I was watching TV recently when a commercial came on featuring a very good-looking white and ginger cat, lanky and long-legged, sitting in the lap of a young woman, facing away from her, looking right into the camera. The young woman appears to be holding a flat plastic container about six inches long, several inches wide. The cat is concentrated on licking what being squeezed out of the container.
The young woman says, with clear admiration, “I didn’t know your cat was so cuddly.”
I had to look again. The young woman was not holding the cat, nor was she petting it. I didn’t see any cuddling. I saw a cat enjoying what appeared to be food or a treat—no cuddling.
I did a little research. The product being sold is referred to as “lickables” and other descriptive terms that indicate not only how the product tastes to cats but also how cats consume it. An online search resulted in literally pages of advertising for a huge variety of brands and flavors of similar products. Clearly, lickables are being made and sold by many cat-centric companies, big and small.
I wanted to hear from cat guardians and cat professionals about their experiences with lickables. I asked online: “Cat lovers, what do you think of the new ‘lickable’ treats—tried, liked, or … ?”
I added: “I am especially interested in sharing the experiences of anyone with a cat who’s tried any of the many products in this format now available. Did your cat enjoy the treat? Did your cat ‘get’ how to eat it? What brands and flavors have you tried? Will you make this sort of treat a regular part of your cat’s diet?”
I was impressed by the range of responses; I think you will be, too.
Sara Maynard (Trinidad and Tobago) Our cats in the shelter love them! A few of my friends use them as well. We used them to do a photo shoot for our annual calendar and they worked to keep the cats focused.
Isabel Alvarez Arata (Texas) They are excellent training tools. I use them for positive association when carrier- and harness-training our cat. I also love them for travel because they are more portable—and hydrating, unlike dry treats.
Maureen Jones Smith (Washington) Our little cats love the lickable treats!
Ann Jorgensen (Alaska) I love them for training. Used them on my rescue kitty, Fuzzbucket, who was a day away from euthanasia because no one could touch her at the shelter. Using the lickable treats made a positive association with people.
Side note: I didn’t even know she was a Persian mix because she wouldn’t leave her carrier for several days after I adopted her, and the biggest surprise was: she is a hermaphrodite (one ovary and one testicle).
Photo by Ann Jorgensen
Deb Hunt (Washington) This is the first I am learning of such …
Jenny Beard Biehunko (Georgia) My cats LOVE Churu.
Lili Chin (California) Our cats love Churu! I squeeze some out into their puzzle feeder.
Kellie Sisson Snider (Pennsylvania) My cats think they are da bomb. The shelter I used to work for and my vet’s office refer to them as kitty crack. Some brands are less popular than others. Churu is the big winner among my guys, with Pet Craft Purr Pack coming in a close second. They don’t like the chicken-flavored ones. There are a couple of brands they don’t care for; I think Temptations was one. These things came in really handy recently when Badger had pancreatitis and we had to get him eating again. Oh, let me say, they don’t like licking them from the package, so I squeeze the contents into a little condiment bowl.
Nichola Walker (Ireland) I’m reasonably sure Arwen would sell me for lickylicks. Probably not the most healthy, but we mostly use them in a KONG to help with separation anxiety. It works! She spends about ten minutes getting them all out of a puppy-sized KONG, at which point she’s forgotten we’ve left. The ingredients for her favorite flavor—composition: meat and animal derivatives (4% chicken), derivatives of vegetable origin, milk and milk derivatives.
Amy Shojai (Texas) Churu is my go-to and great for treatment distraction (during nail trims, etc). My cats go crazy for it. [Churu is a] brand, comes in many flavors. Fear Free vets often recommend it; that’s how I discovered it. Apparently also comes in a very calorie-dense formula for kitties needing that. The dog loves it, too.
Barbara Carlson (Pennsylvania) I could have sent you a video of my cat, Jade, snarfing down one of the Churu hairball-control treats. She LOVES them. Like singing the song of her people when she sees me pick one up. She loves all the flavors. They smell good to me, too! I highly recommend the Churu lickable treats as well as the hairball-control ones.
Ali Blakney (Washington) Our cats go absolutely nuts for any “treat tubes,” as we call them. They were introduced to them at the vet for things like getting on the scale and handling. At home, we use them for training cooperative care like nail trimming. They can be messy, but are much easier to deliver for training than solid treats.
Tonya Ballman (Washington) We used them in almost every appointment when I worked at a vet clinic, dogs and cats. Really amazing stress-reduction tool.
Erika Deasy (Washington) My cat loves them. I bought some to see if she would like them, as she is a very picky eater who doesn’t like treats and most flavors of cat food. I mainly wanted to test them to see if they would make a good carrier for medications should she ever need them as she gets older. I can’t recall the brand that I purchased, but they were small single-serving pouches that the cat licked from one end. She had no trouble figuring it out, but preferred it served in a small dish. She is strictly a fan of the chicken. I was able to look back in my grocery pickup order history and found that they were the Friskies Temptations brand.
Em E Wolf (Vermont) I like the little squeeze tubes for training cats or to keep them busy during an exam. The cats can lick the yummy treat, which seems to work for them … builds more duration. I’m not a cat expert, but I find these tubes to be invaluable in the rescue.
Jewels Eilmes-Daly (Washington) My cats won’t eat them. I was so excited to find them some new treats at PetSmart. I brought them home and cut one open right away. Both of my boys sniffed it, licked it once, then walked away. I tried it again about a week later. Same thing. So the feral babies at my mom’s lake cabin got these and they seemed to like them.
Ron Ford (Washington) My cats don’t like them. They are quite picky and each likes different stuff. Except Mel. He likes everything.
Nyssa Gatcombe (Maine) My fosters all love Churus. My personal cats are 50/50 on the subject, but Ernest doesn’t eat anything that isn’t kibble or my lactose-free milk.
Glenda Lee (Maine) My cat is a grab-and-go kind of gal. She doesn’t appreciate having to consume her treats in a stationary position.
Jessica Theisen de Gonzalez (New York) My cat Minzen was enthusiastic but confused by the delivery, so much so that we had to slow down and accommodate his stress grooming of his front legs to offset the anxiety he felt. That has abated a bit over time, though he does lick and chew, so he’s not entirely sorted out what that creamy magic is, exactly. I know some clients love it, and it is useful because some cats can get a bit bitey with their treats, so it offers some distance. But that same distance can be achieved by using a baby spoon and loading a healthier treat into the spoon’s well, and offering it in that manner.
Here’s an article by Liz Coleman on cats.com that’s an excellent overview of what’s available on the “lickable” market today.
And an article by Arden Moore on catster about why cats love lickable treats.
Now that you know more about lickable treats for cats, I hope you’ll consider experimenting with your own cats to see if lickables work for them!
