Meet Seamus.
I don't understand what is in those Hartz (I know) Delectables Bisque treats that make my cat crazy. At first I thought it might be the tuna, but I tried just the chicken recipe and he still scarfs them down. They are just so expensive. I tried pureeing a can of Fancy Feast Kitten Ocean Whitefish pate because I have about 15 cans left over from his tiny kitten days. Turned his nose up at it. I even warmed it in the microwave for a few seconds. All the package says is water, chicken, natural flavor, tapioca starch, guar gum, annatto extract color, carmine color. Obviously, the tuna ones have tuna instead of chicken. What could possibly be in there? Anyone have success with some other substitute? I know there are other brands but those are even more expensive. Thanks.
I'm not an expert, but I've often wondered why cats like treats so much, and I did a little searching. I think the main reason is an ingredient called animal digest, which would be represented in the ingredients list under natural flavours.
I believe animal digest is to meat what simple sugar is to complex carbohydrates. Humans really like sweet things, probably because evolutionarily it helped us eat fruits and vegetables, which are rich in vitamins and nutrients. Present day, food manufacturers can exploit this through things like corn syrup. Cats can't taste sweet, as far as I know. But like humans like sweet things, cats are really into the umami flavour. It sounds like animal digest is very high in umami flavour and scent, which for evolutionary reasons (finding energy dense foods) is really attractive to them.