Cat owners love giving their feline friends treats once in a while. After all, pets really are part of the family. However, if you feed your kitty too many treats, or people food that their digestive systems can’t handle, you may be leaving them exposed to weight gain and several other health conditions (i.e., diabetes mellitus, etc.). This is why we have put together a few tips that’ll help you with buy cat treats that are both healthy and safe:

1. Preparing cat treats at home
Among all the tips for buying healthy cat treats, the most efficient is buying fresh ingredients and making treats for them at home. Some examples are

• Catnip: A plant that the cat is greatly attracted to, can be grown at home. It belongs to the mint family and gives rise to a pungent smell, which the cats are very fond of, they can eat them raw and this is healthy plant food. One just needs to bury catnip seeds in a pot filled with proper soil and provide adequate water and exposure to sunlight.
• Cat grass: Just like oatmeal and wheat, cat grass is another healthy plant food. The plant can be grown at home just like the catnip and proves to be efficient, especially when the cat is obese as these have low calories.
• Home-made treats or balls: Apart from getting cat treats, one can prepare healthy snacks at home with small quantities of all meat put together blended with smaller portions of fruits and vegetables, doing this will help develop a good immune system in pets and also caters to the requirements of their body.

2. Approvals to look for
When picking foods for cats, care should be taken as to whether it is approved safe by authoritative bodies for pets. The two most common bodies are the Association of American Feed Control Officials and the Food and Drug Administration. Cat foods that are not approved by these bodies should be strictly avoided.

3. Foods to avoid in cat treats
There are certain foods that are quite toxic to cats and should be completely avoided. They are:

• Any food with too much salt
• Avocado
• Grapes or raisins
• Chocolate
• Nuts
• Citrus
• Coconuts or coconut oil
• Onion or chives
• Garlic
• Liquids with caffeine, such as coffee or tea
• Alcohol
• Sugar-free foods containing xylitol

4. Calories and cat treats
A normal cat needs almost 250 calories per day and it is very important that home-made food or the cat treats purchased outside are measured in calories, intake of more calories might alter the bowel system in the cats and may result in diarrhea, which would lead to dehydration. Furthermore, this is one of the main reasons for cats to become obese leading to an imbalanced system. So, paying close attention to calories is one of the best tips for buying healthy cat treats.

5. Other top brands or cat treats
Some of the other brands or cat treats one can choose from are

• Orijen Tundra Cat Treats
• Vital Essentials Minnows Freeze-Dried Cat Treats
• Cat-Man-Doo Bonito Flakes
• The Honest Kitchen Bone Broth
• Blue Wilderness
• Whiskas
• Greenies