What kind of treats suit your pet best? It may depend on quite a few things, including your pet’s activity level and age, their dental health or other health issues, and of course, what type and flavor of treats your furry friend prefers!

Senior pets may need softer treats to go easy on their teeth. If your pet’s teeth are in good shape and especially for young pets that may be teething, it’s good to offer chewy treats - especially bully sticks and other chew treats, or bones to help keep teeth clean. Dental treats can also help with this.

Older pets with slower metabolism or overweight pets may also enjoy chewy treats that satisfy without adding a lot to their daily calorie intake. These long lasting chew treats can keep your pet amused for a long time - another plus if you need to keep your companion busy for a while.

Small treats, or treats that break apart easily are great for pets that need to have calories kept in check. Small treats are also great for training, since they help pets focus on the task and won’t fill them up so that they lose interest in the lesson.

Most pets appreciate variety, so mix it up with different types of treats to keep them interested. Also, as it is with foods, rotating the protein sources and ingredients in treats can help prevent food sensitivities from developing.

We’ve got treats with a wide range of natural ingredients like:

A Dog’s Life Natural Hand-Baked Treats Peanut Butter & Honey
Price: $7.99
Super-nutritious treats made with only the finest all natural and organic ingredients. They’re also 100% wheat and corn free.

Cheese Please 100% Natural Cheese Treats for Dogs 3-Pack
Price: $13.49
Mini-crunchy nuggets of cheese baked only with 100% real Wisconsin cheese. No wheat in these doggie treats that make an awesome human snack too!

Durango 95’s All Natural Dog Treats Beef
Price: $4.89
Durango 95’s are made of 95% real meat. Available in Beef, Lamb, and Chicken in stay-fresh resealable 4 oz bags.

California Natural HealthBars Natural Dog Treats Small 4 lb. Bag
Price: $13.49
Baked using human grade ingredients for dogs who cannot tolerate typical pet food ingredients. Made with 100% lamb meal.

For the most part, the human body can process and eliminate the junk ingredients in treats like our kids gather at Halloween. But even in small amounts, junky ingredients can cause problems for our pets. Pets are smaller than we are, with smaller organs of elimination (e.g., liver, kidneys). And smaller amounts of toxic substances can take more time and effort for our pets bodies to eliminate.

Many of the commercial pet treats available include ingredients that give the treats the consistency, aroma, and color that make them appeal to people, or that give them a longer shelf life. Check the list of ingredients in treats you routinely serve to your pets, and avoid any treats with the following ingredients:

Artificial Colors: Both cats and dogs have limited color vision, and any artificial colors added to pets treats are there to make the product look more appealing to us humans. Artificial colors in pet food and treats are often derived from coal tar. While research has been limited to date, some studies have found food dyes to be potentially carcinogenic and to interfere with pets immune functioning.

Artificial Flavors: Many of these treat additives are there to mimic qualities of natural foods. Often these flavors are added to create an aroma that mimics a natural smell in order to enhance the appeal of a treat made out of goodness-knows-what. Minimal if any testing is done on artificial flavors in human or pet food. Given what we don’t know about them, we think it’s best to avoid these questionable ingredients.

Meat By-Products: These are a staple ingredient in many commercial pet treats. These ingredients are of poor quality, and are difficult for pets to digest. They come from offal in meat processing plants leftovers that are unfit for human consumption. You wouldn’t eat them, and neither should your pet! We have more to say about these ingredients in our article, What You Need to Know About Your Pet’s Food.

Sugar and Salt: There is an alarming amount of sugar and salt in our pets treats, usually listed under ingredient names like: corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose, sodium chloride, and monosodium glutamate (MSG). As with human food, they can cause pets to become addicted and lose their taste for healthier options. Worse, they can cause blood sugar & blood pressure imbalance, or cause weight gain.

Chemical Preservatives: Propylene glycol, BHT, BHA, nitrites, nitrates, ethoxyquin, propyl gallate, and other chemical preservatives used in pet treats are associated with health problems in pets, including liver damage, skin problems, and allergies. A good rule of thumb is that if you don?t know how to pronounce the ingredient, it probably isn’t food!

The best way to avoid the risk of tricky treats for your companion is to become a label reader and choose natural treats like those we carry at Only Natural Pet Store!

Merrick Flossies Standard Size
Price: $3.99
Unique design creates a natural chewing friction against the teeth and helps to clean them. This is a top seller that dogs love.

How to administer remedies and supplements to pets is one of the most common question asked.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

-  Consider the format of the supplement or remedy before you buy it - is it a tablet, a powder, a liquid, or a capsule? If you know you will have trouble giving your dog a pill, see whether you can find a product that comes in a powder, capsule or liquid version instead.

-  If you must get a tablet formula and you think your pet will have trouble with it, get a pill crusher or pill pockets to make administration easier.

Health Enterprises All-in-One Pill Splitter & Crusher for Dogs and Cats
Price: $5.99
Handy all-in-one tool has a stainless steel blade in lid for splitting. The bottom separates easily and crushes pills with one twist.

Pill Pockets Pill Delivery Dog Treats Chicken Small
Price: $6.99
Pill Pockets are healthy treats with a patented pocket to safely conceal pills and capsules. Made from natural ingredients, conceals medicinal odors, and makes medicating a breeze!

-  If your pet turns up their nose at any remedies you try to mix into food, consider getting a highly aromatic canned food like Solid Gold green tripe, which can better disguise the aroma of the remedy.

Solid Gold Green Tripe Canned Food 13.2 oz. Can
Price: $2.29

Tripe is loaded with digestive enzymes and helps prevent bloating. It’s also used as a recovery food to perk up weak or ill animals.