I think I have always somehow known the Meow Mix jingle. I haven’t the faintest idea of how it was first introduced to me, but rather it is a jingle that I think you just know. Maybe you heard it once while in utero and emerged from the womb and out into the world with the incredibly catchy tune already solidly lodged in your memory. I don’t know, but at least I do know that I am not alone, because it turns out that the Meow Mix jingle is the number two most memorable American jingle, second only to the Oscar Mayer song. Come to think of it, I don’t know how I first came into contact with that jingle either, but I can sing it on cue without giving it a second’s worth of thought. Jingles are mind-boggling like that–it’s incredibly easy to memorize information set to music, especially if the music is catchy, and then that little ditty is stuck in your head for life. In other ways famous jingles do just plain weird things to our memory, in a recent survey conducted by Kelton Research, 81% of respondents claimed to have heard the Meow Mix jingle in the last 18 months, when in reality, the classic version of the jingle stopped airing in 1996. That’s 16 years ago! Wow.

There’s a good chance that you now have the Meow Mix jingle playing in your head, and you’re welcome for that. You also just may be hearing it a lot more often now that it has returned to the airwaves for the launch of the new Meow Mix Tender Centers cat food, which I recently had the chance to let my two cats try out.

Meow Mix Tender Centers is the only dry cat food today where every kibble is dual-textured, with a crunchy outside and a meaty, soft center. Devin and Vincent were able to try the Salmon & White Meat Chicken flavor, and from the moment the bag of Tender Centers arrived, was taken out of the packing box, and put on the kitchen counter, the cats, Devin in particular, was going nuts for it. It took about 15 minutes in total for Devin to get up on the kitchen counter, sufficiently rub her facial scent all over the bag, and start digging at it to get it open. However, she isn’t the skilled bag-opener of the felines in this house, and after a few meows in my general direction, Vincent decided to lend a set of claws and teeth to the effort. Together, they successfully tore a hole into the bag just big enough to get a few kibbles to fall out–and they loved it. It was the most bonding time they have had without meowing, hissing, or fighting taking place since we let Vincent come live with us nearly two years ago.

After seeing how motivated they were to get the bag of Meow Mix Tender Centers open, I poured them each a small bowl, but they treated it more like a bowl of treats, as in they devoured every last kibble in what couldn’t have been more than three minutes and then stared up at me with their big, pleading eyes. After waiting a few days in hopes of erasing the connection between this food and their perception of treats from their memory, I began mixing a small amount in with their regular food, and they absolutely loved it, but again, I noticed that they were eating more than they usually do. Typically they eat about a cup to a cup and a half of food each per day and I have never found myself having to limit their intake because they let their bowls sit there throughout the day, going to it here and there as cats do. With the Tender Centers mixed in, they were consuming the entire bowl within just a few hours and were then scratching at where I keep their food in hopes of getting me to refill their bowls.

My cats are still convinced that Meow Mix Tender Centers are a bag of delicious treats that they can’t get enough of. That can either be a really great thing, because obviously cats love this stuff, or it can be a little troubling because they are then wanting to eat more than they need throughout the day. On the bright side, considering the price of some cat treats, if you purchase Meow Mix Tender Centers and your cats react to it like mine do, you can give them a few kibbles in the middle of the day and it will probably be the least expensive package of treats you’ll buy, so there’s always that.

Meow Mix sends out regular cat food coupons, promotions, and offers. Sign up on their website to get into the mix.

I received a bag of Meow Mix Tender Centers for review. No other compensation was received, and opinions are my own (and my perception of my cat’s opinions.)