Feasting with Food Snobs: The Sequel (#ChewyInfluencer)

If you've read some of our past posts, you might remember that my feline furbabies are what I like to call food snobs. They're picky about their food and treats, both dry and moist. After all, they have very refined taste.

Needless to say, finding treats that my furbabies will eat can be a bit tricky, if not downright impossible. My primary treat eater is Evan, and even he has only a few select treats he'll pay any mind to. Housemate Toby is much like Evan, whereas Thimble and Eddy essentially ignore any treats put in front of them.

That all being said, as part of this month's Chewy.com Blogger Outreach Program, I decided to try and choose a healthy, hardy treat that might entice my kitties to actually eat it. I am a big fan of pet food and treats that are highly meat-based, and so I was eager to try PureBites® freeze-dried cat treats. These treats come in a variety of freeze-dried meats. Given that my kitties seem to most often prefer foods of the chicken variety, I went for chicken breast.

These treats are, as the bag says, 100% natural. They are made in the USA from one ingredient, and that is 100% pure USDA-inspected chicken breast. There are no preservatives or anything else added. These treats are plainly and simply chicken, and they look it.

For those curious about the "freeze-dried" aspect of these treats, here's what the product description says: "PureBites® uses a delicate freeze-drying process that preserves the nutritional integrity of fresh whole food - only water is removed, preserving all of the characteristics and natural nutrition of fresh raw chicken breast." So, given the fact that cats are strict carnivores, it sounds to me like these treats would be perfect for the felines in my life. Of course, though, I'm not the one to judge that. That job is for my furry little food snobs. So, what did they think?

At the first sound of the bag rustling, I gathered the usual audience of my boy Evan and housemate Toby.

Evan sniffed the treats, a lot. And he even gave them a few licks.

But then he walked away.

Toby also licked the treats, only he took a far more substantial amount of time doing so.

He did put them in his mouth as well, but he'd do so only to break them apart and then lick them some more. He never actually ate one, but he did get them nice and wet.

Next up was Thimble, who came running over when she saw the boys investigating something without her supervision. Although Thimble didn't actually eat any of the treats, she did like her brother Toby did and spent a fair amount of time licking them to a nice and gooey consistency.

To be honest, I took this as a good sign. Believe it or not, Thimble has never, not even once, eaten a treat for me. I've tried everything, and she ignores, well, everything. And aside from baby food, the girl doesn't even pay mind to any form of human food offered to her. Nothing, not even butter or cheese, interests her. Well, except for flour. She'll try to eat flour straight out of the bag, because that stuff is obviously all shades of delicious. But I digress. The point is, Thimble actually took the time to lick the PureBites® chicken breast treats, and that is saying something.

Last up was Eddy.

She did what she always does to treats, and that is to sniff and walk away.

But, I can't end the review there. Why? Because, after everyone else had left the treats just sitting on the floor, Evan came back over.

He had already sniffed and licked and passed them up the first time through, but then he came back. And you know what? He cleaned house. He gave those treats a second thought, and decided that he loved them!

So, while not all or even most of my furbabies gobbled the treats up, I'd say we'd give these at least two out of four paws up, if not three. Evan ended up loving them after a second attempt at them, Toby spent plenty of time savoring their flavor by licking them, and even I've-never-eaten-a-treat-in-my-life Thimble took the time to give them a few licks. I'm actually curious to see what my furbabies might think of one of the many other meat options these freeze-dried treats come in, and I may very well purchase a different bag of them to try out.

Happy Tuesday, everybuddy!

Disclaimer: As members of the Chewy.com Blogger Outreach Program, we received PureBites® freeze-dried chicken breast treats as compensation in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are our own. We only review products that we believe will be of interest to our readers, and we never recommend a product that we do not believe in.

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Our Tip of the Day:

Did you know that cooked chicken can be used to help a furbaby get back on track after an upset stomach? Chicken is just one of many foods that many vets will recommend for furbabies, oftentimes dogs, who have been suffering from vomiting and/or diarrhea. Dogs are known to go through bouts of "gut rot" or "garbage gut", when they will display signs of an upset stomach, often simply from eating something that didn't quite agree with them. It is not impossible for cats to also go through such bouts. In such a case, once a veterinarian has ruled out anything severe, it is often recommended to rest the afflicted furbaby's gut for 12-24 hours by withholding food. After that, feeding them a bland diet, yet one that is wholesome and that can help bulk up loose stool, is often a good option. Plain cooked chicken, or sometimes even beef, is often a favorable choice for a bland yet protein-heavy food to get an upset stomach back on track. Often, especially with dogs, rice can be added to the mix, as it can act as a bulking agent. There are other foods that can also help get a furbaby's stomach back on track, such as plain pureed pumpkin. No one likes to see their furbaby suffering from an upset stomach, so if you see any signs of this, be sure to get your furbaby to the vet, and to ask the vet's opinion on a proper diet to get your furbaby back on track.