems to make them happier than treats.
 

CatLover49

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I agree with CatLover49 about cats getting set in their way: our previous cat was pretty much addicted to Temptations. That was our fault because we gave them to her every day. She waited for them every evening -- it was annoying and pretty much unstoppable in a senior cat -- and I swore we wouldn't feed our next cats treats for the sake of giving them treats. And we don't. I also couldn't agree more with CatLover49's previous comment saying not to let the cat start to think the treats are his food: treats can get a little tricky.

The cats we have now are very happy with attention as a treat: playing with them or rubbing their bellies seems to make them happier than treats.
And I feel much its much healthier too for my kitty.Now few years back I did give my boy treats n YES he did get set in his ways n still is.At almost 11 yrs.But I STOPPED the treats few years back.And hes just FINE.:yess::hyper::dizzycat::petcat::whitecat:
 

lisahe

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And I feel much its much healthier too for my kitty.Now few years back I did give my boy treats n YES he did get set in his ways n still is.At almost 11 yrs.But I STOPPED the treats few years back.And hes just FINE.:yess::hyper::dizzycat::petcat::whitecat:
I agree! They really can get set in their way, like Brooksie was. She would even sit in her treat spot and yowl at us if we were late with her treats -- she got very obnoxious about it!
 

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I think you can just stop feeding him treats cold turkey for a period of time, and he'll most probably warm up to other treats. After all, *some* is better than none! IF you give in and give him temptation anyway, he'll definitely hold it out until he gets his absolute favorite.

I use treats when I want my cat to learn a trick, or when I want to reward him for being patient - clip his nails, wipe his paws/ears etc. usually I break one piece into many little pieces. He doesn't really know the difference.

I get grain free treats, but for some reason they all seem to contain some kind of plant matter, even the freeze dried stuff!
 

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Orijen Freeze-Dried Treats? Or Purebites Salmon? Some cats aren't super into the texture but it's mostly just meat so it could work!
 

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I've actually just stopped buying normal treats. Since my cat takes medication, her pill pocket every other day is her treat. And when I need to reward her or convince her to do something, I actually just use the healthiest kibble I can for a treat. I think it's all about convincing them what a "treat" is. Someone's suggestion of skipping treats for a while might work. Then again, I also think if you're just giving her one a day, it's not so bad!
 

CatLover49

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I've actually just stopped buying normal treats. Since my cat takes medication, her pill pocket every other day is her treat. And when I need to reward her or convince her to do something, I actually just use the healthiest kibble I can for a treat. I think it's all about convincing them what a "treat" is. Someone's suggestion of skipping treats for a while might work. Then again, I also think if you're just giving her one a day, it's not so bad!
Thats how I got my.boy off treats few years back; I got a small bag of healthy kibble n put it same place his treats used to b:and when he wanted a treat I would give him 2 or 3 pieces n eventually he was totally off the treats..And yes to reward him I have did that with couple pieces of kibble..:yess:
:thumbsup::yummy:
 

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I have a 1 year old cat and I've been trying to switch treats to give him in the past month. Since I adopted him 5 months ago, I've been giving him the salmon Temptations treats. Upon recently reading about how they aren't so great for your cat, I decided I would switch to "better" treats. Each weekend, I got a different treat to try out and he seems to be ignoring all of them :( I've tried soft treat, hard treat, dental treat, soft-filled treat, bonito flakes... he just smelled them and walked away. If I tried bring the treat close to him, he jumps and run away. When I tried giving him Temptations again, he does the paw thing (in photo) and eats them happily.
I've switched kibble brands a couple times and he seem to eat them all (doesn't eat wet food either). Why is he so picky on treats then? What should I do next?
Please throw every Temptation treat package away. My cats both got so very sick consuming this product. I would wake up and everyday and night I had to clean up throw up. I noticed they would drink so much water and the cats were becoming lethargic. I took the cat that was doing the worst to the vet and he said to immediately stop feeding Temptations to the cats. We got rid of everything and bought natural brand treats. The cats eat normal amounts of the new natural treats as directed and they won't beg for it like a drug and that is a normal way for a cat to act.
My cats both lost weight and there health 100% improved.
I talked to family and roommates and told them on NO condition to buy these treats for the cats and I thought it was all good.
So maybe 6 months later I noticed there was throw up on the ground again and dry stools in the boxes or abnormally stinky stools. I came home after being gone on a trip and I slept in until the next day and I noticed my cat did not move the entire time. My Tomcat did not rub my leg or great me at all it was not normal behavior. I knew something was up. I went threw all the trash and sure enough a roommate of ours maliciously went out and bought the cats bag after bag of TEMPTATIONS! I am so saddened and hurt by this why would a person knowingly do this after being warned and after a thorough discussion about it. I do not know if it is the GMO corn products or what ingredient has this kind effect on cats. I am sure some people that feed there cats Temptations is very low amounts may not get the side effects that others have had but why take that chance. If you read the packaging it says you can also feed them the treats as regular food and that is where think it all goes wrong. There are freeze dried treats, Greenies and many other treats that you can feel good about feeding your cat. I hope my experience helps your cats/cats along the way.
 
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