Healthy Bites Nutri Booster Kitten Treats - 65g

The Healthy Bites Nutri Booster Kitten Treats are the general-purpose bag in the kitten range: a crunchy shell with a cream centre carrying taurine, zinc, copper and a spread of added vitamins, plus salmon protein. Mark & Chappell pitch them as all-round support rather than aimed at one problem, which makes them the easiest of the kitten bags to use as an everyday reward. The shell is built on rye flour, so the recipe is wheat-free.

Key Features

• What Is In The Filling: Taurine, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamins A and D3, zinc sulphate and copper sulphate, with inulin as a prebiotic fibre.
• Protein: Poultry protein with salmon protein added.
• Wheat-Free: The shell is made with rye flour and corn starch rather than wheat.
• Age Range: Cats and kittens from 8 weeks of age.
• Format: A crisp baked shell with a cream-filled centre, easy to count and hand-feed.
• Pack Size: 65g resealable bag.

What Taurine Actually Does

• Taurine is an amino acid that cats cannot make in useful amounts and must take in from food. Without enough of it, cats develop heart muscle disease and retinal degeneration, which is why it is the one nutrient most associated with cat food.
• The important part: every complete cat and kitten food sold is already formulated to supply enough taurine. If your kitten is on a complete food, it is not short of taurine, and a treat is not correcting anything.
• So these are a pleasant treat with a sensible ingredient list, not a fix for a deficiency. If you suspect your cat's diet is genuinely inadequate, that is a conversation with your vet about the main food, not a reason to buy treats.
• One more honest note: cats make their own vitamin C, so the added vitamin C is doing less here than the label suggests. The zinc and copper are more interesting, as both matter for skin and coat.

The Main Food Does The Work

• A complete cat or kitten food is formulated to supply every nutrient in the right proportion, including the ones a cat cannot make for itself. A treat sits on top of that; it is not a way to patch a diet that is falling short.
• If you think the main food is not working for your cat, the fix is a better main food, chosen with your vet. Adding supplements on top of a poor diet rarely works and makes it harder to tell what is causing what.
• Cats take to new foods on their own terms. Offer one bite, put the rest away, and try again the next day rather than leaving a pile down.

Who Makes It

• Healthy Bites is a range made by Mark & Chappell Ltd, a British company that sells pet healthcare under the VetIQ Healthy+ name. The brand is VetIQ; Healthy Bites is the treat line within it.
• Every bite in the range is built the same way: a crisp baked cereal shell around a soft cream-filled centre, with the actives carried in the filling. The shell is what makes them easy to hand-feed and count.
• Mark & Chappell state there are no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives in the range. The antioxidants used are vitamin E, vitamin C derivatives and rosemary extract.

How Many To Give

• The general rule for any treat is that everything outside the main meals should stay under about a tenth of the day's calories. On a small pet that allowance is genuinely small, and it is easy to go through it without noticing.
• If you feed treats regularly, take a little off the main meal to balance it. Weight gain from treats is one of the most common avoidable health problems in pets, and it happens quietly over months.
• Introduce anything new a bit at a time. A new ingredient in a large first helping is the usual cause of a loose stool that then gets blamed on the product.

A Treat, Not A Medicine

• This is a complementary pet food. It is not a veterinary medicine, and it is not licensed to diagnose, treat or prevent any disease. The VetIQ name and the phrase "vet approved" that appears on the packaging do not change that.
• The honest way to think about the range is nice treats with a sensible extra in them, chosen to suit a particular situation. If your pet has a real problem, the treat is not the answer to it and delaying a vet visit to try one is a bad trade.
• If your pet is already on medication or a prescription diet, mention any treat you are adding at the next appointment. Some prescription diets work by controlling exactly what goes in, and extras can work against them.

Storage In The UAE

• Mark & Chappell ask that the pack be used within four weeks of opening, kept sealed and out of direct sunlight. That matters more here than in the UK, because heat and humidity turn the oils in a cream filling stale faster.
• Press the resealable strip shut properly after each use and keep the bag in a cupboard rather than on a sunny shelf or in the car. A fridge is not necessary and can make the shell go soft.
• If a bite smells of old oil or crayons, or the shell has gone bendy, throw the bag away. Rancid fat is unpleasant rather than dangerous, but pets refuse it and it wastes the pack.

Good To Know

• Complementary pet food for cats. Not a complete diet and not a veterinary medicine.
• Resealable bag. Use within four weeks of opening and keep out of direct sunlight.
• Keep treats to roughly a tenth of your cat's daily calories at most.
• Made in the UK by Mark & Chappell Ltd under the VetIQ Healthy+ brand.
• Not for human consumption. Keep out of reach of children.
• Contains poultry, salmon and dairy powder. Wheat-free, but not grain-free: the shell uses rye.