Have you ever bought a new bag of treats, opened it excitedly… and your pet looked at you as if you had personally offended them?

Meanwhile, they'll happily eat the same treat you've been trying to hide from them for weeks.

If this sounds familiar, you're definitely not alone.

Dogs and cats can be surprisingly particular about what they eat. And while it can sometimes feel completely random, there are actually several reasons why one treat becomes an instant favourite while another gets completely ignored.

When was the last time you actually read the ingredients on your pet’s treats?

Not just the first ingredient.

The whole label.

For many pet owners, it can be a surprisingly confusing experience. Long ingredient lists, unfamiliar names, artificial flavourings, colourings, preservatives and fillers can make it difficult to understand exactly what you're giving your dog or cat.

And when treats are meant to be a small reward, there’s a good question to ask:

Do they really need all those extras?

A dog's metabolism is very different from a human’s, so they need to eat more than you think. Depending on their size and age, your pup might consume anywhere between 500 calories up to 2500 calories per day.

I have a very greedy small dog, and this in itself is a problem. Once I’d made the decision to switch Hattie to a raw diet I was really disappointed that she didn’t become a super-slim Crufts standard model overnight.