Freeze-dried sardine heads for your cat to try

Sardine heads for cats are sold here as a crunchy reward or a crumbled topper, and the listing says cats can have them along with adult dogs of all sizes. Each bag holds freeze-dried raw sardine heads and nothing else. They are a treat, not a meal, so a cat's regular food stays the regular food.

Can cats eat freeze-dried sardine heads?

The listing says yes: the heads are for adult dogs of all sizes, and cats too. They can be handed over as a crunchy reward or crumbled over a meal as a topper.

A few plain limits go with that. Heads are a treat or meal topper and not a complete diet. Fresh water should be out. And you watch while your cat eats, because this is a whole piece of fish and not a pellet.

The heads are freeze-dried raw, so handle them like any raw fish and wash your hands afterward. If your cat has a medical condition or a special diet, ask your vet before adding anything new. We are a treat shop, and that is a vet's call.

What is actually in a freeze-dried sardine head?

One ingredient: whole sardine heads, "with the bones and the eyes still in them." Nothing is added. Malvern, Pennsylvania is where they are made, from imported fish, freeze-dried raw.

Sardine heads look back at you, so it helps to know that going in. No two heads match. A bag holds a mix of larger and smaller ones, and the shapes vary from piece to piece.

The label prints a guaranteed analysis: crude protein at least 52 percent, crude fat at least 13 percent, crude fiber at most 5 percent and moisture at most 14 percent. It also prints 3,347 kcal ME/kg, which is about 94.9 kcal per ounce. Those are the printed label numbers and nothing more.

How do you serve a sardine head to a cat?

There are three ways, and you can pick by cat:

• Whole, as a crunchy reward, if your cat takes a head from your fingers and you can watch.
• Broken into smaller pieces, if a whole head looks like too much for a small cat.
• Crumbled over the regular food as a topper.

A firm squeeze usually does the breaking. Size each piece to the cat in front of you. To compare the heads with the other two fish in the same box, the Fish Trio page sets them side by side.

The heads keep their bones, and we make no claim about them. The heads listing's advice is to ask your veterinarian if you are unsure about fish bones. That goes for cats as much as dogs.

The listing says: "This is raw fish, so wash your hands after handling it." Keep the bag resealed, cool and dry. No refrigerator is needed.

How many sardine heads can a cat have?

The listing gives no head count, and we are not going to invent one. A treat is a small share of the day, not a second dinner.

Your vet knows your cat's size, activity and daily calories. The label's energy figure above is there so that your vet, or you with a kitchen scale, can fit a treat into that number. Start with one piece, or a pinch of crumbs, and let the rest of the day sit as it normally does.

If your cat is a small one, a whole head may already be a lot. Break it, and save the other half for another day.

Why do cats go for the heads first?

We can only repeat what our own Fish Trio page says. It describes the heads as the crunchiest of the three fish, and "the one cats tend to claim first." That is an observation from the page, not a rule about cats, and your cat may ignore it entirely.

The heads listing adds that their aroma makes them a pick for training. Our scorecard rates them 4 of 5 for crunch and 3 of 5 for training value. That scorecard is our own rating and not a measurement of any animal.

If you are weighing heads against another fish, the guides hub lists the rest of the comparisons, and the sardine heads page has the full listing.