If you’re a pet owner, I bet you spoil your pet with toys, clothes, bed, and treats. You can create your own special treats for your cat or dog at home with only a few ingredients. Your pets will love homemade treats, and there are health benefits as well because you are controlling everything that goes in each bite; No additives. No extras. Just nutritious pet treats. Below are a few fantastic pet-safe treat recipes that you can make for your pet’s birthday, a special occasion, or to just spoil your four-legged friend even more than you already do!
Each pet section will include a decorative recipe (great for parties), a frozen option (to keep them cool), and a basic pet treat to make anytime.
Dog Treats
Pup Cakes – Decorative
For this recipe you will need:
Cupcakes
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 farm fresh egg
- 1tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
Frosting
- Greek yogurt
- Pet-safe Peanut butter
- Sprinkles and dog biscuits (optional)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Then, blend the egg, peanut butter, oil, baking soda, vanilla, and honey in a large bowl. Once that mixture is blended well, stir in the shredded carrots and mix thoroughly.
Once your batter is ready, place one cupcake wrapper in each space of a muffin pan. Fill 2/3 of the wrapper with your batter. Then, place in the oven for 15 minutes (some recipes I’ve seen have taken 40 minutes, but our cupcakes were smaller. A good way to test, take a toothpick and stick it down into the center of a cupcake. If the toothpick comes out clean, it’s done!)
While your pupcakes are baking, start mixing up your frosting. This peanut butter, yogurt frosting is very simple to make. Simply add the ingredients together and mix until they are the proper consistency. Frosting to thick? Add some yogurt. Too thin? Add some peanut butter. It’s that easy!
After your pupcakes are out of the oven and frosted, you can choose to add some cute puppy bone sprinkles or tiny dog biscuits to the top. We chose to use an assorted box of Milk Bone treats to give them a colorful design, but you can use any treat your pets like!
Peanut Butter Pupsicles – Frozen Treat
For this recipe you will need:
- 32 oz vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup pet-safe peanut butter
- Ice cube trays
Directions:
Place peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave. Warm up for a minute, take out, stir, and repeat until the peanut butter is completely melted.
Once the peanut butter is fully melted, mix in the yogurt. Pour the mixture into each space of the ice cube tray and place the tray in the freezer.
The treats should freeze in an hour or two. After that, your pup will have a refreshing summer treat.
Biscuit Treats – Basic Treat
For this recipe you will need:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup pet-safe peanut butter
1/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup of vegetable, chicken, or beef stock
cookie cutter (bone shaped preferably!)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Put your flour, peanut butter, and banana into a large mixing bowl. While stirring, add in the stock. Continue stirring until everything is mixed well and becomes a thick dough.
Once everything is combined, spread a bit of flour on a flat surface and place your ball of dough in the center and roll the dough out to a 1/4″ thick disc.Then, use your cookie cutter to cut your dough into the desired shape.
Place each cut-out biscuit on a baking sheet and bake the biscuits for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool and keep them in an airtight container to keep them fresh.
Cat Treats
Cat Cakes – Decorative
For this recipe you will need:
- 1 (5oz) can of tuna – look for no salt added
- 1/2 cup shredded cooked chicken
- 1/2 cup pure sweet potato (buy puree or mash up yourself)
- Mashed potato – “frosting”
- Round cookie cutter – for shape (optional)
Directions:
Before you start, make sure that the birthday girl or boy is occupied in a different area (unless, of course, you want him/her digging into the cake before it’s finished)
Next, open the can of tuna and drain it. Put the dry tuna in a mixing bowl and pull any big pieces of tuna apart. You want to have small bits.
Add the chicken to the bowl, and stir in the sweet potato a little bit at a time. The sweet potato is there to keep the cake together so you might not use the entire 1/2 cup.
If your mixture is very watery, try adding some rice flour. You can use a tiny amount of white or wheat flour, but carbohydrates are not good for cats so use a very small amount.
Once your “dough” is ready, place a round cookie cutter on a plate. Scoop your dough into the cutter and smooth it to the edges with a spoon. Then, simply lift the cutter to make a circle cake.
For the frosting, take one spoonful of mashed potatoes and add a dollop to the top of each cat cake.
If your birthday girl or boy isn’t ready to eat the cat quite yet, cat cakes can last up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Just freeze them for an hour (or until solid) on a baking sheet. Then, take them out and transfer them to a freezer bag or container.
Frozen Fishies – Frozen Treat
For this recipe you will need:
- Ice cube tray
- Can of tuna or salmon (water-packed)
- About 1/2 cup water
Directions:
Mix canned fish and water in a bowl. try to mash up the big pieces as much as you can.
Pour the fish mixture into an ice cube tray and pop them in the freezer for an hour or two. Then, you’ll have a cool cat treat. In a freezer-safe bag or container, these treats last for up to six months.
NOTE: When you feed these to your cat, be sure they eat them over a bowl or plate (or eat them outside). Otherwise, you will have bits of fish all over the place!
Lil’ Bites – Basic Treat
For this recipe you will need:
- 1 can of tuna in oil – drained
- 1 farm fresh egg
- 1-1/4 cups of flour
- 1/2 cup water
- Small amount of parsley
- 1″ cutting circle (bottle caps work for this)
Directions:
Preheat your over to 350ºF
Blend up the tuna, egg, flour, parsley, and water into a dough. If your dough is too dry, add a bit of water. If it is too sticky, add more flour
Sprinkle some flour on a flat work surface so the dough doesn’t stick, and roll the dough out until it is about 1/2″ thick.
Cut out treats using a 1″ cutting circle or bottle cap. Place each treat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once all of your treats are in the pan, pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Take out the treats and let them cool for a few minutes before serving to your cat. If you don’t want to serve them right away, no problem. You can store these treats in an airtight container to keep them fresh.
Get “Pawsome” Pet Food
Once you’ve made some delicious homemade treats for your pet, try getting them some nutritious food. You can make it yourself, or you can pick some up from your local Rural King. We are very proud to announce that we have the absolute BEST price on all the top pet food brands.
If you enjoyed this post, there are plenty more pet posts to enjoy by checking out our pet & animal health blog categories.
Is there a certain food your pet loves or maybe something they will just not eat? My dog will not eat pickles. He will tear a hamburger apart…and leave the pickle. Let me know what foods your pets love in the comments section below!