What to Look For in a Healthy Dog or Cat Treat
A simple checklist you can run in the treat aisle in about thirty seconds.
Treats are one of the easiest ways to bond with your pet — and one of the easiest places for marketing to get ahead of substance. Here's a quick checklist you can run right in the aisle.
Read the first three ingredients. Ingredients are listed by weight, so the front of the list matters most. A named, recognizable ingredient near the top ("chicken," "sweet potato," "salmon") is a good sign. The shorter and clearer the list, the better.
Watch for fillers and vague terms. "Meat meal," "animal by-product," artificial colors, and long chemical names are there to bulk up or preserve — not to nourish. Fewer of those is better.
Check for a net weight and a real maker. Knowing the weight lets you compare value honestly, and a clearly named producer signals accountability. If you can't tell who made it or where, that's worth questioning.
Match the treat to the pet. Small dogs and cats need far fewer calories, so training-size, easily-broken treats are ideal — you get lots of "yes!" moments without piling on calories. Big dogs can handle bigger chews.
Skip anything toxic. A shocking number of "human food" treats aren't safe for pets. When in doubt, our "can my pet eat…?" guide at everypethaven.com/blog/can-my-pet-eat/ covers the common ones.
The simplest healthy treat is often the best one: a single ingredient you can picture, made fresh, with nothing you can't pronounce. That's the whole idea behind EveryPetHaven Kitchen — fresh, gently-dehydrated, single-ingredient treats with the net weight on every bag. We're launching on Kickstarter; join the list at everypethaven.com/kickstarter to be first in line.
General guidance only — your vet can tailor treat and calorie advice to your specific pet.