Why Are Most Cat Treats Full of Junk?

Flip over a typical mass-market cat treat bag and you'll often find grains, starches, binders, preservatives, and sometimes artificial colors. Cats are obligate carnivores, so it's fair to ask: why are so many treats made this way?

The answer comes down to manufacturing, cost, and shelf life. Here's what's behind it, and what to look for instead.

Why manufacturers use fillers

Many crunchy treats and kibble are made by extrusion: a dough is cooked under high heat and pressure, then pushed through a die. That process needs starch, from ingredients like wheat flour, corn, or rice, to hold the shape and create the crunch.

A few other factors push recipes in the same direction:

• Cost. Animal protein is generally the most expensive ingredient in pet food. Grains and starches are cheaper per pound, so more of them means better margins.
• Shelf life. Products that travel through long distribution chains and sit on shelves for a year or more need to resist spoilage. Some brands still use synthetic preservatives such as BHA and BHT. BHA is listed by the U.S. National Toxicology Program as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" based on animal studies. Many brands now use mixed tocopherols (a form of vitamin E) instead, so it's worth checking the label.
• Palatability. Starch on its own doesn't appeal much to cats, so manufacturers often coat treats with animal digests (hydrolyzed animal tissue), fats, and pyrophosphates to make them more enticing.

How cats handle carbohydrates

Cats evolved eating prey, which is high in protein and fat and very low in carbohydrate. Their bodies reflect that:

• They produce no salivary amylase and relatively little pancreatic amylase, the enzymes that break down starch.
• Their livers have very low activity of glucokinase, an enzyme other animals rely on to handle a rush of dietary glucose.

Cats can digest cooked starch, but they aren't built around it. A treat that's mostly grain gives them calories in a form their bodies don't need.

Colors are for people, not cats

Artificial dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 2 are there for the humans buying the bag. Cats choose food largely by smell, so color adds nothing for them.

The bigger issue: extra calories

The best-established risk with treats is calories. Obesity is the leading risk factor for diabetes in cats, and it also raises the risk of fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis) if an overweight cat stops eating. Vets generally recommend that treats make up no more than about 10% of a cat's daily calories, whatever they're made of. Treats that are mostly filler add calories without adding much nutrition.

Why single-ingredient treats are a simpler choice

Single-ingredient treats, made from just the meat or fish, sidestep most of these issues:

• No binders or fillers. Freeze-dried pieces of whole meat hold their shape on their own, with no starch, gluten, or emulsifiers needed.
• Gentle processing. Freeze-drying removes water at low temperatures rather than cooking at high heat, which helps preserve heat-sensitive nutrients like essential fatty acids.
• A short, readable label. Food sensitivities in cats are most often triggered by proteins like beef, fish, chicken, or dairy. A one-ingredient treat makes it easy to know exactly what your cat ate and spot what does or doesn't agree with them.

A good single-ingredient brand should also be open about sourcing and safety. If treats are made from raw meat, it's reasonable to ask how the brand tests for pathogens like Salmonella and Listeria.

The bottom line

Most mass-market treats are designed around manufacturing speed, shelf life, and cost rather than feline biology. Reading the ingredient list, not the front of the bag, is the simplest way to see what you're actually giving your cat. Choosing treats made from whole animal protein, and keeping treats to a small share of the daily diet, keeps snacking in line with what cats are built to eat.