Which Treats are Suitable for Cats?

Treats are real fattening and sometimes very unhealthy for cats. Here you can find out how many calories are in popular cat snacks and which snacks are suitable or not suitable for cats.

Cats are real sweet tooths. But as a cat owner, you shouldn’t just give your cat everything that tastes good or that smells enticing to it! That can be very unhealthy. Which treats are particularly strong fattening foods? And which snacks are even harmful to health? Can I give my cat milk? Here you will find answers to these questions.

So Much Energy is in Popular Cat Treats

Many human foods are also delicious to cats. But these are often neither conducive to a slimline nor to health. Some of them provide a quarter or more of a cat’s daily energy needs!

Which Treats Are Unsuitable for Cats?

Not all of the snacks listed on the table are really suitable for cats. The following foods are unsuitable as cat treats:

• Milk and cream: Cats are naturally lactose intolerant and cannot break down milk sugar. Milk causes digestive problems and can put a strain on the kidneys
• Tuna: Tuna is often contaminated with toxic mercury and contains thiaminase, an enzyme that attacks vitamin B1 and can trigger deficiency symptoms.)
• Food leftovers: for example, the fatty edges of ham and Co. is a popular snack for cats, but it is extremely unhealthy and can lead to health problems in the long run! Seasoned meat, sausages preserved with benzoic acid and smoked foods are also taboo for cats!
• Sweets: extremely unhealthy or even toxic for cats, e.g. chocolate

Many other human foods are unsuitable or even toxic as snacks for cats. Examples of this are onions, avocados, or grapes.

Milk and Dairy Products for Cats?

Cats should not be given cow’s milk or cream as a snack. If milk, then special cat milk or lactose-free milk – but only rarely and in small quantities! If your cat is a lazy cat, you can add a dash of cat milk to the water to encourage the cat to drink. However, this should not be a permanent solution.

The better alternative to milk is yogurt. It does not contain any lactose as a result of fermentation and can even have positive effects on the cat’s intestines. The following is important:

• The yogurt must not contain any additives.
• The yogurt should not have been heating treated.
• It should always be natural yogurt, not fruit yogurt!
• Do not give your cat yogurt every day, only occasionally. It should not be more than one or two tablespoons in a day.
• In addition to yogurt, other sour-milk products such as quark (albeit higher in fat than yogurt) or cottage cheese are possible snacks for cats, of course also without sugar or other additives.
• If you want to feed cheese as a snack, you should only use lactose-free. Cheese in particular is extremely fatty and should therefore only be fed extremely rarely.

Use all dairy products only in moderation as a snack, in small quantities, and not every day! You should avoid it completely, especially if you have cats with kidney disease.

What should you look out for when buying cat snacks?
In addition to conventional food as snacks, you can of course also buy ready-made treats.

With ready-made cat snacks from the trade, you should make sure that they do not contain any artificial additives or flavors. In addition, as with the main food, the snacks should have as high a meat content as possible.

There are treats that also have a positive effect on the cat, for example, snacks for dental care or with an anti-hairball effect. For example, malt in treats is good for a cat’s digestion.

Dry Food As a Treat for Cats

A very good alternative to “conventional” cat snacks is dry food. Because it makes sense to supplement the cat’s basic diet with high-quality wet food with dry food as “working food”.

This means that the cat is fed wet food in the bowl. The dry food, on the other hand, is used as a reward or hidden in intelligence toys, sniffing pads, or fiddle boards. This way you avoid the always full dry food bowl (a big obesity trap) and at the same time, the cat is occupied when it searches for the dry food.

How Many Treats Can I Give My Cat?

The right amount of treats vary from cat to cat depending on their activity level and weight. In principle, however, treats should remain something special and only be fed from time to time. After all, snacks are fattening foods, which lead to obesity faster than you think, especially in indoor cats. Even supposedly healthy snacks make you fat in large quantities. Obesity, in turn, can lead to diseases such as osteoarthritis or diabetes.

In principle, you should make sure that all the food that the cat gets in a day covers, but does not exceed its energy requirements. Treats in moderation are fine as long as your cat’s main diet is high-quality, meat-rich wet food.