Beware of the ingregients in cat treats

After posting this week on the Iams petfood scandal, one of my readers suggested I post about cat treats as well. So I did some research on a popular cat treat, Whiskas Temptations (chicken flavor). Here are the first 8 ingredients:
*chicken by-product meal
*ground corn
*animal fat
*rice
*dried meat by-product
*natural poultry flavor
*wheat flour
*corn gluten meal

A quick internet search of some of the ingredients shows this description:
*chicken by-product meal - an inferior source of protein made from necks, feet, intestines, etc.
*corn gluten meal - a by-product of processing corn. As a pesticide, it's intended for residential non-food use on lawns to prevent emergence of broad leaved weeds.
*Animal fat - an unspecified source that is not required to originate from slaughtered animals - animals can be obtained from any source, such as dead, diseased, euthanized from a shelter, and so on.

Also, as I've written before, cats are carnivores, meaning their natural diet is meat and not grains. The only meat source in Whiskas is the necks, feet and intestines of a chicken along with poultry "flavor". Whiskas also contains corn, rice and wheat flour, all grains. Grains are being used as a cheap filler in these products, and are not beneficial to your cat's health.

Here is a list of ingredients to avoid from The dog food project, which applies to cat food as well.

I personally no longer give my 3 cats any commercial cat treats. Instead of a treat, I give them a raw meat,organs,crushed bone,egg and vegetable mixture that when mixed together resembles canned cat food in consistency. They love it and are thriving on it.

I'm sure there are some safe cat treats marketed, and if any of you are using products that contain real meat and limit the grains, I'd like to hear what you're using, because I'm always open to new ideas.