Do you need the best cat treats for training your kittens? Many cat parents have the misconception that their felines are not as intelligent as the other pets just because they have a cold response to the learning methods applied to dogs. But if you pay close attention, you’ll realize cats respond greatly to training.
Cats are clean animals, and in most cases, they want self-determination. They want to choose where to sleep and what to do. But, if you can make good use of reinforcement training methods, your cat is going to respond positively to the process. It’s also important to understand that the very first documented studies by psychologists on the influence of reinforcement in the behavior of animals were actually done with cats.
Understanding your cat will go a long way in helping you in the training process. First, dogs have been bred and raised to work with humans. Your dog wants to stay close to you but that’s not exactly what your cat wants. The very first reason cats were domesticated was to eradicate vermin at home.
So, the caps have a long history of being independent and they don’t exactly need your praise or attention to survive around you as much as the dogs do. This is why it seems hard to train a cat.
But with a little creativity, you will work around this by using treats to stimulate the cat’s body mind and reaction. While training your cat, you’re not only going to make it naturally inclined towards you but also grow its intelligence and foster a deeper stronger bond with you.
If you use the best cat treats for training treats, you can even train your cat to sit, fetch, pee and do anything!
Top 5 Best Cat Treats for Training Review
Best Purina Dentalife Cat Treats Review
When it comes to the top Purina Dentalife cat treats, you get a reputation for their dental quality. You realize that you are essentially, what you eat. And, the same case applies to your furry friends, which is why you need to take care of their teeth.
The Dentalife cat treats
have been proven scientifically to help in the cleaning of your pet teeth. These contain ingredients that help to reduce the buildup of tartar on their teeth.
There are no artificial flavors or colors in the USA-made product. Also, it has got calcium and taurine which are important in strengthening teeth.
Best Chicken Free Cat Treats Review
If your cat is allergic to poultry and chicken meat, you need to make sure that the treats do not have those ingredients. Seafood, Cranberries and other ingredients might be important when you want to remove chicken from your cat’s diet.
Also, chicken tends to upset some cat digestion and sometimes your cat might not like chicken at all, which is why you should always make sure to bring in a new alternative. It’s at this juncture you need to look out for food and cat treats with no chicken in the ingredients.
Natural Balance LID Limited Ingredient Diet Drive
is one of the best pack of cat treats that you can use. It’s got green peas and salmon meat as its main ingredients which not only provide your cat with the necessary nutrition but also gives it a fantastic taste.
Best Bacon Cat Treats Review
Bacon is not toxic for your kitten and because cats are carnivores, they are likely to enjoy pork. The majority of cats live indoors these days and; therefore, they don’t have to go out in the wild to hunt.
Pork has a lot of fat that might not be burnt when consumed in excessive amounts and this might lead to obesity among cats.
Also, you need to understand that bacon has lots of sodium which can affect your kittens’ health. That’s why you must always avoid too much bacon because it might end up damaging your cat internal organs.
But, you have to admit that you have bacon and when you feed them in small amounts then it will make a lot of sense. Therefore, you might want to use bacon flavored cat treats to enhance training. Some bacon flavoured treats don’t contain pork but still small amounts of pork especially in treats are no harm.
Rachael Ray Nutrish Treats are some of the best you can get in the market. They have hickory-smoked turkey bacon flavors that come in the form of tiny treats that your cat is going to love.
Carry-Outs Bacon Flavor Treats, 50-Ounce are also good alternative especially when you want to feed your adult cat or train it using delicious chewy cat treats.
Best Chewy Cat Treats To Buy For Training Review
The secret to successful cat training is in the delicious cat treats. Chewy Grain & Gluten-Free Sweet Potato & Chicken Wraps is one of the best brands you can get in the market today for cats that depend on dry foods.
You see, moist treats make your furry member of your family to enjoy chewing the snack. Apart from keeping your cat healthy, is this street is awesome going to keep their hairballs healthy.
Best Sheba Cat Treats Review
Unlike their canine counterparts, felines are not fans of chewing and crushing bones. However, they need to exercise their jaws and make sure that their teeth are active. And in this case, you may want to try the Sheba meaty tender sticks soft cat treats.
The Sheba meat sticks are not just some rods from the woods. Instead, they are made of chicken and are hardened to give that crunchy experience. Some of the sticks also made of salmon and other varieties of fishes and seafood.
That because seafoods tend to process high heavy metal content which important for you to make sure that you balance them with other ingredients. Sheba cat foods contain high protein content which is good for your cats health and growth.
Sheba Meaty Tender Sticks Cat Treats, Pack of 10 are some of the best for training your car. This pack contains chicken flavored chamber sticks that are good for training adults. They have no corn, soy, wheat or any gluten ingredients.
Best Treats For Clicker Training Cats Review
Scientists, psychologists and animal behaviorists have all agreed that clicker training is one of the most successful ways to teach your pet. The main idea is just to click, mark and then reward which makes your cat to understand what exactly you wanted to do. The challenge with training animals is that they don’t understand our language but they can associate certain feelings with a reinforcement. So, you mark what you want and then reward your cat for a positive response.
The secret to good cat clicker training is in the reinforcement and timing of the click. Remember, this is all about rewarding your pet for desirable behavior. If you snap your fingers, you make a click sound and you need to or enforce or what your cat if it has got a good response of what you want it to do.
The reward or enforcement can come in the form of a belly rub or in a delicious treat. If you want a good treat for your cat clicker training, you need to look for one that excites your furry friend.
The Temptations Classic Crunchy and Soft Cat Treats, 30 oz.
is going to offer you cut the best way to learn. The chicken flavored treats have less than two calories parts and the chicken flavour will certainly invite your cats’ excitement. The small pieces are not only irresistible for their shape but also contain all the nutrients that your cat may need. The tasty treats come in a safe pack that will resist contamination.
Best Cat Treats for Training Buying Guide
There are so many options of cat treats in the market and you might easily be lost for choice. However, there are certain things that you must have in mind. You see, the secret to having an intelligent and healthy cat is not in the treats that you give it but rather the diet and meals. Therefore, you need to invest a lot of research in what you feed your cat.
Just because you’re giving your cat, a treat does not mean that you can give it just anything. You need to understand whether the treat is healthy has nutritional value flavor and whether your cat likes it after all.
What’s The Type Of Cat Training Treat?
Cat treats come in several forms and types. There are dry crunchy treats wet cat treats and the lickable treats. Take the dry treats as biscuits and sandwiches, the wet treats the ice cream and chocolate while the lickables the candy.
Your choice will largely depend on the diet that you put your cat on. For instance, if yours is on a dry cat food diet you should make your cat experience and different variety such as the lickables or wet treats.
And, if your cut has wet food then you may want to use the crunchy dry foods. The idea is to make sure that the cat does not confuse the treat with food.
Size Of Your Favourite Treats
If you have large treat then you will expect your training process to take a little longer because the cat will need time to crunch on them. But, when you have small pieces, your cat’s training process is going to be fast. At the same time, you prevent unnecessary weight gain.
What Are The Ingredients Of The Cat Treat?
The most important factor that you must consider when buying anything for your cat is the ingredient and the material. We’ve widely covered this topic on hypoallergenic cat food and accessories.
- You need to understand that your cat is basically what it eats. The United States recalls so many pet foods and this should send an alarm to you. Cats easily get sensitive with food that they take and if you realize any allergies, you need to change that treat immediately. Always seek the advice of your veterinarian so that you can always get the best most healthy cat food and treats.
- And just as a reminder, make sure that your treats have no artificial preservatives of flavours especially BHA and BHT.
- Your treat should also have low calorie content, as carbs aren’t good for your cat.
- Your teeth also need to be best primary on meat or vegetable ingredients with no by-products.
- Rich and useful nutrients such as minerals and vitamins welcome.
- Avoid treats with gluten fillers such as soy wheat or corn. Also, ensure your cat food and treats are free off high sodium sweetness and Content. Remember that your cat doesn’t even respond to sweet tastes.
- While there are so many manufacturers of cat treats around the world, we highly recommend that you choose those from the UK, USA and Canada because they are manufactured with high restrictions quality control.
Flavour And Texture Of Your Cat Treats
You have to agree that felines are hard to please and therefore, the flavour, aroma and texture of the treats you buy have to really go through standards. You need to motivate your cat to actually like the treats.
While cats are primarily carnivores, domestication by humans has turned them omnivores. So, you need to understand what kind of food your cat likes and then make sure that you get treats with that flavour. For example, there are cats that just love tuna, salmon, bonito among other seafood. Others prefer chicken or bacon. The main idea is to make sure that the treat you use have nice aroma because your cat has a strong sense of smell.
Best Cat Treats for Training FAQs
Which Ingredients In The Best Cat Treats Should I Avoid?
Avoid any ingredients that can cause allergy or discomfort to your cat. For example, make sure the cat treats do not contain:
- Wheat gluten
- Titanium dioxide
- Meat by-products
- Garlic
- Corn
- Cellulose
- Caramel
- Butylated hydroxyanisole (dha)
- Bone meal
- Sodium tripolyphosphate
- Sodium nitrate
- Titanium dioxide
- Food colouring
- Glucose and dextrose
- Carrageenan, and;
- Iron oxide.
Can I Use Cat Treats As Part Of My Cat’s Diet?
Yes, treats actually form an important part of your cat’s diet. Whether it’s a treat a day or a week, you must factor in the ingredients and the nutritional benefits that your cat gets. It’s important to use treats that have vitamins and nutrients that are not available in your cat’s main course meal.
Which Is Better Between Dry Cat Treats And Wet Treats?
Dry treat pieces are easier to work for you especially during training. But, this will largely depend on your cat’s diet. Working with dry treats is far easier because all you need to do is to toss the treats every time a positive response is achieved.
How to Make Homemade Cat Treats
Homemade cat treats a fantastic because you get to control the ingredients as well as flavour. It’s for this reason most cat parents want to make their own treats with locally available ingredients. And yes- you can use your breadcrumbs, leftover chicken, cheese, eggs, and baked cookies our as treats for your cat.
- Make your homemade treats using some of the recipes we’ve shared on our website. Baking gives you the power to control the flavour as well as the ingredients and overall quality of the cat treats. Further, you have the advantage of feeding in your cat with treats that makes sense to eat preferences and health.
- Beat and cook eggs. Already you understand that eggs are some of the richest sources of proteins at home. And as a cat behaviorist, you may want to use them for training for stuff you can fry or boil the eggs then scramble them into small pieces. Avoid raw eggs because they are murky and difficult to manage the fluidly yolk or egg white. A boiled egg lets you draw a small piece to your cat every time it shows a positive response.
- Cheese is another great homemade cat treat that you may consider using. Of course, cats love milk but you don’t want to use such liquids for training. Instead, you can have string cheese especially if your cat is not allergic to dairy products. I know lots of TV shows insist that felines are lactose intolerant but as a cat parent, you probably know better! So, use pieces of string cheese to reinforce good behaviour in your cat.
- Use leftover turkey, chicken or fish. If you have some white meat left from last night, it’s prudent to use it to train your cat. Cut it into small pieces and freeze it for use as an alternative for commercial cat treats.
Conclusion: Quick Takeaways on the Best Cat Treats for Training
- Already you realise that cat treats stimulate and actually speed up the learning process for your cat. And, it’s important for you to feed them to your pet by your hand because it not only strengthens your bond but also makes the cat know you’re its master.
- Felines have their favourite treats. Also, cats are a little more finicky about the food than your other furry friends. What cat A will like is not what cat B will prefer. This means you have to experiment with different treats just make sure you get one that’s good for all.
- Make sure to get treats specifically for your cats’ size, age, and breed.
- Dogs are comfortable with Chewy treats but not all of your cats are.
- Get cat treats from Canada, UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand because these countries have strict restrictions on the manufacture of cat food.
- Read and understand the list of the ingredients used in the manufacture of your cat food. When doing this, look out for any hypoallergenic ingredients that might upset your cat.
- More than 50% of cats in American cats are obese and over-feeding them is to blame. Therefore, look out for high calorie content in both cat treats and the main course meals.
- Don’t freeze cat food or cat treats for more than one month after opening the package. You want them fresh.
- If you’re training your cat outdoors, have a washable treat pouch to carry them. The Petsafe Treat Mini Treat Pouch Link Accessory Pouch
is one of the best premium pouches you will find. It’s available in two main sizes and comes in three colours you can choose one. It is has a detachable waist strap as well as a Carabiner. Also, you get a flap where you can store your phone accessories and other devices.
- Have a wide variety of cat treats so that your cat remains motivated with the learning process. If you’re relying on only one specific treat, then you’re likely to make the cat lose the interest in learning. At least have different brands with various ingredients such as mutton, bacon, chicken, fish or anything else that brings a change.
- If you ever find that, your cat is no longer interested in any of your treat you may want to seek the advice of a veterinarian. Sometimes these problems could emanate from illnesses, digestive issues, or even diabetes and dental problems.
- In the case your cat has an illness, you may want to look for the best specialized cat treats. In this case, the treats will not only reinforced behaviour but also help in coming down the ailments. It’s a good sense especially when you’re trying to medicate your cat.
- Greenies Celine Natural Dental Care Cat Treats are some of the bestselling dental cat treats you can find out there. Some of them have got catnip sticks that not only calm down your cat but also help them get interested in what you’re teaching. And, at the same time, it cleans up and offers dental care.
I hope this article about the best cat treats for training helps you find something your furry friend can like. Feel free to share this post with your other friends who love cats. And of course, buy your favourite cat treat through our links. Happy cat training, fellow cat guy!