Daily treats are food, so store them like food
A treat given once at Christmas can live anywhere; treats used every day for training, bonding or medication practice are part of your cat's regular intake and deserve food-grade storage. Reseal the original pack tightly after each use or decant treats into an airtight jar, and keep them somewhere cool, dry and out of sunlight. Warmth and air attack the fats in baked and soft treats alike, turning them rancid, while humidity invites mould on softer styles. A treat jar on a sunny windowsill or above a cooker is quietly spoiling its contents.
Freshness has dates, smells and textures
Check the use-by date when you buy, and note any guidance about using the pack within a set period after opening — that clock starts the day you first tear the seal, however much is left. Before feeding, use your senses: treats that smell sharp, sour or simply unlike they did when fresh, feel slimy or sticky when they should be dry, or show spots of discolouration go in the bin, not in the cat. Freeze-dried and soft treats change texture as they stale, becoming rock hard or leathery, which is your cue even when the date looks fine. When in doubt, throw it out; a single treat is never worth a stomach upset.
Portion size: the invisible second meal
The nutrition side of hygiene is quantity. Treats are calorie-dense and nutritionally incomplete, so as a working rule they should stay a small share of the day's total food, with the main meals trimmed slightly on days when training or visitors push treat numbers up. Choose small treats, or snap larger ones into pieces — your cat counts rewards, not grams, and five tiny pieces feel like five wins where one large treat is over in the same second. Count out the day's allowance into a small pot each morning; when the pot is empty, treat time is over, however persuasive the audience.
Treats used for training and medication
Daily treats often have jobs: rewarding a carrier session, disguising a tablet the vet has prescribed, or building a shy cat's confidence. Those working treats need the strictest hygiene of all, because you reach for them often and in a hurry. Keep a small working supply in the sealed jar and the rest of the pack closed in the cupboard, rather than leaving the whole bag open beside the sofa for weeks. If a treat is meant to hide medication, check with your vet that the pairing is suitable, and use a fresh treat each time — one that has already been handled, warmed in a pocket and refused has picked up smells your cat will read instantly.
The multi-person treat problem
In a family home the biggest freshness and portion failures are social. One person trains with treats, another greets the cat with treats, a third slips one at bedtime, and the cat has eaten a second dinner nobody planned. Loose treats also migrate into pockets, bags and open bowls where they stale and where the cat can eventually help herself to the whole supply. Agree one storage place, one daily allowance, and one shared understanding that the pot system binds everyone. Note the allowance where all feeders can see it, and record treat duties through Care Teams in KinsLe so each person's handful comes out of the same counted daily portion for your cat.