Last Updated on December 15, 2021
EDITOR’S NOTE: In December of 2021, Aldi announced a voluntary recall of this cat Advent calendar over concerns of a choking risk. You can learn more here.
Aldi has really gotten into the Advent calendar game over the last few years. The grocer has sold traditional chocolate Advent calendars for a long time, but within the last three to four years, they’ve added wine calendars, beer calendars, cheese calendars, toy calendars, storybook calendars, and craft kit calendars. In 2019, Aldi introduced a dog treat calendar. Now, for the 2020 holiday season, Aldi is selling a cat treat calendar, so your feline friends can get in on the fun as well.
The Heart to Tail Pure Being Cat Treat Advent Calendar cost $5.89 in 2020. The calendar contains 25 days of treats, which comes out to 24 cents per day.
This calendar is like typical Advent calendars, consisting of a thin box with perforated doors for each day of Advent, starting December 1st. Behind each door is a small plastic bag filled with a few cat treats.
While most of the chocolate Advent calendars I purchase only go for 24 days, ending on Christmas Eve, this cat treat calendar includes a door for Christmas day, and that 25th door is larger and contains a variety pack of treats.
These cat treats are made with salmon and sweet potato, and they are advertised as being “all natural” and grain free, with limited ingredients. They are oven baked, and they contain Omega 3 and Omega 6.
A glance at the back of the calendar box indicates these treats are made with: Atlantic salmon (from Scotland), sweet potato, vegetable glycerin, and mixed tocopherols (preservative).
Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
Guaranteed analysis is as follows:
- Crude protein: (min.) 10%
- Crude fat: (min.) 10%
- Crude fiber: (max.) 1%
- Moisture: (max.) 13%
- Omega 3: 930 mg per ounce
- Omega 6: 1300 mg per ounce
The fine print states that Omega 3 and Omega 6 are “not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.”
Calorie content is as follows:
- 3458 kcal/kg
- 17.3 kcal per fish-shaped treat
- 17.3 kcal per cube-shaped treat
- 17.3 kcal per round-shaped treat
- 86.45 kcal in the variety pack treats for December 25th
Feeding guidelines are pretty standard for cat treats. The instructions state to feed these as a treat or as a training reward. Treats are not a substitute for a complete diet with balanced nutrition.
As always, be sure to provide fresh drinking water for your cat.
Treats should be stored in a cool, dry place. If for some reason you aren’t planning to use this calendar during the holidays, the box has an expiration date of February of 2022.
Each day’s door contains a small plastic bag filled with treats.
These treats smell very strongly of salmon. They have a mostly solid but somewhat rubbery or chewy texture when I squeeze one between my fingers.
My cat loves the Regular Buy cat treats that Aldi sells year round, so I thought she’d like these. My cat was initially interested in them, but she appeared to have a hard time chewing and getting them down. It took her longer than usual to eat these treats, and she only ate about half of the package for the first day. On subsequent days, she didn’t eat any of the treats, and we even tried cutting them into smaller pieces to no avail. She simply didn’t eat them.
The Verdict:
The Heart to Tail Pure Being Cat Treat Advent Calendar consists of a thin box with doors that open during each day of Advent to reveal a small packet of cat treats. The final door for Christmas day is larger and contains a variety pack of treats. The treats got my cat’s attention initially, but she only ate half of the packet of treats on the first day and it seemed like she was having a hard time chewing and swallowing them. On following days she didn’t eat any of the treats. As a result, we will pass on this calendar next year unless the formula changes.
It seems as though the cats of Aldi have voted and given a two-thumbs down to these treats, according to cat owners I’ve talked to. Personally, my cat took one treat and tried to gnaw at it with her back teeth with half of it sticking out of her mouth. She was unsuccessful, so she spit it out. I cut the treats up into smaller pieces, but she wasn’t interested. Hopefully the dogs will like them!
My 3 year old male siamese goes crazy every morning waiting for these treats. When my kids open their calendars, he’s pacing waiting for his.
I wish we could buy these in regular packs!
The so called soft treats in the advent calendar are very hard. My cat tried to eat one and couldn’t. I couldn’t even tear one in half with my hands. If they are supposed to be soft, I should be able to rip one in half with my hands. That was only day one of the calendar. I hope the rest of the treats are better.
All of the treats in the calendar are too hard for cats to chew, unfortunately. This calendar is one of the most disappointing products Aldi has sold. I bought the Trader Joe’s cat Advent calendar this year, and it’s much better. https://www.aldireviewer.com/trader-joes-advent-calendar-for-cats/
I have three cats. They all sniffed them and walked away. Even my cat who eats everything, including bread, had absolutely no interest in these treats. I call them cat beef jerky, because they look like jerky andare hard and difficult for a cat to bite into them. I bought two calendars for all of the cats, but I will throw the treats outside hoping that a wild animal might have use for them. They regular soft treats in the calendar and maybe some catnip or toys.