10 Great Low Calorie Treats for Your Cat

cats

Cats are just like people in that they can overeat and become quite sick. An obese or overweight cat can face a myriad of health issues that you don’t want to deal with. For one, your cat is a ‘person’ and deserves to live a healthy and happy life. Good health is important to all living creatures, not just humans. And when you have a cat at home it becomes your job to ensure your cat is just as healthy as the rest of your family. You don’t want the cat consuming a handful of calorie-filled treats on a regular basis that might make the cat sick. For one, you have to foot that vet bill. Secondly, a cat that’s overweight or obese might just have some other health issues develop over time, and that could mean that your cat is not able to live the life it’s supposed to live. No one wants to think about the day that their pet is gone for good, but that day will come a lot sooner if you are not careful to ensure your cat eats a healthy and well-balanced diet. So with that in mind, we have a few suggestions for low-cal treats you can feed your cat whenever you see fit without worrying that you are contributing to any health issues.

10 Great Low-Cal Treats for Your Cat

Salmon

Cod

Grouper

Tuna

Eggs

Steak

Chicken

Sausage

Turkey

Liver

How to Prepare Snacks

Each of these treats is good for your cat. They’re low in calories and they’re high in other forms of good nutrition that your cats need. To ensure that your cats remain as healthy as possible, however, you’re going to want to ensure that you cook these very well – never give your cats raw meat or fish or eggs. You’re going to want to cook them without any additives. Perhaps you like a little cheese and milk or butter in your eggs, but refrain from placing anything additional in any of their food. It’s not good for the cat, and it is things like this that can cause your cat to suffer from additional health issues that you need not deal with. To make a long story short, just cook the food the way that it requires without adding anything unhealthy to the dishes and then serve it fully cooked to your cat as a treat.

How Often do Cats Need Treats

Another note is that you should not serve these things to your cat on a regular basis. You should serve them in small doses, very moderate doses, sometimes and only as a special treat. Do not make this a daily habit, because it’s too much food. Even without the added calories that some cat treats have in the store, these things are not meant to be consumed by your cat three times a day with every meal. Be sure you treat it like the kind of dessert you would give your children. You give it to them on a special occasion and it severe moderation, not in bulk whenever they feel the need to eat it.

Be Careful with Store-Bought Treats

It might seem like no big deal to provide your cat with store bought treats, but it’s not always the best option. It’s not that they are bad for your cat by any means. However, if you are giving your cat store bought treats and regular treats cooked by you on top of the food you feed the cat on a regular basis, you’re not doing yourself or the cat any favors. You can use these, just be very careful to use them in moderation and never with other treats you cook yourself.

Additionally, it does not hurt to check the labels on these items. If you do have to use store-bought treats, please do so by checking the health and nutrition information so that you can ensure your cats are getting the kind of good nutrition they need. Some are made with ingredients your cat might not be able to tolerate or that your cat should tolerate at all.

Talk to your Vet

Your cat’s vet is the best source of health information you will find. What this means is that you should talk to your vet about what you need to serve your cat and what you don’t need to serve your cat. Not all cats are created equal and yours might have some health issues that does not allow it to have certain foods or items, and it’s with that in mind that you should be very careful not to feed your cat anything without first talking to your vet. It is very important to keep this in mind at all times.

In fact, you should be very careful not to bother giving your cat anything different than what it is already eating when you buy or adopt the cat. Use this food until you make your cat’s first appointment with the vet and then ask about other forms of food and feeding. Your vet will be able to tell you what your cat can handle based on its health at that appointment and that means you’ll give your cat the best chances for a healthy start.

It’s important to keep your cat monitored closely. If you notice that your animal is having trouble using the litter box, that his or her bowel movements have changed drastically or that you are noticing some issues with the cat that are not particularly normal or worrisome, call the vet. Even if you think that your cat is healthy enough to eat low-cal treats you make yourself, he or she might have some sort of reaction that requires veterinary attention and it’s imperative that you are aware of what is happening with the animal when this happens. Your cat’s vet can usually diagnose any issues in a matter of minutes if you are smart enough to get the cat into the office as soon as possible. The sooner the better in this case.

Photo by Tom Hindman/Getty Images

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.