Sure, most of the healthy pet treats are generally pricier than the alternatives offered by the usual major brands, but the extra money you spend now will lengthen their lives and keep your vet costs down. Take a few moments with me to see the differences between the low-cost “junk food” treats and the high-quality treats. When you’re done reading, I think you’ll be running to toss those bags of crunchy “treats” in the trash as fast you can!
Here’s a sampling of the usually long list of ingredients you might find in standard, and highly marketed, pet treats:
[note style=”5″ icon=”yes” class=”template-style”]We may have received product samples from one or more of the companies mentioned above, however our opinions are our own and we are under no obligation to create a positive review or article. We do our best to use affiliate links when possible.[/note]- Salt
- “Natural Flavor”
- Corn starch
- Animal digest
- Things like, “Chicken By-Product Meal,” but very rarely any actual meat.
- Any number of unpronounceable and unrecognizable ingredients.
I encourage you to take a look at the list of ingredients on the treats you normally feed your pets, and see how they stack up against these awesome, all-natural, and (often single-ingredient) pet treats:
Clear Conscience Pet Sliders: Tender Beef and Cheddar
Ingredients: Chicken, organic flaxseed, cheddar cheese, dried carrots, dried tomato, dried spinach, celery powder, sea salt.
(Some of their products are freeze dried and packaged in China, and if that concerns you, check out their website and give them a call to learn why and in a future article, we plan to help you understand why we are very comfortable recommending their manufacturing processes.)
Ingredients: Wild Alaskan Salmon, Sweet Potato, Tapioca starch, Blueberries, Cranberries, Organic Kelp, Natural mixed tocopherols, Zinc propionate.
Three Dogs Bakery We Pity the Kitties All-Natural Salmon Cat Treats
Ingredients: Alaskan Salmon.
Stella and Chewy’s 100% Duck Treats for Dogs
Ingredients: Duck.
The Honest Kitchen Wishes Cat and Dog Treats
Ingredients: Dehydrated haddock.
I think the point is fairly obvious here: healthy snacks may cost more, but they are so much better for your pets (and you can, for the most part, immediately identify each ingredient). It’s the equivalent of humans eating fruits, veggies, nuts, and the like, instead of potato chips, crackers, and cookies. There may be trace amounts of the things our bodies need in those junk foods, but the vehicle they arrive in does more damage to our bodies than good, and it’s the same with our pets. Choose wisely for them!