INABA Churu Review: The Squeeze Tube That Gets Even the Pickiest Cat to Eat

Churu shows up near the top of Amazon’s cat treat and treat paste categories for a simple reason: it works on cats that turn their noses up at everything else. The format is the whole story — instead of a dry kibble treat or a chunky wet food, you snip the tip off a sealed tube and squeeze out a smooth, gravy-like purée that cats can lick directly off the tube, a spoon, or a plate. That lickability seems to trigger something in even the most stubborn eaters, and owners who’ve struggled for years to find a treat their cat actually wants tend to become repeat customers fast.

The 50-tube variety pack (tuna and chicken flavors) is popular specifically because it removes the guesswork. Multi-cat households, foster caretakers, and anyone who’s been burned by a cat suddenly deciding it hates a flavor it loved last week can stock up without betting everything on one taste. Individually sealed single-serve tubes also mean no open pouch drying out in the fridge — each one is portioned, fresh, and mess-contained until you’re ready to use it.

Most owners use Churu in one of three ways: as a high-value reward for training or nail trims, as a way to disguise pills or supplements, or as an appetite jumpstart for a cat that’s stressed, sick, recovering from a vet visit, or just being dramatically picky. The purée is grain-free with no added sugar, and INABA has added taurine and green tea extract, which are marketed as supporting overall wellness rather than delivering a specific therapeutic effect — as with any supplement-adjacent product, it’s worth a quick conversation with your vet if you’re using it around a cat with health issues, medication, or a prescription diet.

The texture is genuinely different from typical treats — it’s closer to a smooth gravy than a paste, which is why cats seem to go after it so readily and why it works well for hand-feeding, bonding, or coaxing a nervous or elderly cat to eat. It’s also handy for hiding a pill: a small dab masks the taste and texture well enough that most cats don’t notice.

The biggest caveat is right there in the product’s own framing: this is a treat and topper, not a meal replacement, and it shouldn’t make up a significant share of a cat’s diet. Some owners also find the per-ounce cost adds up once a cat starts expecting a tube daily — at roughly $24 for 50 tubes, it’s cheap per serving but not cheap as a habit if you’re going through several a day. And because the format is so effective, a handful of cats get spoiled by it, turning up their nose at regular food or other treats once they’ve had a taste, which can create a bit of a training problem of its own.

If you have a cat who’s notoriously hard to please, is recovering from illness, needs help taking medication, or you just want a reliable high-value reward for training and bonding, Churu is worth having in the cabinet — it’s one of the few treats that seems to work across almost any cat personality. Buy the variety pack if you’re not sure which flavor your cat prefers, since tuna and chicken cover most bases.

Skip it, or use it sparingly, if you’re trying to keep treats to a minimum for a cat on a strict diet, or if your cat already eats well and you don’t want to introduce a habit that’s hard to walk back. For everyone else, it’s an easy, low-risk add to the routine — just treat it as a treat, not a food group.