Dreamies or Temptations cat treats?

Which to buy

Pick Dreamies for a kitten, or for a cat you reward several times a day. Dreamies gives a kitten allowance of up to 6 pieces a day from 8 weeks and up to 20 for an adult. The variety box has chicken, cheese and salmon bags, so you can see which flavour your cat takes before buying a 350g tub.

Pick Temptations for an adult cat that likes a creamy centre. Whiskas sells Temptations as adult cat treats, up to 12 pieces a day, in 60g and 180g bags, and the chicken recipe adds cheese.

If your cat eats one and walks away from the other, that settles it. Neither is a meal: FEDIAF, the European pet food industry body, calls treats and snacks complementary food, as opposed to complete food that provides everything a pet needs each day.

Price per bag against pieces a day

Both packs above hold 60g bags, so the price per bag compares like with like. How long a bag lasts depends on how many pieces you hand out, and neither maker prints how many pieces are in a 60g bag.

The daily limits differ: 20 pieces for Dreamies, 12 for Temptations, with almost the same energy per 100g. PDSA's advice covers both: keep treats to no more than 10% of your cat's daily food allowance and cut the main meal by the same amount. Both makers also say to reduce the main meal when you give treats.

What is in them

Both ingredient lists start with cereals, then meat and animal derivatives. Each names 4% of its flavour, which matches FEDIAF's labelling code: "with chicken" on a pack means at least 4% chicken.

Temptations also lists milk derivatives, including dried cheese powder at 2%, which Whiskas says equals 4% cheese. The Temptations listing says to use a bag within 4 weeks of opening; Dreamies asks for opened and closed packs to be kept somewhere cool and dry.