Homemade Kitty Treats! Thoughts? Opinions?

I thought I'd have better luck posting this here since nobody has responded on my other thread in the raw section. I was curious to know if anybody has ever made their kitty treats. Like tuna snacks or chicken balls, something along those lines. I'm talking about a snack, not a meal and was curious to know if any of you have done that, and if you had any tips or recipes you could share with me
To give you an idea of what I mean here's these links I happen to come upon

http://cats.lovetoknow.com/Recipe_for_Homemade_Cat_Treats

http://meoowzresq.com/healthy-homemade-cat-treats/

http://www.i-love-cats.com/cat-food-recipes.html

http://www.mycatsite.com/homemade-cat-treats.html

I personally would omit any veggies mentioned, since kitties don't need it. I was also considering using chicken (any meat) stock in place of water, milk, and oil. Or just removing any vegetable oil in general. Any ideas, tips or concerns would be great!   

I made some once that had tuna and cornmeal as the main ingredients. My cats hated them, my neighbor's cat wouldn't touch them...but my dog loved them!

I guess I would just bake/dry some chicken cubes, or give them little bits of cheese rather than make cheese treats. Maybe I'm just lazy :lol3: :tongue2:

We used our dehydrator and made tuna treats for the cats, we just dehydrated tuna fish, they went nuts for it. 

I've always wondered about it but thought it would be impossible - and a real bother.  You must be a devoted catmom GraveKandi!  

I would love to know if there's a way to make dehydrated poultry / fish treats without all the added veg' and carbohydrates when you don't have this dehydrator machine though.   I only give Mouse 100% white fish freeze dried snacks. There's one variety and one flavour he likes out of all the stuff I've bought and it's really expensive!     

I tried home cooked wet food but I got a big NO vote on that front.  (Well I don't like my cooking either so what did I expect)?  I'd love to try a little experiment with snacks, maybe bits of sardine or meat to try and introduce tiny portions of variety to his diet and increase his protein intake. It could be a good way to use up bits of wet food I try to get him to eat - it's always in such tiny portions and it would make a change to freezing spoon size portions that get lost at the back of the freezer.   I wouldn't fancy doing dried mice or anything despite having a strange suspicion Mouse would like that.     

My kitten's fav treat in the world is goat cheese crumbles! Does that count as homemade? I do have to crumble them off the goat cheese block, so there's some prep involved! What can I say? I'm too lazy to cook for myself most of the time. But it looks fun for people who are into baking/cooking!

MServant said:

I would love to know if there's a way to make dehydrated poultry / fish treats without all the added veg' and carbohydrates when you don't have this dehydrator machine though. 

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There is a way to make jerky treats without a dehydrator. Basically get any cut of meat that has little to no fat, cut in strips or cubes of equal width, flatten them with a mallet and bake in a oven preheated to around 150 degrees for five to eight hours (or longer, depending.) I did this once for my cats, but I'm just gonna go back to commercial freeze dried treats, lol.

I make chicken jelly using bone stock once in a blue moon... does that count?

pinkman said:

 
There is a way to make jerky treats without a dehydrator. Basically get any cut of meat that has little to no fat, cut in strips or cubes of equal width, flatten them with a mallet and bake in a oven preheated to around 150 degrees for five to eight hours (or longer, depending.) I did this once for my cats, but I'm just gonna go back to commercial freeze dried treats, lol.

I make chicken jelly using bone stock once in a blue moon... does that count?

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That sounds like such a long time to have an oven on! And if your making some sort of dehydrated fish snack imagine the smell   I can just picture all the cats within a mile radius gathered outside the house hahaha. I would think chicken jelly counts! How do you feed it to your cat? by itself?

fluffybeard said:

My kitten's fav treat in the world is goat cheese crumbles! Does that count as homemade? I do have to crumble them off the goat cheese block, so there's some prep involved!

What can I say? I'm too lazy to cook for myself most of the time. But it looks fun for people who are into baking/cooking!

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Prep is prep no matter how much time spent! lol, goat cheese, hmmm maybe I'll see if my cat likes that. I know we have some in the fridge.....

MServant said:

 
I've always wondered about it but thought it would be impossible - and a real bother.  You must be a devoted catmom GraveKandi!  

I would love to know if there's a way to make dehydrated poultry / fish treats without all the added veg' and carbohydrates when you don't have this dehydrator machine though.   I only give Mouse 100% white fish freeze dried snacks. There's one variety and one flavour he likes out of all the stuff I've bought and it's really expensive! 

   

I tried home cooked wet food but I got a big NO vote on that front.  (Well I don't like my cooking either so what did I expect)?  I'd love to try a little experiment with snacks, maybe bits of sardine or meat to try and introduce tiny portions of variety to his diet and increase his protein intake. It could be a good way to use up bits of wet food I try to get him to eat - it's always in such tiny portions and it would make a change to freezing spoon size portions that get lost at the back of the freezer.   I wouldn't fancy doing dried mice or anything despite having a strange suspicion Mouse would like that.  

  

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I love cooking, so I figured while I'm cooking/making snacks for others why not try to get in some time to make treats for my little fur monster. Plus it saves me money! Ziggy also love expensive dehydrated snacks, luckily she eats more then just one kind   I've resorted to buying the one targeted for dogs since its cheaper and I get more product. If I have any luck with any of my homemade treats I will report back! &hopefully others can try a quick recipe and see if its any success with their kitties, hopefully something Mouse will find adequate for his taste buds? haha. ugggh mice   my boyfriend is trying to convince me to buy some baby ones to feed Ziggy! 

cprcheetah said:

 
We used our dehydrator and made tuna treats for the cats, we just dehydrated tuna fish, they went nuts for it. 

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I wish I had a dehydrator! That sounds lovely.

Willowy said:

I guess I would just bake/dry some chicken cubes, or give them little bits of cheese rather than make cheese treats. Maybe I'm just lazy

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Lol, No, I just love to cook, I thought hey I'm baking pies and cookies for the holidays, why cant my cat enjoy some holidaytreats as well 

happybird said:

I made some once that had tuna and cornmeal as the main ingredients. My cats hated them, my neighbor's cat wouldn't touch them...but my dog loved them!

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Oh thats funny! Haha XD

GraveKandi said:

 
That sounds like such a long time to have an oven on! And if your making some sort of dehydrated fish snack imagine the smell 

 I can just picture all the cats within a mile radius gathered outside the house hahaha. I would think chicken jelly counts! How do you feed it to your cat? by itself?

Prep is prep no matter how much time spent! lol, goat cheese, hmmm maybe I'll see if my cat likes that. I know we have some in the fridge.....

haha. ugggh mice 

 my boyfriend is trying to convince me to buy some baby ones to feed Ziggy! 

I wish I had a dehydrator! That sounds lovely.

Lol, No, I just love to cook, I thought hey I'm baking pies and cookies for the holidays, why cant my cat enjoy some holidaytreats as well 

Oh thats funny! Haha XD

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I did think about the fish stink - I hate fish at the best fo times!  Was thinking maybe that was one of the benefits of a dehydrator?

Your BF is BAD!     Poor baby 'mouses' :-(    I rather like tame mice, and gerbils, and hampsters.....

Oliver's holiday treat is that you are going to be home and playing with him.   No doubt he can get little slivers of turkey and chicken, and get all snuggly in front of a warm oven door....   

MServant said:

 

I did think about the fish stink - I hate fish at the best fo times!  Was thinking maybe that was one of the benefits of a dehydrator?

Your BF is BAD!  

  Poor baby 'mouses' :-(    I rather like tame mice, and gerbils, and hampsters.....

Oliver's holiday treat is that you are going to be home and playing with him. 

 No doubt he can get little slivers of turkey and chicken, and get all snuggly in front of a warm oven door....   

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I'm contemplating making Ziggy "cookies" with chicken and catnip with hidden supplements that are good for her!  and yea he is bad! 

Very sneeky mommy.    If it works let me know and post the recipe!

Oh! I forgot to respond... Yes, the chicken jelly I feed by itself, or I warm it up and mix it with some cat food - kinda like aspic? When feeding by itself I feed a pea sized amount... I scoop'em up from shot glasses.

pinkman said:

 
Oh! I forgot to respond... Yes, the chicken jelly I feed by itself, or I warm it up and mix it with some cat food - kinda like aspic? When feeding by itself I feed a pea sized amount... I scoop'em up from shot glasses.

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How do you make it?
 

MServant said:

 
Very sneeky mommy. 

  If it works let me know and post the recipe!

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Will do! I'm going to hopefully make some tonight or tomorrow and test them out on my kitty, and my friends cats too! XD Once I find the right recipe I need to research kitty safe icing ingredients and hopefully come up with something good!

GraveKandi said:

 
..........
 

Will do! I'm going to hopefully make some tonight or tomorrow and test them out on my kitty, and my friends cats too! XD Once I find the right recipe I need to research kitty safe icing ingredients and hopefully come up with something good!

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LOVING the thought of your friends eating catnip biscuits!          'Healthy herby chicken snacks'  anyone? 

Gravekandi - For chicken jelly - I use chicken backs, feet, and necks. Blanche them, and then clean'em. Afterwards, simmer for a good 5 hours or so. Makes a good bone stock for humans, but when chilled if you do it right it'll become jelly.

Or, you can just use sodium-free/no-onion/no-garlic chicken broth and add a bit of gelatin. Make sure it's gelatin and not agar agar or anything like that. Same idea. 

I'd like to do some baking projects but unfortunately I got one cat who does not tolerate any sort of grain or starch at all. Sigh.

pinkman said:

 
Gravekandi - For chicken jelly - I use chicken backs, feet, and necks. Blanche them, and then clean'em. Afterwards, simmer for a good 5 hours or so. Makes a good bone stock for humans, but when chilled if you do it right it'll become jelly.

Or, you can just use sodium-free/no-onion/no-garlic chicken broth and add a bit of gelatin. Make sure it's gelatin and not agar agar or anything like that. Same idea. 

I'd like to do some baking projects but unfortunately I got one cat who does not tolerate any sort of grain or starch at all. Sigh.

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Hopefully I'll get to try that sometime soon! &I'm planning on making grain free treats If they work out I will let you all know! Its taking quite a while with all the research I'm putting into it. I wish their was something I could just plug my ingredients to and it would tell me if I should or shouldn't use it and how much the overall protein (etc) would be X_X and if they would be gluten free etc. gahhhh 

MServant said:

 
LOVING the thought of your friends eating catnip biscuits! 

   

    'Healthy herby chicken snacks'  anyone? 

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Well the treats I'll be making will be fit for human consumption! 

~~Chewy Cat Treats for Cats

~~makes about 50 small treats

~~1 large egg 1 4-oz jar chicken and brown rice baby food (or something meaty which may include canned wet cat food) 1/4 cup parsley, coarsely chopped 2 teaspoons olive oil 2 tablespoons water 1 cup brown rice flour 1/2 cup cooked white (or brown) rice other things you might add other treats like : 1 tablespoon of catnip or a hearty tablespoon of extra wet cat food. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, baby food (or wet cat food), parsley, olive oil, and water. Add brown rice flour and cooked rice. Stir to incorporate. The mixture will be thick but spreadable. Spread mixture onto prepared baking sheet creating a rectangle that is about 1/3 of an inch thick. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then slice soft dough into bite-sized pieces. Return pieces to the oven to bake for another 8 minutes. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. I store my treats in the fridge just to be safe.

 :3  here you go... tested and kitty approved!

MsCalico said:

 
~~Chewy Cat Treats for Cats

~~makes about 50 small treats

~~1 large egg 1 4-oz jar chicken and brown rice baby food (or something meaty which may include canned wet cat food) 1/4 cup parsley, coarsely chopped 2 teaspoons olive oil 2 tablespoons water 1 cup brown rice flour 1/2 cup cooked white (or brown) rice other things you might add other treats like : 1 tablespoon of catnip or a hearty tablespoon of extra wet cat food. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, baby food (or wet cat food), parsley, olive oil, and water. Add brown rice flour and cooked rice. Stir to incorporate. The mixture will be thick but spreadable. Spread mixture onto prepared baking sheet creating a rectangle that is about 1/3 of an inch thick. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then slice soft dough into bite-sized pieces. Return pieces to the oven to bake for another 8 minutes. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. I store my treats in the fridge just to be safe.

 :3  here you go... tested and kitty approved!

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Thanks for that recipe! Glad someone has made treats on here before   Is that the only recipe you've tried? I'm gonna tweak it a bit and hopefully do it sometime later today since its my last day of finals