the worst cat treats are filled with junk they're made by the same companies that make junk food for
humans so it makes sense that they would also be filled with junk that's why they're cheap costs
they don't have great ingredients very very low in meat based protein mostly fillers mostly carbs hey
friends is jess and jericho and the first worst cat treat that we're going to look at is greenies
so the product name rule here is oven roasted chicken flavor that word flavor means that there
is zero percent minimum requirement of chicken and it's guaranteed less than three percent
if it was at least three percent the product name would say with chicken instead of chicken flavor
so let's take a look at the ingredients first we have chicken meal so right there that word meal
indicates that it's a rendered ingredient and rendered ingredients can include 4d meats which
means dead diseased dying or disabled as always there are resources in the description below
please always do your own research next we have ground wheat brewers rice corn gluten meal so
three ingredients right there within the first five are completely inappropriate for cats
cats do not eat carbs in the wild they certainly would not hunt for rice or corn gluten meal next
we have poultry fat so right there that is a red flag because poultry could mean chicken could mean
turkey we have no idea because the manufacturer doesn't even have an idea next oat fiber natural
poultry flavor again that's a mystery you want to see specifically named ingredients rather than
just the blanket terms ground flax seed brewers dried yeast and then it looks like a majority
of the rest of the ingredients are added vitamins and minerals so we don't really see any whole meat
in this product there's meal and fat and flavor that's not like whole nutritious muscle meat that
cats need and the carb amount is approximately 37% on a dry matter basis that's like more than
three times the amount of the cat's natural diet and it's very interesting that these
are marketed as dental treats because they're very high in carbohydrates cats lack the enzyme
called amylase in their saliva so they can't properly break down carbohydrates in their mouth
so if they can't properly break down carbohydrates in their mouth how can a high carbohydrate treat
be good for their dental health the next worst cat treat that we'll look at is temptations so here we
have the same product name rule tasty chicken flavor so that word flavor again means between
0 and 2.9 percent chicken next we'll look at the ingredients chicken by product meal again another
rendered ingredient and byproducts could mean literally anything instead of saying chicken liver
chicken heart which are technically byproducts they use the blanket terms so you don't really
know what pieces of chicken that is and again meal indicates that it's a rendered ingredient which
could include those 4d meats so again we don't see actual whole chicken meat in this product
next ground corn not suitable for cats animal fat so this right here is an absolute mystery
the previous one that we looked at at least it said poultry flavor and poultry fat so it narrows
it down to a couple different animals but this one just says animal fat so again in the resources
in the description there's a report for congress on the animal rendering industry
and it states that most of the rendered ingredients do come from processing plants
but they could also come from dead animals from ranches farms marketing barns feedlots and even
animal shelters so this is why you want to avoid mystery meats like this because
animal fat could literally mean any type of animal the manufacturer clearly doesn't know which one
they're using so that's why they just put animal fat next we have brewers rice wheat flour not
suitable for cats dried meat by-products so here we have another mystery what type of meat is it
lamb is it chicken is it cow is it deer is it pig unfortunately could be cat or dog rachel ray's
dog food had dog dna in it then natural flavors brewers dried yeast and the rest basically except
for dried cheese look like added vitamins and minerals and this one is also approximately
37% carbs on a dry matter basis so again we have no actual whole nutritious meat in the product
mostly leftovers ground down pressurized and heated multiple times with a bunch of corn and
yeast the next worst cat treat that we're going to look at is called blue buffalo wilderness
and we have the same product name rule here trout flavor so that trout composition is going to be
less than three percent if it had at least three percent it would say with trout instead of trout
flavor so this one the ingredients are a little cut off so we have trout that's the first whole
meat that we've seen so far chicken meal at least they're specific about which type of animal but
that meal again is a rendered ingredient so that doesn't tell us much about the quality well i
guess it kind of does if it could be 4d meats then that's not good quality next potato starch peas
brewer's dried yeast chicken fat natural flavor and then some added minerals and preservatives
so this one has a shorter ingredients list i'll give them that but the only whole meat that we
see on this product trout we know that it's less than three percent of the entire product
because if it was at least three percent it would be called with trout instead of trout
flavor so that's why it's super important not only to read the ingredients but also understand
the product name rules because those rules tell you how much of the composition is of the named
ingredient it's also very important to calculate the approximate carbohydrates using the guaranteed
analysis because guess what aafco does not require carbohydrates on the guaranteed analysis so we
have to do that work ourselves i have a calculator on my website that link is in the description
below you just put the numbers in it does it for you but these treats have approximately 43%
carbs on a dry matter basis this one's higher than the previous that we looked at so this
is about four times the amount that cat would naturally eat so i'm sure you're wondering what
are healthy treats healthy treats are freeze-dried raw or dehydrated muscle meats and organs you can
check out this video right over meow for more healthy cat treat options thanks for watching