3 Homemade Pumpkin Cat Treat Recipes To Enjoy This Fall
Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they need a meat-based diet. That said, there's nothing wrong with treating your furry friend to a few little treats now and again, and, if you're feeling crafty, you can DIY your own cat treats with a few simple, feline-friendly, and inexpensive ingredients. Pumpkin is a popular choice of ingredient in such recipes.
Pumpkin is sometimes included in commercial cat foods for its fiber content, and this vitamin-packed winter squash can also be used to make tasty, fall-themed cat treats. In this guide, we'll share our favorite pumpkin treat-based recipes from various sources.
The 3 Homemade Pumpkin Cat Treat Recipes
1. Pumpkin Pie-Style Cat Treats (Catster Recipe)
Pumpkin Pie-Style Cat Treats (Catster Recipe)
These tasty pumpkin-pie-inspired sweet treats are simple but sure to be well-received. All you need is an oven and a few easily-acquired ingredients. The instructions are very simple, but if you're new to baking, just a heads-up you may find the rolling a bit finicky. If this is the case, you can just use your hands to flatten the dough for the cookie-cutting process.
Prep time
10 min
Cook time
12 min
Total time
22 min
Equipment
- Oven
- Food processor
- Bowl
- Mixing spoon
- Breadboard
- Rolling pin (optional)
- Cookie cutters
- Greased cookie sheet
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice flour
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1/2 cup unsweetened plain applesauce
- 9 1/4 cup flour for rolling
Instructions
- Fire up the oven and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Blend the grated carrots, pumpkin, and apple sauce in a food blender. You'll want the consistency to be smooth.
- Place the oatmeal and rice flour in a bowl and mix.
- Add the blended carrots, applesauce, and pumpkin to the oatmeal and rice flour and mix carefully until you get dough.
- Place your dough on a floured breadboard and roll it until it's about 1/4-inch thick. Alternatively, use your hands to pat the dough until you get the thickness you need.
- Cut out the shapes you want with your cookie cutter.
- Bake the cookies for 7 minutes on a greased cookie sheet.
- Turn the treats over and bake for 5 more minutes.
- Take the treats out of the oven and leave them to cool before offering them to your cat.
Notes
2. Pumpkin & Salmon Kitty Bits
Equipment:
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Most cats simply adore fish, and it's not something they get often as—like other treats—it should only be offered occasionally. Including "rare" delights like salmon or tuna in your DIY treats is sure to earn you bonus points from your kitty. These pumpkin and salmon kitty bits by Epicuricloud are made with just four easy-to-find ingredients.
| Estimated prep time: | 10 mins |
| Baking time: | 35 mins |
| Estimated total time: | 45 mins |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
| Servings: | 2 cups of treats |
3. Pumpkin & Chicken Cat Treats
Equipment:
Ingredients:
Instructions:
These pumpkin and chicken treats by Janelle Leeson at Rover are made by boiling chicken and creating a blend that goes into a freezer mold. The recipe writer notes that these treats are quite large, so one treat is best shared by two or more cats and it's best to only half-fill the molds if you have a single cat.
| Estimated prep time: | 10 mins |
| Baking time: | 12–15 mins |
| Estimated total time: | 25–30 mins |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
| Approximate treat weight: | 3 oz each (large) |
| Calories: | 48 |
Final Thoughts
Voilà! Three easy pumpkin-based fall treat recipes made of basic ingredients for your fluff to sink their teeth into. If you enjoy baking and cooking, crafting your own cat treats is a great way to make your cat happy while you do something you love—what's not to like?!
On a final note, if you're thinking of getting creative and doing your own recipe, we recommend carefully checking if any ingredients you plan to include in homemade treats are safe for cats. Some—like chocolate, raw meat, raw fish, raw eggs, raw dough, onions, and garlic—are either toxic or pose a bacterial infection risk (raw meat and egg products).
See Also:
Sources
Featured Image Credit: guvo59, Pixabay
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Kit Copson is a freelance writer and lifelong animal lover with a strong interest in animal welfare. She has parented various furry beings over the years and is currently a proud cat mom of two—one very chilled (unless hungry) Siamese and a skittish but adorable Domestic Shorthair—and dog mom of one—an adopted Bichon Poodle cross. When not writing about or spending time with animals, Kit can be found doodling in her sketchpad, reading, or more often than not, drinking tea.
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