Minnows or sardines: two whole freeze-dried fish

Freeze dried minnows vs sardines is a choice between two whole, single-ingredient fish, both freeze-dried raw, both sold for dogs and cats. The minnows come in one bag size and the sardines in three. Our scorecard rates them the same, so the practical difference is the fish and the bag, not the crunch.

What is the difference between freeze-dried minnows and sardines?

Mostly the fish itself, and how the listings describe it. The freeze-dried minnows are whole marble goby, with nothing else in the bag. The freeze-dried sardines are whole sardines, with the head, tail and bones left on.

Both are freeze-dried raw in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania from imported fish, and both are one ingredient. Neither is filleted, ground or pressed into a shape. What you hand your pet is a fish, or a good part of one.

Everything else is a detail. Our scorecard, which is our own rating and not a fact about your pet, gives both fish 4 of 5 for crunch and 3 of 5 for training value. Both are a treat or meal topper, not a complete diet. Wash your hands after handling either one, because they are raw.

Which fish is in each bag?

The minnows are marble goby, a species the listing names as Oxyeleotris marmorata. It is sold whole, and the size and color change from fish to fish, with some bigger and smaller, lighter and darker, in the same bag.

The sardine bag holds small to medium sardines, whole, so the bones are in. For what the AKC says about fish bones, see our sardine guide; we add no bone claim of our own. Supervise while your pet eats, and bring any bone question about your own pet to your veterinarian.

Why a goby under the name minnow? The listing sells the fish as minnows and names the species as marble goby, so we use the plain word and give the species once.

How do the bags compare?

Here is the whole comparison in one place, taken from the listings and the sardine label.

The table shows a real gap on one row. The sardines print a guaranteed analysis and an energy figure, and the minnows do not, so we cannot compare them number for number. We would rather leave that cell honest than fill it.

What does each label tell you?

The sardine label prints numbers. The bag says: "Crude Protein (min): 52%; Crude Fat (min): 13%; Crude Fiber (max): 5%; Moisture (max): 14%," with metabolizable energy of approximately 94.9 kcal per ounce. That energy figure is what you need to fit sardines into a treat budget, and the sardine product page shows the full analysis.

The minnow listing does not include a guaranteed analysis or an energy figure. It tells you what the fish is, that the bag is 2 ounces and resealable, and how to keep it: reseal, cool and dry, out of direct sunlight. It also names the fish as the only ingredient.

So the choice is partly about what you want in hand. If you like to work from a printed energy number, the sardines give you one. If you are happy to go by a single ingredient and a small bag, the minnows give you that. For the broader question of whether a pet should eat minnows at all, the minnows for dogs and cats guide goes through it.

Neither fish tells you how many pieces are in a bag. Fish vary in size, and no piece counts or lengths are published for either one.

What can you try when the minnows show Sold out, back soon?

That label is the minnow button's own wording, and it means what it says: the minnows are sold out, and we do not take orders ahead. We have no date to give you, so we will not guess one.

Our minnow page names sardines as the nearest swap. Both are whole fish, both have crunch, and both are meant for dogs and cats. Sardines also come in three sizes, so you can start with the smallest bag and see how your pet takes to it.

Introduce a new fish as a treat or topper, a little at a time. If your cat is on a prescription diet, ask your veterinarian before adding anything new. Break sardines into pieces, or crumble them over food, for a small pet.

The rest of our reading lives on the guides hub.