Single Ingredient Cat Treats
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A single ingredient cat treat has one item on its ingredient line, and that item is the food itself: shrimp, salmon, chicken or an egg, with nothing added after it. The phrase is a claim a maker prints on the front of the bag, and the way to confirm it is on the back.
What counts as one ingredient
Read the back of the bag, not the front. Put a finger on the ingredient line and count the commas: no commas, one ingredient. AAFCO's labeling rules list ingredients in order of weight, heaviest first, so a line that reads shrimp, water, flavoring tells you the bag is mostly shrimp and not only shrimp.
Single protein is a different phrase. It says one animal supplied the meat and says nothing about the rest of the line. A treat can be single protein and still list oil, glycerin, a binder and a coating after the protein.
Three made up ingredient lines show the difference:
- Shrimp. One ingredient, and the food is the whole list.
- Shrimp, water. Two ingredients, and the second tells you the maker added something.
- Shrimp, glycerin, flavoring, preservative. Four, and only the first is the food.
Only the first is a single ingredient treat in the sense this page uses. The other two may be fine treats, and they are a different thing.
Freeze drying does not change the count. A freeze dried shrimp is listed as shrimp, even though the water has gone, and the process adds nothing to the line.
Fish, poultry and shellfish singles
Singles come in three families on a cat's shelf. Fish singles are whole small fish or pieces of a fillet: minnows, anchovies, sardines, salmon. Poultry singles are pieces of chicken or another bird. Shellfish singles are shrimp, scallop or mussel, whole or cut.
Each family has a texture and a smell of its own, and a cat usually settles on a family it prefers. Fish tends to smell strongest from the bag and poultry is milder, with shellfish somewhere between. The fish cat treats and chicken cat treats collections are cut by protein, so a single in either family is quick to find.
Piece size matters more for a cat than for a dog, because a cat eats in small bites. Break anything larger than a fingernail. A whole small fish divides in half, a shrimp goes in thirds, and a chicken piece tears along its grain. A cat that grabs a piece and carries it off to eat in private may be telling you it was too big to eat where it stood.
Now the trade off. Singles are plain, and a picky cat may refuse a plain piece that a flavored treat would have tempted. If the first is turned down, try a different family before you decide the cat dislikes singles.
Freeze dried singles for cats
The Merck Veterinary Manual describes cats as obligate carnivores, which makes a piece of one animal food a straightforward fit for the treat jar. Freeze dried singles are light and dry, and a pinch over the cat's regular food is the whole routine.
Sniff and Shift's Freeze Dried Shrimp is labeled single ingredient and labeled for dogs and cats; it is freeze dried in small batches in Malvern from imported shrimp and sold in a 1.5 ounce bag. Freeze dried singles are uncooked, so the raw feeding notice applies to them.
Some cats take a dry piece as it comes, and some prefer it softened. A teaspoon of water over a crumbled pinch softens it in a minute or two, and how to rehydrate freeze dried treats covers the method.
Comparing two bags
Put two bags side by side and go down the same lines on each.
| Line to read | One ingredient looks like | Look twice when |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredient line | One word or one phrase, no commas | Water, oil, glycerin, flavoring or a coating follows the first item |
| Front of the bag | Names the food alone, or says single ingredient | It says single protein, or a flavor name that is not an ingredient |
| Net weight | Printed in ounces on the label | Only a piece count or a picture is given |
| Form | Freeze dried or air dried, stated on the label | No form is named |
Two bags with the same single item can still differ in form and weight, so compare those next. A 1.5 ounce bag and a 3 ounce bag of the same food are the same food at different sizes, and the larger one is the better choice only if the cat finishes it before the opening date on the bag gets old. Write the date on the bag the day you open it, seal it between uses as the label directs, and the bag tells you its own age.
The same label check for a dog is in single ingredient dog treats, and best freeze dried cat treats sets the freeze dried bags beside each other. The freeze dried cat treats collection holds them in one place.
Common questions
Is a single protein treat the same as a single ingredient treat?
No. A single protein treat uses one animal as its meat but may list other ingredients after it, while a single ingredient treat lists one item and stops. Check the back of the bag for commas.
Can a single ingredient treat replace a cat's meal?
No. The raw feeding notice on this site says treats are not meant to replace an animal's regular food. A single ingredient treat is one food, so it works as a topper or a reward beside the regular meal.
Why would a cat refuse a single ingredient treat?
Plain food has less smell than a flavored treat, and some cats pass it over. Try a different protein family, or crumble a pinch over the cat's regular food so the smell is familiar. Give a new treat several tries over a few days before you decide.
How do I check a cat treat for added flavoring?
Read the ingredient line to the last word. Flavoring, oil, water or a coating would be listed there. If the line holds one item, nothing else is listed.
