Our Top 6 Best Cat Treats for 2024 Plus When and How to Feed Your Pets

While cats probably won’t be begging you for treats like doggies do (they still have to maintain their dignity, you know), they love treats just like everyone else.

Treats for cats are wonderful to have in your kitty arsenal — to dole out for special occasions, to conceal medicine in, and to motivate a specially stubborn kitty. And because we love our cats, it kind of follows that we’d like to know what are the best cat treats to give them.

We searched the web, tried the treats for cats, checked in with a few fur parents, read up on some product reviews, and came up with this guide of our best and top picks.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at six of the best treats to feed your feline friend.

Best Selling Cat Treats

Cat Treats Reviews

1. Temptations Classic Crunchy and Soft Cat Treats

100% nutritionally complete, these cat treats are best for adult cats.

Features:

• Made of chicken by-product meal. Some may include dried meat by-products
• Contains ground corn
• Some flavors contain no added artificial flavoring
• Crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside
• Helps control tartar buildup
• Contains many vitamins and minerals for a healthy treat
• Available in catnip, chicken, dairy, salmon, seafood, shrimp, and tuna flavors
• Cat treats are sold in tubs of 16 oz each
• 4000 kcal (calories per kg) or less than 2 calories per treat

What I like about it:

Each treat contains a ton of vitamins and minerals (Vitamin A and E, riboflavin, folic acid, zinc, potassium, and niacin, to name a few) that adult cats need for optimum nutrition.

There are no artificial flavors added, yet cats love and find these irresistible. But my favorite part about this treat is that each piece only contains 2 calories. This treat might work best with cats who don’t need the extra calories.

The treats have this excellent texture that most cats seem to like: a crunchy outside with a creamy, soft center inside. Cats who don’t take to hard treats will find these more up their alley.

While there are individual packs of these, the tub size is a wonderful idea. It offers cat owners more value for their money.

What needs a bit of improvement:

If you’re determined to keep your cat’s diet grain-free, then these treats might not be the best for you. However, grains aren’t really bad for cats, except for those with digestive issues. If you have a healthy cat, feeding him treats with grain content once in a while won’t harm him at all.

2. Whole Life Pet Whole Food Cat Treats

These are healthy cat treats, just like its brand name suggests, with no added preservatives or artificial flavors.

Features:

• Made of high-quality, human-grade fish or meat
• There are no preservatives, chemicals, salts, or artificial flavors added
• Freeze-dried to lock in freshness
• Protein rich and low in fat
• Sourced, packaged, and produced in the US
• Contains no by-products or fillers
• Available in chicken, turkey, cod, and salmon flavors
• Cat treats are sold in 1, 3, 4, and 9 oz packets
• 6200 kcal (calories per kg)

What I like about it:

If you want to go healthy, this is the way to go. These treats are best for kitties in training, overweight cats, felines with gastrointestinal issues, and cat parents who just want healthy food for their pets.

There is just one ingredient in the pack and nothing else. These are freeze-dried natural treats, so there’s no need for preservatives to maintain freshness. No artificial flavors and fillers mean that your cat gets pure protein-rich meaty goodness that’s minimally processed with none of the calories to interfere with your cat’s diet.

The cat treats can be broken apart for easy chewing, or you can add water to rehydrate them. These can also be used as a food topper to entice sick felines to eat.

What needs a bit of improvement:

Since the treats are freeze-dried, they can be too dehydrated. Some pieces arrived crushed like powder, which, for cats who like chunky treats, would be a big no-no.

3. ORIJEN Freeze-Dried Cat Treats

ORIJEN offers 100% quality cat treats packed with nutrients and protein.

Features:

• Made of quality animal ingredients that are biologically-appropriate
• Uses only natural preservatives for a wholesome treat
• Freeze-dried to lock in freshness
• Protein-rich
• The treats are made of raw ingredients delivered fresh to Orijen’s kitchens to be freeze-dried
• Contains no grains
• Available in lamb, original (chicken and turkey), regional red (beef, wild boar, lamb, Boer goat), six fish (herring, flounder, rock sole, rockfish, mackerel, hake), tundra (goat, venison, duck, boar, and mackerel), and wild boar flavors
• Cat treats are sold in 1.25 oz packets
• 5255 kcal (calories per kg) or 1 kcal (calories per treat)

What I like about it:

These are healthy cat treats that offer a freshness that only flash freezing can give. As soon as they are sourced and evaluated for quality, the meat is freeze-dried to remove all moisture while keeping all the nutrients intact.

If you’re ever struggling with a picky eater or a cat who’s feeling poorly and won’t eat, these might be the best cat treats to tempt them with. The product uses the meat along with cartilage, bones, and organs to give your cats that full-bodied flavor they will love.

As with any freeze-dried cat treat, you can simply add water to it to make it softer for your cat. You can also crush these to add as a kibble topper to your pet’s regular cat food.

What needs a bit of improvement:

Since these treats use up bones and cartilage, some pieces contain hard edges. The hard piece might be hard for your cat to chew, especially if it’s a senior kitty, and if he swallows that piece without chewing thoroughly, the hard edges might get stuck in his throat and cause him to vomit. It might be best if you can break up the pieces into even smaller parts or add water to rehydrate each treat.

4. INABA Churu Lickable Purée Natural Cat Treats

INABA’s products are lickable, tasty, and low calorie treats for cats that you can take anywhere.

Features:

• Made with farm-raised chicken or deep-sea tuna
• Contains no preservatives, grains, or artificial flavors
• High in moisture content
• With absolutely low calorie content
• Sustainably-sourced and dolphin-safe
• Available in chicken with cheese, chicken, chicken with crab, chicken with scallop, chicken with shrimp, tuna, tuna with chicken, tuna with salmon, and tuna with scallop flavors
• Sold in packs of 4, 6, 10, 12, 20, 24, 40, 48, and 50 count tubes
• Each tube weighs .5 oz
• 431 kcal (calorie per kg) or 6.0 kcal (calories per treat/tube)

What I like about it:

INABA’s products have seriously low amounts of calories per treat. These cat treats are best used as rewards for your chunky felines who need to have their weight kept down or for your sick cats who are struggling to find an appetite for regular cat food.

Because these treats are pureed, your precious kitties from kittens to seniors will not find it difficult to eat. Just tear open the tube, and your cats will be licking these from off your hands (I bet you’ve always wanted your cat to do that.)

The food is pureed with a creamy texture, making it a great way to administer pills to ailing cats. Your feline companion simply won’t suspect there’s medicine hiding inside.

What needs a bit of improvement:

While the tubes are a convenient way to feed your cats, there’s also a danger that your cats might bite off the plastic packaging. To avoid this happening, it might be best to smear a bit of the cat treat onto your fingers instead of having your cat lick it off straight from the tube.

5. Sheba Meaty Tender Sticks Cat Treats

With Sheba’s cat treats, your pets will get that real meaty taste that cats find irresistible.

Features:

• Made of high-quality, real meat
• There are no wheat, soy, corn, or any artificial flavors
• Contains Vitamins A, D3, and E supplements
• All flavors are rich in protein, and some provide omega-3 fatty acids, amino acids, and B complex vitamins such as thiamine
• Salmon and tuna flavors contain salmon or tuna by-products
• Available in chicken (chicken, pork, turkey), tuna (tuna, pork, turkey), and salmon (salmon, pork, turkey) flavors
• Cat treats are sold in .7 oz packets (5 sticks per packet)
• 3113 kcal (calories per kg) or 12kcal (calories per treat/stick)

What I like about it:

These are grain-free treats that won’t hurt your cat’s digestive system. Just as advertised, these treats have a really meaty taste that cats love. You can tell how flavorful these are because of the way the chicken/salmon/tuna smell kind of lingers on your hand after breaking each treat into pieces.

The treats come in sticks that are kind of reminiscent of Slim Jims. The sticks aren’t hard, so they won’t harm your cat’s throat if he decides to gulp the entire thing in one go. These aren’t dry in the least. They are semi-moist and very pliable. Old felines might be best served with a treat of these because they will find Sheba’s Meaty Tender Sticks very easy on the teeth.

Each cat treat is individually wrapped in a foil packet, which is the reason why they’re so fresh.

What needs a bit of improvement:

The treats can cause some confusion for cat parents. For example, the salmon flavored cat treats don’t just contain salmon. These treats also list pork and turkey as ingredients. And the chicken flavored treats also have pork and turkey along with, well, chicken. You’d need to be extra careful reading the labels if your cat is allergic to any type of food.

6. Prime Taste Treats Trout Jerky Treats

If health and nutrition is your goal, these treats come packed with all the vitamins and nutrients a cat needs to support optimum growth.

Features:

• Made of over 90% meat
• Uses no soybeans, corn, wheat, or artificial flavors/colors
• Freshens breath with natural ingredients
• Helps remove tartar
• Enriched with taurine, vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin D3
• Available in trout flavor
• Cat treats are sold in packs of 35g (7 treats at 5g each)

What I like about it:

If you ever need a vitamin-packed cat treat, this would be it. Because the jerky treats come enriched with supplements, feeding your feline friend these treats are a great way to keep him one happy, healthy cat. (Just don’t give too much.)

The treats have the added benefit of freshening a cat’s breath. (You’d want this if you have a kitty that loves to give kisses and licks.) And what’s more, these have an affordable price.

The treats are individually wrapped just like a Slim Jim jerky, which contributes to the freshness, but they’re soft and not as firm. You can easily break these apart for your dainty felines to eat.

What needs a bit of improvement:

The trout flavoring on this cat treat can cause some misunderstanding. When you read the ingredient label, it not only has trout, it also has these: pork, liver, pork meal, and turkey. It’s best to check the label thoroughly to make sure your cat isn’t allergic to any of the other ingredients.

How To Choose The Best Cat Treats For Your Pet

I’ve shown you some of our picks when it comes to the best treats to feed your cat, but it may still be a bit confusing for you. Since many cat treats are marketed as natural, low calorie, or healthy cat food, it can be hard to decide what type of treat to choose. I’ve rounded up a few tips below, and hopefully, it can help you on your quest to find the best for your feline buddy.

1. Read the label

The first few ingredients in the ingredients list are the ones that make up the bulk of the food inside. So if you read the label and it mentions corns and grains before meat, then that means that these cat treats contain more corns and grains than meat.

While corns and grains are not bad per se, cats are essentially carnivores, and some may have a hard time digesting these. You see, cats don’t have amylase (a salivary enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates), and feeding them a diet made up of mostly carbs can be harmful to them.

You might want to purchase cat treats with added vitamins and minerals, too, for a healthier snack.

2. Offer variety

If you feed your cats mostly fish-based cat foods, try a cat treat in another flavor like turkey or beef. Just like humans, pets crave variety. Who’d want to eat the same flavored treat over and over again, right? And if you give them mostly kibble, spice it up a bit by offering your cats pureed treats. Just be careful to monitor how they respond to a new flavor because allergies are always a possibility.

3. Give treats specific to your pet

Choose treats that will offer some benefit to your pet. If you feel that your cat is not getting enough water, a wet cat treat might be best for him because of its high moisture content. If you’re concerned about your cat’s teeth, you can give him some dental cat treats once in a while to remove tartar buildup from his mouth. Likewise, if your cat is on the big side, treats with low calories could help him keep his weight down.

If your kitties have sensitive stomachs, consider giving them treats that are gentle on their tummies.

Can I Give My Cat Treats Every Day?

Your cat will say yes, and he will be right. However, you need to follow some guidelines to keep your pet from weighing too much.

1. Limit the treats

Cat treats are just that — treats. It shouldn’t make up a huge bulk of your cat’s daily diet. In fact, you need to watch that your cat doesn’t get more than 10% of his daily caloric intake from his treats. (Your vet can tell you how much your kitty needs daily.)

2. Dole out a piece of treat or two at a time

Remember, treats, for the most part, are supposed to reward good behavior. You can give one or two kibbles at a time. And depending on the caloric value of each treat, you can give up to 20 pieces in a day.

When Do I Use Cat Treats?

Now that you have a good idea of what are the best cat treats to purchase and how much to give your pets, it’s time to pass them out. Here are a couple of the best ways you can put your cat treats to good use:

1. For bonding

Treats are a great way to show your affection for your kitty. It can also reinforce a positive connection between you and your yummy treats. Of course, these would never take the place of time spent with your cat, which is still the best way you can bond with your buddy.

2. For training

Cat treats can be the best way for you to train your kittens. Unlike dogs, cats are harder to teach (or it could be that they just don’t like taking directions). But cats are just as much of a sucker for tasty food as everyone else, and treats will give them the motivation to follow your basic commands.