Gnawlers

Gnawlers is a treat brand made by Foshan Phoenix Pet Products Co. Ltd, a Chinese pet chew and treat manufacturer founded in 2002 and based in Foshan, Guangdong. Gnawlers say they export to more than 50 countries. We stock three of their ranges -- two for cats and one for dogs.

For Cats

• Smooth & Creamy lickable treats -- single-serve tubes of wet paste, up to 90% moisture, with taurine added. Sold as a four-tube pack to try and a twenty-tube box that works out a third cheaper per tube. Flavours run across salmon, mussel, bonito, crab and chicken with liver, plus a mixed box in the larger size.
• Crunchy & Tender treats -- small bites with a crisp shell and a soft centre, under 2 kcal each, in five flavours. The right size for training a cat one reward at a time.

For Dogs

• Wisebones -- grain-free dental chews built on potato starch and cellulose rather than meat, so they are high in fibre and low in protein. Sodium hexametaphosphate is the ingredient doing the tartar work. Salmon with lemon or turkey with parsley, one a day, for dogs over six months.

Why A Wet Treat Matters For A Cat

Cats evolved to take most of their water from prey and have a weak thirst drive to match, so a cat on dry food often runs mildly dehydrated without ever looking thirsty. Low water intake is one of the things linked to urinary and kidney trouble later in life. A lickable treat that is mostly water is one of the easier ways to get more fluid into a cat who ignores the water bowl.

What A Dental Chew Can And Cannot Do

Chewing breaks up soft plaque before it hardens, and a polyphosphate like the one in Wisebones slows that hardening down. Neither removes tartar that has already set on the tooth -- only a vet scale does that. If you can see brown deposits at the gumline or smell real bad breath, book the vet rather than buying more chews.

Good To Know

• Treats should be no more than about a tenth of what a pet eats in a day, with the rest of their food coming down to make room. It is the one rule that stops treats turning into a weight problem.
• These are complementary treats, not complete foods, whatever any individual pack claims. Your pet's actual meals still have to do the nutritional work.
• The age limits differ between ranges -- the crunchy cat treats say no kittens under three months, the lickable tubes say six months, and the dog chews say no puppies under six months. Go by the pack in front of you.
• Introduce anything new gradually. A new treat piled on top of a full day's food is the usual cause of a loose stool, and that is not the same as an intolerance.
• Open a lickable tube and use it in one go. It is wet food and it will not keep.
• Stay in the room while a dog works on a chew, and take what is left away once it is small enough to swallow whole.
• Keep fresh drinking water available, store everything cool and dry, and keep it out of reach of children.