# How are cat treats different than cat food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296 "2023-03-17T16:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/21 "2023-03-17T20:41:52Z")
Is it the US market? Then it must contain sugar, if only for the owners. Slight hijack, but I live abroad and occasionally buy Old El Paso tortillas. I cannot believe how sweet they are. Almost like pancakes. (Sorry, meant to respond to DPRK. Phone texting sucks) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/22 "2023-03-17T20:57:58Z")
How about one that smells like another cats butt? Mine can get worked up over that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/23 "2023-03-17T21:12:35Z")
And of course, don’t forget this classic thread from the past: > [@Why is there no mouse flavored cat food?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-mouse-flavored-cat-food/363038): > > Wouldn’t it be natural? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/24 "2023-03-17T21:24:35Z")
> **[Muridae Pet - Mouser Pet Food](https://www.muridaepet.com/mouser-pet-food)** > > The world's first cat food with cat's most natural prey: mice. All of our products are sourced are made in the USA and packaged in BPA free cans. Our patent pending food is 97% meat, gluten free, with no carbohydrate fillers and no needless... ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/25 "2023-03-17T21:26:47Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That test product became Pounce. Known in my house back in my cat-owning days as “ounce-pay” ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/26 "2023-03-17T21:55:03Z")
WOW! I just looked up what the 6oz Pounce container I have cost. Walmart says $51.76 for TWO. Really? I figured my friends cost when I fill it up with his cat food is 13 cents. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/27 "2023-03-17T22:37:34Z")
My last cat subsisted pretty much on just treats the last year or so of her life. Her favorite was Hartz Squeeze Ups. I told her vet that she was eating very little real cat food, and a lot of treats. Vet said that at her age we should give her whatever she’d actually eat. She lived to be 20 – a pretty good age for a cat. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/28 "2023-03-17T22:41:43Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > A friend of mine buys 40lb bags of the cheapest cat food to feed some outside cats that wander around his house. I take an empty 3oz Pounce bottle over and fill it up. That’s my cats “treats”. He thinks they’re great. They’re being served up with individual attention, making them “special”. I suspect that’s part of the attraction of treats for cats and dogs. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/29 "2023-03-17T22:51:00Z")
I tried giving several treats to my cats over the years, and they’ve never shown any real interest. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/30 "2023-03-17T23:24:17Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I got this cat treat stuff that comes in a tube and you squeeze it out like toothpaste. I get something called Churu that I just learned about recently and my foster cat acts like it’s heroin. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/31 "2023-03-17T23:47:29Z")
I put a pork loin in the crockpot to shred up and make tacos. A variety of ingredients are added depending on what I have. The cat sometimes likes it and sometimes doesn’t. It turns out when the cat likes it, it is better. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/32 "2023-03-18T03:36:04Z")
Was it Churu? I watch several rescue cat-cams, and in addition to supplementing pregnant and nursing momcats with it, it’s also the first solid food offered to the kittens. I’ve never offered it to my cat; she gets a fraction of a jar of chicken baby food, with a fish oil capsule mixed in, each day as a hairball preventive. Dog treats are the same concept. p.s. The cat I have now isn’t otherwise a treat fan. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/33 "2023-03-18T03:42:10Z")
One wonders where they source the mice. It wasn’t as expensive as I expected, either - starting at $2.69 for a 5.5oz can. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/34 "2023-03-18T11:12:44Z")
Temptations brand treats at least contain these instructions: > For an adult cat, feed 10-12 treats per 10 pounds of body weight daily. **If fed as a main meal** , feed 1/2 to 2/3 cup per 10 pounds of body weight daily. The ingredients list lists taurine, B12, and other supplements. It looks like it’s as good as any other dry food in terms of nutrition. My cats have always gone nuts over them. I’m guessing it’s something to do with the smell. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/35 "2023-03-18T11:45:41Z")
See my avatar. He would sit on the floor in front of me and eat Pounce from my fingers one at a time as quickly as I could pull them from the container. He could keep going as long as I could (and had a supply of Pounce.) Fortunately, he understood when I showed him my empty hands that it was over. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296/36 "2023-03-22T19:09:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I tried giving several treats to my cats over the years, and they’ve never shown any real interest. We usually buy Temptations, but sometimes others. All I have to do is open the bag and shake it, and the cats come running. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-cat-treats-different-than-cat-food/981296.md?page=1)