Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Cat Treats
These homemade cat treats are the perfect treat for your kitty! They’re made with salmon, pumpkin, oats, egg, and avocado oil.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know how obsessed I am with my cat. His name is Stinky and he was a feral cat who my mom found during a snowstorm and we nursed back to health and simultaneously fell in love with. My husband jokingly called him Stinky because he hated cat litter and wasn’t as keen on keeping him… and of course, it stuck.
Now, have you ever read the back of most cat food? It’s not the healthiest stuff. If you’re like me, you want the best for your pets and want to feed them something that’s healthy and that they like! So, why not have a little fun and make homemade cat treats?
These homemade cat treats are made with ingredients that are safe for both humans and cats and are a healthy and fun alternative to storebought treats!
It’s worth mentioning that cats are picky… they can’t tell you whether or not they like pumpkin or salmon, so they may very well turn up their noses, but I can assure you that my cat loved it! Also, I’m not a vet or pet expert at all. I just did my research of what foods were pet safe and turned it into a treat, so you should always check with your vet if something is safe for your own pet. As always, treats are to be enjoyed in moderation!!
How to make the homemade cat treats
- Add the oats to a blender and blend until fine.
- Open the can of salmon and drain the excess liquid.
- Combine the oats, salmon, pumpkin, egg, and avocado oil and mix well.
- Form into small “cookies” (or use a silicone mold like this) and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Tips & tricks for these cats treats
Use what your cat likes
Do you already know that your cat prefers tuna or sardines to salmon? Go for it! It’s an easy swap that will work.
Break up the treats into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat
My cat is very particular about the size of his food, so he liked it when I tore this treat up a bit to make it easier for him to munch.
The Ingredients for the Cat treats
Canned salmon
My cat really loves both tuna and salmon! Either would work, but I wanted to go with salmon to match the color of the pumpkin. Make sure there’s no added salt or oil!
Pumpkin
Pumpkin is kitty safe, and easy to just grab a can of to use in this recipe. Use a canned pumpkin that is just pumpkin… no added sugar, salt or oil. You can also use mashed sweet potato if you’d prefer.
Oats
Personally, I’ve reintroduced oats to my diet, and they are also cat safe. You’ll use oats to make quick oat flour in the blender. Oatmeal is cat safe, but only in small amounts, so it’s important to keep that in mind and not overdo it on the treats.
Stinky doesn’t have an issue with grains, so this was fine for him. However, you can likely still pull off these treats off without the oats!
Egg & avocado oil
Eggs and avocado oil (but not the pit or the skin) help to bind the treats, and they’re great for keeping your cats coat beautiful and soft!
Healthy Homemade Pumpkin Cat Treats
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 20+ treats 1x
- Category: Cat treats
- Method: Baked
Ingredients
- 1 4oz can of salmon, no salt or oil added
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F.
- Add the oats to a blender and blend into a fine flour.
- Open the can of salmon and drain the excess liquid.
- Combine the oat flour, salmon, pumpkin, egg, and avocado oil and mix well.
- Form into small “cookies” (or use a silicone mold like this) and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until firm.
- Allow to cool before serving to your cat. Serve will spervised and break into smaller pieces if needed. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
how much meat do you use and should i pure it??????????????
I recommend using 1 4 oz can of salmon for this recipe!
Thank you for the recipe. My female kitty has had diarrhea since she was a baby. She is now 1.5 years old.
So glad!!
What should the texture of the mixture be like?
They are pretty soft on the inside!
Question:
Can I make this with a 5 oz can of tuna? Or will the measurements be different?
Sure! I would just add a little bit extra of the other ingredients
Can I use canned chicken instead of tuna?
You should be able to do that!
Can I use olive oil instead of avocado oil?
It should work in the recipe, yes! I would just research whether it’s cat-safe or not.
So is it 14 oz of salmon or one 4 oz can of salmon
It’s 1, 4 oz can of salmon!
Can you use coconut oil in place of avocado oil?
I think you probably can, I would just double check it’s cat safe!
I tried this recipe today. With sardines in stead of salmon as my fur baby doesn’t like salmon and chose to not add tuna because of the lack of nutritional value.
She absolutely loves this treat, snatches it out of my hand every time.
Thank you for sharing.
Question which brand do you use for the salmon?
I like wild planet.
My senior cat with a sensitive stomach loves these! I substituted tuna for salmon. However, it made WAY more than what my cat can eat in 3-4 days.. can they be frozen?
Ahh yay!! You should be able to freeze them okay… I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know if you try it out 🙂
An amazing recipe! My kitties love this so much! I substituted avocado oil with virgin cocount oil and did tuna instead of salmon. Would definitely remake these again and suggest it to friends/family!
Yay!! Thank you, Kayla!! So happy your kitties liked them!! 🙂