How to
Snapping and crumbling a freeze-dried baby octopus
Updated
How to break up freeze dried octopus: hold a piece over a bowl and snap it with your fingers into bits that suit your dog, which is what the listing means by breaking it into smaller pieces. For a cat, the listing says serve one whole or crumble it over food. It crunches at 4 of 5 on our scorecard.
Why break up a whole baby octopus at all?
Because the piece comes as a whole animal, and your dog may not be sized for the whole animal. Each piece in the bag is a baby octopus with the tentacles intact. For dogs, the listing's feeding line lets a piece go whole or in smaller bits, with the dog's size as the guide. Breaking is simply how you follow that line.
There is a second reason, and it is about handing out rewards. One piece can become several bits, which stretches a single octopus across a few moments instead of one. Treat and meal topper are the two uses on the listing, and both are easier with a piece that has been broken.
The octopus for dogs page has the product details if you want the ingredient and the full feeding lines in one place.
How do you snap a piece into reward bits?
Fingers are enough. The listing rates the crunch at 4 of 5, so expect a piece that snaps instead of bends. Work over a bowl or a plate, because the bits fall where they fall.
- Hold the piece over a bowl.
- Snap it with your fingers into bits that match your dog.
- Compare the bit to the dog, and snap again if it still looks like too much.
- Close the bag back up before you walk away from it.
Pieces vary, so the snap will not go the same way twice. No two octopus in the bag match in size or texture. That is a feature of the product, not a flaw in your technique. We do not recommend knives, scissors or a blender, since the listing offers no step that uses them.
How do you crumble octopus over a meal?
Crumbling is snapping taken a little further. Hold a piece above the bowl, work it between your fingers, and let the bits drop over the food. The listing offers the octopus as a meal topper, and this is the shape that job takes.
Crumbling octopus over food gives a different result from a reward bit. A reward is one thing at a time, and a topper is many small things on top of the meal. Either way, you set the amount, and the listing sets no number for it.
The same applies to mixing crumbs into wet food. The listing says treat or meal topper and gives no mixing method, so we have none to add.
How is the cat's share different?
The listing gives cats a single line: serve one piece whole or crumble it over food. Our one addition is to keep a cat's pieces small, and to ask your vet how much fits its diet. If you are feeding both animals from one bag, the dog's rule and the cat's rule sit side by side, and each animal follows its own.
Because the cat line is one piece, whole or crumbled, you decide at the bowl which version you will serve. Our can cats eat octopus page goes into the cat side in detail.
Should you break the whole bag at once?
There is no reason in the listing to. Breaking is a bowl-side job, one piece at a time, with the amount set by the dog or the cat in front of you. Treats are for intermittent or supplemental feeding, not a complete diet, so there is no schedule to prepare for in advance.
For a dog on a veterinarian's plan, the vet gets a say before octopus is added. When you do feed octopus, VCA, Dog Treats caps the treat share near 10 percent of a dog's calories for the day, and recommends adding one new food at a time. That applies to dogs only, and you count the whole piece, not the bits.
The rest of the how-to pages sit in the guides hub.
Questions
Does breaking a piece change how much I feed?
No, because the bits still add up to the piece. Count the whole piece you broke, not each bit. The 10 percent yardstick from VCA is for dogs, and it applies to the total, however many bits that total is split into. For a cat, the listing's line is one piece.
Will the bits all be the same size?
No. Every octopus is a little different in size and texture, by the listing's own account, so a snap will not give you matching bits. Check each bit against the dog before it goes down, and snap again if you need to.
Can I soak octopus to soften it?
The octopus listing gives no soaking step, so we do not suggest one. It describes a crunchy treat, and the instructions it does give are about breaking it up, serving it whole, or topping a meal. Anything past that is outside what the listing covers.
Does octopus work as a training reward?
The listing scores it 3 of 5 as a training reward on our scorecard. That is the extent of what we can say. It can be snapped into bits, and the bits are yours to size.
Can I mix octopus crumbs into wet food?
The listing calls octopus a treat or a meal topper, and for cats it says crumble it over food. It does not mention wet food or mixing, so the amount and the stirring are your call.
Should I wash my hands after breaking it?
The listing prints no hand washing line for octopus. Washing up after handling any seafood is still a sensible habit, and you will be handling it with your fingers for every snap. Close the bag first, then wash.