There’s a little monster that lives on our fridge. Her name is Pippin. And she loves a good treat. Or two. Or twenty three. And because her and Cookie are treasured little gems of this family, I’ve devoted a whole (already quite a robust) series on this blog called Feline Foodology, which discovers the best cat food there is. Cookie & Pipps have already reviewed a decent amount of wet food, dry kibble as well as treats, but they are primarily fed raw meat. You can read all about their BARF diet here. Today though, we’re looking at these delicious dental treats called Dental Nutri Pockets by GimCat.
? Dental Nutri Pockets by GimCat
Last Feline Foodology was all about very specific treats which prevent and also treat UTIs in cats. This time we’re looking at another type of these health treats. These particular ones have been specifically designed to improve teeth of our feline friends. To be precise – they support the mechanical brushing effect, which is an effective contribution to reducing plaque and tartar.
This description is the first pointer that makes you stop in your tracks and go hmmmm. So basically the key here is that the treats contain 0% moisture and therefore are hard enough for the cat to scrape the tartar on their teeth off of them. But what about the contents of the treats? Are there no added benefits to them? These treats are quite large in comparison to some other ones, for example these from Canvit. Which means that it does matter a little more what they’re made out of.
? What’s inside of these treats?
The main ingredient is cereal, which means grain. So a fair bit of carbohydrates. Then there’s some meat content. Which is not even plain meat – it’s meat and animal by-products. And we already know that that can be absolutely anything from milled bones to hairs and lots of other animal parts that no one wants in their dinner. These treats look like they will be stuffed with something creamy. In fact they’ve listed milk and dairy products at the very end of the ingredients list so there won’t be much of those inside these mini pockets. I shall also mention that they are very high in fat – 20%. You most definitely wouldn’t want to be giving a handful of these to your cat every day.
Overall I’m not particularly pleased with these. When I was buying them I thought they’d be kinda creamy inside and contain some ingredients to improve dental health of my cats. Which they really do not. They just mechanically scrape off plaque and tartar. Lots of other, much more nutritious and natural treats can do the same. Once we’ve polished off this bag we shan’t be repurchasing, sorry GimCat!
Ingredients: Cereal, meat and animal by-products (poultry, 15%), oils and fats, fish and fish by-products, vegetable protein extracts, vegetable by-products (lignocellulose, 5%), minerals, yeast, milk and dairy products.
Analytical components: Protein 30,0 %, fat content 20,0 %, crude ash 7,0 %, crude fibre 4,5 %.
Price: about £1.50 for 60g
You can buy these treats on VeseleZvire here (CZ) or here on VetSend (UK). Or you can buy them in pet shops in Prague when you’re here on holiday.
CATS OFF THE CARBS – THE CORNERSTONE OF FELINE FOODOLOGY
This series was inspired by a book called Cats off the Carbs by Jenny Evans, the owner of CatPacks. Sadly the book is no longer available to buy. I’m eternally grateful to own a copy myself and be able to share Jenny’s knowledge with you. The key message of this book is that a good cat food is:
High in animal protein
Moderate in fat
Low in carbohydrates
What are you feeding your cats at the moment? Have you ever tried reading the labels & deciphering what they mean?
? I don’t claim to be an expert in cat food. All my knowledge I gathered from Jenny’s book, the internets and my own personal experience. However I’m genuinely hoping this series will help others understand the importance of proper cat food.