Freeze-Dried Minnows for Dogs and Cats, Bones and All

Yes, dogs can eat freeze dried minnows, and so can cats. A plain whole minnow with nothing added is the treat, bones and all, and the only real decisions are how many to feed and how to start.

What a minnow is

Minnow is a loose word. Fishermen use it for any small bait fish, and in the pet treat world it means a small whole fish, usually an inch or two long, dried as it is. The head stays on. The tail stays on. The bones stay in. There is no fillet, because a fish this small has nothing to fillet.

People ask whether minnows have bones. They do, a full set, but on a fish this size the spine is about as thick as sewing thread and the rest is finer still. On a fish this size the bones are tiny, and they come along with the rest of the fish. That is the same deal as a whole dried sardine or anchovy, only smaller.

Which forms are fine

Plain is the whole rule. A minnow that has been dried, freeze-dried or lightly cooked with nothing added is fine for a dog and fine for a cat. Here is what to skip.

• Bait minnows. The fish in a bait shop bucket are sold as bait, not as food, and nobody is checking what they were kept in. We would not feed them.
• Feeder fish from a pet store. Same problem, different aisle.
• Anything fried or breaded. The coating brings oil and flour the dog does not need.
• Anything seasoned. Garlic and onion powder show up in a lot of human snacks built on small dried fish, and so does plenty of salt. Read the label on any fish that was packed for people.
• Fish packed in oil or brine.

Whole dried minnows sold as a pet treat should list one ingredient: minnows. If the label is longer than that, read it before you buy.

How many per session

One minnow is one reward, which is the point of the fish. A common rule of thumb keeps treats of any kind to around 10 percent of the day's calories, and a minnow is small enough that you can count rewards instead of guessing. Our rough starting point, as a daily total rather than a single sitting:

• Small dogs under 20 pounds: three to five minnows.
• Medium dogs, 20 to 50 pounds: five to eight.
• Large dogs over 50 pounds: eight to twelve.
• Cats: two to four.

Those are treat numbers, not meal numbers. A long training session can spend the whole day's count in twenty minutes, so if you train every day, pull back a little at dinner. For a dog that swallows treats whole without chewing, hand over one at a time rather than a handful.

The first time

Start with one. Hand it over, watch it go down and leave it there for the day. The next day give two or three. Most dogs and cats treat a dried fish like any other treat, but a new food is a new food, and feeding it slowly tells you how this particular animal handles it. If your dog or cat is on a special diet, or has had trouble with fish before, ask your veterinarian first.

For a cat, put the first minnow on the floor or a plate rather than in the bowl. Some cats want to inspect a whole fish before they commit. For a very small dog, or a puppy that is on solid food, break the fish in half with your fingers. A freeze-dried minnow snaps rather than bends.

Minnows vs sardines for dogs

Both are whole fish, head to tail, bones in. The difference is scale. A sardine is a saltwater fish that runs a few inches long dried and carries a fair amount of oil, so one sardine is a snack. A minnow is an inch or two, so one minnow is a reward. For training, the minnow wins because you can pay twenty times from a pocket and still be inside the day's count. For a dog that gets one fish after dinner, the sardine is the better size. A lot of houses keep both. We wrote up freeze-dried sardines for dogs and cats on their own page, and yes, the sardine heads do look back at you.

Freeze dried minnows for cats

A whole small fish is about the size of what a cat would catch on its own. Feed it as a treat, two to four a day, or crumble one over food. Crumbling is easy, since a freeze-dried minnow comes apart between two fingers. If you keep a dog and a cat, one bag covers both. Our other cat treats are in the locally made cat treats collection.

Our freeze-dried minnows

If you want it freeze-dried, we make one: Freeze-Dried Minnows for Dogs and Cats. The only ingredient is whole marble goby minnows, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Each fish is whole, with a crunchy whole-fish texture, and size and color vary from piece to piece because a fish is a fish. The pieces run small to medium as whole fish go. On our own scorecard it gets 4 of 5 for crunch and 3 of 5 for training value. We list it for adult dogs of all sizes and for cats. It comes in one size, a 2 ounce bag. The label says to feed it as a treat or meal topper, not as a replacement for a complete diet, with fresh water available and a person watching. The rest of our dried treats for dogs are in the freeze-dried treats for dogs collection.

Storage

Reseal the bag after opening and keep it in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. No fridge. Freeze-dried fish pulls moisture out of the air if the bag sits open, and a soft minnow is a sad minnow, so close it every time. The longer version is in how to store freeze-dried treats.

We built a separate site on this one treat: minnowpettreats.com goes deeper on minnows than this page does, and it sells the same bag.

Minnow questions

Can dogs eat freeze dried minnows every day?

Yes, within the day's treat count. Keep all treats near 10 percent of what the dog eats in a day and the minnows fit inside that like any other reward. If the dog gets other treats too, the minnows share the count rather than adding to it.

Do I feed the head and the bones?

Yes. The whole fish is the treat. The head and the bones are part of it, and on a fish this size they are tiny. There is nothing to trim.

Are minnows okay for puppies and kittens?

Once they are on solid food, a whole minnow is small enough to work as a treat, and you can snap it in half for a very small mouth. We list our own bag for adult dogs and for cats. If you try one with a puppy or a kitten, start with half a fish and keep the daily count at the low end.

Do dried minnows smell?

They smell like dried fish, because that is what they are. Freeze-drying takes the water out and leaves the fish, so expect a fish smell when the bag opens. Resealing keeps most of it in the bag.

Can I crumble minnows over food?

Yes. The label lists it as a treat or meal topper. Pinch a fish between your fingers and it crumbles over the bowl. One minnow crumbled still counts as one minnow against the day's total.

Where are your minnows made?

In Malvern, Pennsylvania, in small batches. Treats ship from us.