The scores
Greenies Feline Original Tuna: C/61 — Average. VOHC-verified mechanical plaque and tartar control offsets a chicken-meal-first but grain-heavy ingredient panel (corn gluten meal, ground wheat, rice flour, wheat flour). One of the few VOHC-accepted cat dental treats on the mainstream shelf.
Inaba Churu Tuna Recipe: A/90 — Excellent. 91% moisture lickable-puree with tuna as the primary active ingredient. Functions as both a treat and a hydration supplement, which matters for cats that don’t drink enough water.
How the ingredients compare
The leading ingredients are the structural difference between these two treats:
Greenies Feline: Chicken Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Wheat, Rice Flour, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Wheat Flour, Natural Flavor, Dried Meat By-Products, Brewers Yeast, Powdered Cellulose, plus mineral/vitamin premix, taurine, lecithin, B-vitamin panel, and natural preservation.
Inaba Churu: Water, Tuna, Tapioca, Natural Flavors, Guar Gum, Natural Tuna Flavors, Fructooligosaccharide, Vitamin E Supplement, Green Tea Extract (9 ingredients).
These are completely different cat treat formats and the rubric scoring reflects it. Greenies Feline is a baked starch-and-protein-matrix kibble shaped for the dental-mechanical action, with chicken meal first but corn gluten meal at position two and wheat in two separate positions (positions three and six). Inaba Churu is a 91%-moisture lickable puree dispensed from single-serve tubes — water and tuna lead the panel, with tapioca as a thickener, fructooligosaccharide (FOS) as a prebiotic, vitamin E and green tea extract as natural preservation. Greenies takes the −3 grain-first deduction and the −3 position-two-grain-gluten deduction but earns a +6 VOHC-verified-dental-chew bonus. Churu takes no grain or by-product deductions and earns the +12 named-whole-fish-first bonus plus the +3 wet-format-and-no-grain stacking bonus per our cat-treats rubric.
Where Greenies Feline pulls ahead
VOHC dental verification: Greenies Feline Original is one of the very few VOHC-accepted cat dental treats on the mainstream shelf. The Veterinary Oral Health Council Seal of Acceptance is awarded only to products with manufacturer-submitted clinical-trial evidence demonstrating measurable plaque or tartar reduction. Cat treats with VOHC backing are essentially Greenies Feline plus a handful of prescription-diet dental options. For cats with vet-flagged tartar or active periodontal disease, the verified efficacy is the primary reason to feed despite the C-tier panel.
Lower per-piece calorie density: A single Greenies Feline runs about 1.4 kcal vs a Churu tube at 6 kcal. For a 10-lb adult cat with a 25-kcal-per-day treat budget, that’s 17+ Greenies pieces vs 4 Churu tubes. Per-piece calorie discipline favors Greenies for cats on weight-management diets where treat-count flexibility matters.
Mechanical chew action for dental cleaning: The Greenies kibble is shaped specifically to scrape plaque from the crown of the tooth as the cat chews. Churu is a puree — the cat licks rather than chews, and there is zero mechanical dental action. For dogs and cats alike, lickable-puree treats provide nutrition and hydration but no dental cleaning. Shop Greenies Feline on Amazon →
Where Inaba Churu holds its own
91% moisture for hydration support: Cats are notoriously poor water drinkers, evolving from desert-adapted ancestors that derived most of their water from prey. Chronic low-grade dehydration is a documented driver of urinary tract issues and chronic kidney disease in domestic cats. Churu’s 91% moisture content makes it functionally a hydration delivery system disguised as a treat — a single tube delivers about 4ml of water with the protein. For cats with CKD, FLUTD history, or simply low water-bowl behavior, the hydration value is real.
Named whole-fish protein first: Tuna at position two (after water) is named whole-muscle protein. Greenies Feline opens with chicken meal (a +6 named-meat-meal bonus, lower than the +12 whole-muscle bonus). The protein-quality gap is meaningful for obligate carnivores; cats process whole-muscle protein with higher digestibility than rendered meat meal.
No grain content, no by-product meals, no synthetic colors: Churu’s 9-ingredient panel skips wheat, corn, rice, by-product meals, BHA, BHT, and synthetic colors entirely. Greenies Feline has corn gluten meal, ground wheat, wheat flour, and dried meat by-products in the panel. For cats with grain sensitivities or owners avoiding by-product meals, Churu is the structurally cleaner pick. Shop Inaba Churu on Amazon →
The bottom line
These two products solve completely different problems. Inaba Churu is the higher-quality panel by a wide margin and the better daily-feed indulgence treat — the 91% moisture is genuinely valuable for cat health, the named-whole-fish-first protein is biologically appropriate, and the panel skips every common cat-treat additive concern. Greenies Feline is the only cat dental treat on the mass-market shelf with VOHC-verified efficacy, which is the substantive reason to feed it despite the C-tier panel. Many cat owners stock both: Churu daily for hydration and palatability, Greenies Feline 3–5 times per week as the dental-therapy chew. The right answer is rarely “pick one.”
Read our full reviews of Greenies Feline Original Tuna and Inaba Churu Tuna Recipe for the complete ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown.