Lowest calorie dog treats
There is no official ranking of the lowest calorie dog treats — brands are not required to make calorie counts easy to compare, and formulations change. What you can do reliably is read a label properly: check the kcal per treat or per 100g, look at the serving size the figure is based on, and compare treats on that basis rather than trusting a front-of-pack claim.
What a low-calorie claim actually means
"Low calorie" is a marketing phrase, not a regulated one with a fixed threshold, so two treats both labelled this way can carry genuinely different calorie counts. The only reliable figure is the kcal per treat or per 100g printed on the pack, usually on the back alongside the analytical constituents.
Watch the serving size behind that figure too. A treat that looks impressively low calorie per 100g can still add up quickly if the actual treat is large, or if the stated serving is smaller than what most owners actually hand over.
Reading the rest of the label
Protein and fat percentages on the analytical constituents panel give you a rough sense of where a treat's calories are coming from — fat carries more calories gram for gram than protein or carbohydrate, so a treat with a notably higher fat percentage is likely to be more calorie-dense even at a similar size.
Freeze-dried and dehydrated single-ingredient treats, such as plain meat pieces, tend to be more calorie-dense than they look because most of the water has been removed, concentrating the calories into a smaller, lighter treat. Do not assume "natural" or "single ingredient" automatically means lower calorie.
What actually helps with weight-conscious treating
Breaking a treat into smaller pieces stretches it further during training without changing what it is, and often matters more for calorie control than switching brand entirely. A dog rewarded with a sliver rather than a whole biscuit gets the same reinforcement for a fraction of the calories.
Vegetables like small pieces of carrot or cucumber, given plain, are a genuinely low-calorie option for dogs who enjoy them, and can be mixed in with commercial treats to bulk out a training session without bulking out the calorie count.
Fitting treats into the day
Whatever treats you choose, the common guidance from vets is to keep treats to no more than around ten per cent of a dog's daily calorie intake, with the rest coming from a balanced complete food. A genuinely low-calorie treat still adds up if given constantly through the day.
If your dog is overweight or on a vet-recommended diet, it is worth asking your vet directly which treats, if any, fit within that plan, rather than relying on front-of-pack claims to make the decision for you.
Our picks, and why
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
Chicken-Wrapped Milk Stick Dog Treats
Chewy dog treats of soft milk sticks wrapped in real chicken for tasty, protein-rich rewarding.
From£12.99
Dried Catnip & Cat Grass Leaf Treats
A tub of dried catnip and cat grass leaves to sprinkle over toys, scratchers and bedding.
From£8.99
Whiskas 1+ Lamb Adult Dry Cat Food
Complete lamb dry food for adult cats in a practical 1.9KG bag
£12.39
Whiskas 1 Tuna Adult Dry Cat Food
Complete tuna dry food for adult cats, offered in several bag sizes
From£3.19
Whiskas Kitten Chicken Dry Cat Food
Complete chicken dry food for kittens, available in several bag sizes
From£3.19
Whiskas 7+ Senior Cat Complete Dry with Chicken
Complete chicken dry food for senior cats aged 7+ in a 1.9KG bag
£12.39
Catit Nibbly Jerky Chicken & Fish Treats
Soft chicken and fish jerky treats for cats, two named meats high on the list, grain free
£1.89
Catit Creamy Tuna Treats 4 Pk
Lickable 26% tuna purée tubes for cats, 4 x 10g, up to 3 a day in place of main meal
£1.89
Dreamies Meaty Sticks Adult Cat Treats with Scrumptious Salmon
Soft meaty stick treats for adult cats with salmon, individually wrapped, not for kittens
£1.59
Dreamies Creamy Adult Cat & Kitten Treats with Scrumptious Salmon
Creamy lickable salmon treats for cats and kittens, in a 40g pack with taurine
£1.59
Stop Bloody Scratching Treats Chicken Flavour 90 Tablets
Chicken-flavoured tablets from Pets Calm Down, made in the UK, ninety to a pack, given daily as a treat to support skin and coat condition in itchy dogs.
£22.99
Dreamies Shakeups Seafood Celebrations Cat Treats
Complementary Dreamies Shakeups tuna, salmon and shrimp treats, 55G
£2.05
Common questions
- Are freeze-dried treats low in calories?
- Not necessarily — removing the water concentrates the calories into a smaller, lighter treat, so a freeze-dried piece can be more calorie-dense than it looks. Check the kcal figure on the pack rather than assuming freeze-dried automatically means low calorie.
- What counts as a low-calorie dog treat?
- There is no official threshold, so it comes down to comparing the kcal per treat or per 100g printed on different packs rather than trusting a front-of-pack claim. Vegetables like plain carrot are a reliably low-calorie option if your dog enjoys them.
- How many treats can I give my dog a day?
- A common guide from vets is to keep treats to around ten per cent or less of a dog's total daily calories, with the rest coming from their main food. Breaking treats into smaller pieces is an easy way to give more rewards without adding many extra calories.
- Is a natural or single-ingredient treat automatically lower calorie?
- No. A plain, natural treat can still be calorie-dense, particularly if it is dried or freeze-dried, which concentrates calories into a smaller piece. Check the actual kcal figure on the label rather than assuming a simple ingredients list means fewer calories.
Related
Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.