Homemade Cat Treats for Summer

 

In the hot summer months, heatstroke is a serious — and possibly deadly — concern in cats and dogs. Making your cat's frozen treats can help keep them cool and be a fun way to bond with your pet. Here are some of our favorite summer cat-treat recipes:

 

Meaty Mix

What you’ll need:

• 3-oz Chunk light tuna (low-sodium)
• 2.5-oz Chicken with chicken broth baby food
• Fresh dried catnip
• Approx. 2-3 spoonfuls of organic plain yogurt

How to make it:

1. Stir all ingredients together until smooth
2. Place in ice cube trays to freeze

–Submitted by Tracy R. on our Facebook page.

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Catsicles

What you’ll need (makes about 15 catsicles):

• 15 8-oz plastic cups
• 1 5.5-oz can of your cat’s favorite wet food (smooth, not chunky, works best)
• Catnip and/or soft cat treats (optional)
• One small square of Saran Wrap

How to make it:

1. Mix cat food and optional ingredients in a medium-size bowl. The mix should be primarily cat food, with treats mixed in as you would add chocolate chips to cookie dough.
2. Fill each plastic cup with about 1/4-1/2 an inch of the mixture. Flatten mixture by stacking cups one inside another. Place Saran Wrap over the top cup to avoid freezer burn and place in the freezer overnight.
3. The next morning, run the bottom-most cup under warm tap water until you can pull it free of the other cups and pop out the catsicle.
4. Place the catsicle disk in a deep bowl (to avoid messes) and let stand approximately five minutes or until the outside starts to “sweat.” Present catsicle to the cat.

–Submitted by Petfinder’s associate producer, Jane Harrell