Question:
With guinea pigs, a chin & a cat all under my wing, I obviously buy a lot of treats, but I have recently come under fire on here for my treats being "crap".
Bearing in mind that treats make up a tiny % of my animals' diets, do you think that commercially available treats such as Vitakraft & RIGA should do any harm? Would you feed them to your own animals?
I should state that the treats from these companies that I buy for Cub & the pigs are vegetarian treats made from wheat & corn (which are also in the Mazuri pellets Cub gets), & the only artificial thing in a FEW of them is human food-grade synthetic colours. The treats are typically flavoured with natural fruits & veggies.
I ate some of the RIGA Treats myself & although I realize I am a vastly bigger animal, I suffered no ill effects.
I also feed fresh produce, but not too much, esp. for Cub, as I don't want them to get loose bowels. The pigs get more but still only about 10% of their diet.
What treats would YOU recommend if not these ones? (And why?)


Answer:
Neuro, I wouldn't necessarily say Vitakraft is "crap" and I don't know anything about Riga or the ingredients. Because I only have chinchillas as pets, I can answer from a chinchilla owner's perspective. As I have stated time and time again, I have eliminated ALL treats from my chinchilla's diet that has any preservatives or artificial colourings. I feel better knowing when my chinchilla's get their treats they are 100% natural and I keep treat giving to a minimum. They get excellent pellet, high quality supplement and hay so I don't think a variety of treats is necessary.
The treats I recommend for chinchillas are dried organic fruit and unsweetened shredded wheat cereal.


Answer:
My animals get little to no 'treats'. My chin gets her supplement (a BIG treat in her eyes). When my rabbit is old enough he will get a few veggies. My dogs only get 'training treats' (extremely small, approx. 1cm).
As Denise set, pets with hay, supplements, and a good food do not require treats. If you do choose to treat them then I'd also suggest something of a decent quality.
It wouldn't make any sense for humans to eat purely organic enriched foods then turn around and have a chocolate bar every day...


Answer:
Rincewind wrote:It wouldn't make any sense for humans to eat purely organic enriched foods then turn around and have a chocolate bar every day...
Neuro says: how true!! But as an organic 99% vegan who occasionally has a piece of cheesecake or something of the sort , I treat my pets the same way.
I also use my treats as training aids.
I understand the "no treat" philosophy, & respect it immensely, but me & Cub bond over Chinchilla Cocktail.
I think I am going to try phasing out the commercial treats & switch over to an organic, unsweetened cereal, & see how it goes. Cub & the pigs already get fresh fruit & veg, & I don't really want to increase that, so the next logical step is the cereal. Thanks for the inspiration Denise.
Now if I can only keep my wallet in my pocket @ the pet stores!!!!


Answer:
Call me a meanie, but my animals don't get many treats. The cats get a treat *maybe* once a week...usually one of their cranberry ones or a small piece of cheddar cheese. My dog gets a Nutro Senior cookie every night for glusosamine and chondroitin. The chins get a raisin, papaya, or cranberry piece every night. As for commercial treats...I don't buy many anymore. I still have some alfalfa slims left though. Personally, I don't really see the need to feed commercial treats if you don't have to. If my dog wasn't in the routine of getting a treat every night, we probably wouldn't buy them. I guess to each their own, I don't see that the treats will cause much of a problem given sparingly but on the other hand, is there something else that could be given that would be better?


Answer:
I guess I just figured since they were fine except for a little colouring, & not fed in excess, they were ok. I'll probably still feed some of them , as I don't consider them harmful, but I am going to give the cereal a try.
Thanks for the opinions.


Answer:
Neuro, let us know how Cub likes the cereal. The breeder I got Griffin from gives his chins a piece of unsweetened shredded wheat that has a raisin in it. He says the cereal is very hard to find and he special orders it. Since my chins sometimes get a cranberry as a treat, I don't need to buy that specific cereal even though I think it is a good idea for a treat.


Answer:
I am against most treats for chins as it has been proven over and over that it is unhealthy for chins. Sure it's cute to watch them, but diabetes and fatty livers and obesity aren't too cute. Sorry, I can't go against all the evidence out there so I limit raisins to once every two weeks and my grain supplement (which the chins adore) will have to be treat enough.


Answer:
I used to give the chins a raisin a night when I had them, they also had plenty of hay and pellets.
The dogs get a variety of treats, I have a box of Milkbones (various flavours) that I use as an everyday treat, I have some leftover Beggin' Strips from their previous owner and some chicken flavoured jerky and some soft bacon and cheese flavoured treats also made by Milkbone. With the jerky-type treats, I limit the girls, probably once or twice a week since the treats cause diarrhea if the girls have too many. I used them as training bits, but since suzoo recommended the dried liver pieces from Benny Bullys (they are awesome, just plain beef liver, nothing added, the dogs love them and they are quite tasty, yes I ate them too, lol!), I plan to use those as training bits and gradually phase out the jerky-type stuff. I also got them some natural baked dog cookies from a vendor at St. Lawrence Market.
So after I phase out the jerky treats, I plan to keep the girls on Benny Bullys for training and all-natural baked dog biscuits
I think of it this way, I LOVE french fries from Macdonald's and I know it's full of grease and all that, but I still have them once in a while so I don't see the harm in the dogs having some treats that are 'bad' for them once in a while.
Of course, chinchillas have a much different constitution than dogs.


Answer:
CJ, can I have more info on the Benny Bully's?? Can cats eat them too? I got a couple sample packs of those Milkbone steak and cheese things...my dog went crazy for them!! I can't see them being very healthy but they were good while they lasted.