[I]’ve done a lot of research on cats. By ‘a lot of research’, I mean that I’ve lived with an nutcase of a cat-animal for the past four years, and there are a few things I’ve learned. My cat, in particular, is bossy and unwilling to compromise. He’s a fan of avocado, anything I open with a can opener, buttermilk, and actually… anything that I eat, he wants to eat.
Since I am a maker of cookies for human consumption, I feel like it’s only fitting to make healthy and wholesome treats for my monster cat as well.
The best thing about these cat treats / cat cookies, is that they’re made out of actual whole foods! Oats, pink salmon, egg, olive oil, and dried catnip because cats are crazy for it. Cookies for cats! Let’s do this!
Tron is happy that, for once, I’m not waving him away from my food prep area. This time, it’s actually treats for him… not my cookies and biscuits.
No joke, three seconds after this picture was taken, Tron literally tried to tear through the bag of Purina Beyond Cat Food. He’s not a subtle creature.
Into a food processor with the oat flour, cat nip, and pink salmon. Salmon and oats are some of the great ingredients found in Purina Beyond Cat Food! Very good things!
Incidentally, with my leftover oat flour, I was thinking about making a face mask for myself. DIY all up in this joint.
A whole egg and olive oil. Great binders and good fats.
The dough comes together to be easily chapped into bite-size balls, pressed with a fork just before baking.
Yes… we’re basically making cookies for cats. Get all the way into it.
Once cooled, these cat cookies crisp up and can be stored in the refrigerator before you cat, if he’s anything like mine, eats every single one. It’s a good thing cats can’t open refrigerator doors.
This post is brought to us by Beyond Natural Cat Food. No corn, wheat, soy, gnarly by-products, or artificial colors or preservatives. Just the real food I give to TRONCAT to keep him extra sassy, nappy, and wise.
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Homemade Crunchy Cat Treats
Ingredients
- 1 (5 ounce) canned pink salmon or tuna, no salt added and packed in water, drained
- 1 cup oat flour*
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 heaping tablespoon dried catnip
Instructions
- *It’s easy to make your own oat flour. Simply grind old-fashioned oats in a spice grinder (or a super clean coffee grinder) until it is transformed into a light powder. There you have it — oat flour!
- Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment, combine drained salmon or tuna, oat flour, egg, olive oil and catnip. Pulse until mixture comes together. Bits of fish and dry food will remain but the mixture will easily form into small balls. It will be thick but pliable and not terribly sticky.
- Roll dough into 1/2 teaspoon balls and place on prepared cookie sheet. Use a fork to press marks into each cookie ball.
- Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until they are dried on top and slightly browned. Allow to cool completely before offering to your kitty.
- Place treats in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to seven days.
Kendal
Kitty is digging them! I made them a bit smaller when rolling it out and just cut it instead of the extra step of smooshing it with a fork. Kitty doesn’t care it’s not smooshed.
I didn’t add the full amount of olive oil and subbed in some extra liquid I saved from draining the tuna.
It’s super easy and the dough at the dough was EXTREMELY EASY to work with. I’ll have to try with some of my friends kitties and see if they like them too
Thank you!
★★★★
A person
I hope my cats will like this! My boy Sherman is turning four in one day! I plan on making these for him, but the last ones I made he didn’t seem to have interest. Only my other cat liked them, but she couldn’t swallow them because they were not crunchy. Fingers crossed!