A look at limited-edition dog and cat treats on the market this season.
Pet food and treat brands are getting in the holiday spirit this year with creative twists on existing products and limited-edition shapes, flavors and gift bundles. This year’s lineup includes several stand-alone dog and cat treat products, as well as advent calendars and stocking stuffers.
Flip through this slideshow for a glimpse of holiday-themed pet treat offerings on sale this season.
Nestlé Purina PetCare is pulling out all the stops this year. One of several cat-focused holiday offerings, the company has reintroduced its Fancy Feast Feastivities Advent Calendar featuring two brand-new recipes: Yuletide Turkey Feast with Sweet Potato and Tomato in Gravy, and Hearthside Salmon Platter with Pumpkin and Spinach Pate. The calendar also includes other classic Fancy Feast Recipes, and contains 24 cans of wet cat food total.
The two new holiday-inspired diets are available exclusively through the advent calendar and its limited-edition Stocking Stuffer Sleeve, seen on the next slide.
Purina’s Fancy Feast Stocking Stuffer Sleeve includes cans of the brand’s first two holiday-inspired wet cat food recipes, packaged in sleeves for easy insertion into a stocking. This bundle is available online only through PetSmart, Target, Chewy and other e-commerce platforms.
Purina’s Friskies brand is selling a Meowy Christmas Party Mix Cat Ornament filled with a variety of crunchy cat treats. Each ornament contains three pouches of Friskies treats, including Party Mix Original Crunch, Gravylicious Crunch Chicken and Gravy Flavors, and Beachside Crunch with Ocean Whitefish.
The 2021 Fancy Feast Holiday Ornament is a charitable product that comes with a cookie cutter for making cat-shaped treats (for humans) this season. All sales from these ornaments through Feastivities.com will be donated to RedRover through Purina’s Purple Leash project, which supports pet-friendly domestic violence shelters across the United States.
For dogs, Purina has packaged two advent calendars with treats from its Beggin’ and Busy Bone brands. Both the 24 Days of Treats and the 12 Days of Treats boxes includes 24 or 12 on-the-go packages of Beggin’ treat flavors and Busy Bone Minis.
Boston-based Polkadog has launched two new holiday offerings this year. One of these is Season’s Eatings soft training treats for dogs and cats formulated with turkey and cranberry. This new product joins other festive holiday treats from Polkadog, including Sugar & Spice chicken sticks for dogs and cats, formulated with chicken and cranberry, and Tinsel & Flock, clam sticks for dogs and cats.
The second new holiday product launched by Polkadog this season is a line of Holiday Mini Tubes with special holiday packaging. I Love You A Latke includes sweet potato and apple treats for dogs as an homage to Hanukkah. Feliz Navidad includes sweet potato and beef treats, Stocking Stuffers features the brand’s Chicken Little Training Bits, and Yappy Howlidays contains its Lucky Duck Training Bites.
Polkadog’s Holiday Potluck contains sample packs of Shepherd’s Pie lamb treats, Holiday Feast pork treats, and Silver & Gold cod skin treats for dogs and cats. Each treat tube is also sold separately on Polkadog’s website.
Blue Buffalo’s newest cat treat line, BLUE Bursts, will be sold in special holiday-themed packaging this year. These all-natural pillow-style treats have a crunchy exterior and a creamy filling, and are available in three formulas: Paw-Lickin’ Chicken, Delish Liver and Beef, and Savory Seafood.
This upcycled pet treat brand introduced two dog treat formulas — Hump of Coal (Naughty) and Beg Nog (Nice) — playing on the idea that whether a dog has been naughty or nice this holiday season, they still deserve a treat. The Hump of Coal product includes carob and peanut butter, and the Beg Nog formula includes yogurt and peppermint. Both treats are made with 25% upcycled sunflower seeds and are free from gluten, soy, corn and artificial flavors.
Personalized dog food and treat brand Tailored Pet introduced a limited-edition "Paw-liday" Gift Box for dogs mid-December, which includes two bags of the brand's Soft and Chewy Treats, an interactive feeding ball and a plush mitten squeaker toy. The soft chew treats are available for puppies, adult dogs or seniors, and the gift box is available for purchase on the company's direct-to-consumer platform, tailoredpet.com.
GivePet, a philanthropic pet treat company based in Overland Park, Kan., launched a new holiday-themed soft and chewy dog treat line in August. The line includes two festive, limited-edition recipes: Pugly Sweater Party formulated with cinnamon, ginger and peanut butter, and Peppermint Bark made with carob — a chocolate-free alternative safe for pets — molasses and peppermint. The heart-shaped treats also include flax and apple cider vinegar.
Last year, Old Mother Hubbard offered Jingle Jangle P-Nuttier baked dog treats to help pets ring in the holidays. This year, the brand has added another seasonal version of its P-Nuttier treats: Winter Fun. These oven-based dog biscuits come in festive shapes including a tree, a star, a snowflake and a stocking. They are formulated with natural ingredients including real peanut butter, cane molasses, apples and carrots.
For a limited time, Temptations is selling Holiday Dinner Turkey & Sweet Potato Flavor cat treats in festive packaging, as well as a Snacky Snowman treat-dispensing toy. The Holiday Dinner treats are two calories each, packaged in a re-sealable pouch, and can also be sprinkled on food as a meal topper. The Snacky Snowman treat-dispensing toy is a way to keep your cat busy during the holidays. The toy comes with a sample bag of treats and can be refilled with other Temptations treats.
Moe’s Healthy Pets has launched a limited-edition stocking stuffer for dogs: Frosted Sugar Cookie Flavored Bites. These treats are functional and winter-themed, formulated with vitamins C, B2 and B1 to promote overall health and wellness, thiamine to support digestion and brain function, and calcium citrate to build bone strength.
Brutus Broth has made a list, checked it twice, and bundled it up in its Holiday Bundle for dogs this year. The Holiday Bundle includes one stocking, one bag of Beef Bone Broth Biscuits, three pouches of Beef Brutus On-The-Go, one “popsicle tray” that can be used for making frozen pet treats at home, and three treat recipe cards encouraging pet owners to use Brutus Bone Broth to create homemade dog treats.
To keep pets in the holiday spirit all throughout December, Snif-Snax has launched advent calendars for dogs and cats. The advent calendar for dogs includes 25 oven-baked Salmon and Sweet Potato treats formulated with Omega 3 fatty acids, DHA, EPA and other limited ingredients. For cats, the advent calendar is filled with enough Atlantic Salmon & Seaweed treats to last 25 days. The cat treats are also formulated with Omega 3s, DHA and EPA, and also contain 73% protein and prebiotics to support coat health.
Grandma Lucy’s is offering Organic Gingerbread dog treats this season, formulated with seasonal flavors gingerbread and cinnamon. The treats are made with USDA Organic, Certified Kosher and all-natural ingredients including oat flour, cane sugar, palm oil, molasses, ginger and cinnamon.
Zuke’s Mini Naturals is offering limited-edition tree-shaped dog treats, formulated with turkey and cranberry. Each soft treat is just three calories, making them ideal for training. The seasonal recipe features turkey as the No. 1 ingredient, and all other ingredients are natural. They are available at PetSmart.
D.O.G. Certified Pet Nutrition has rounded up its best dog treats and other goodies and packaged them in a Holiday Box. The package is pre-wrapped and ready to gift, and includes 4-oz bags each of the brand’s Beef Liver Biltong Treats and Organic Sweet Potato Treats, a branded drawstring backpack, a flashing collar light, a tennis ball toy, and one sample bag of the company’s kibble formula. It also includes a D.O.G. coupon for use in 2022.
PureBites is offering Holiday Turkey & Sweet Potato freeze-dried dog treats and Holiday Turkey freeze-dried cat treats this season. Both treats are sourced and produced in the United States and include only natural ingredients. The holiday-themed dog treat formula includes just two ingredients, turkey and sweet potato, and the holiday turkey cat treat includes only human-grade turkey.
Pet e-commerce leader Chewy is ringing in the season with holiday Goody Boxes for dogs and cats. The Goody Box for dogs is available for small, medium and large pups and includes a blanket, a seasonal bandana, a full-size bag of treats, two toys, and a holiday pamphlet with a festive banner and a seasonal recipe idea. The Goody Box for cats also includes a blanket and full-size bag of treats, as well as three toys and a similar holiday pamphlet.