Trish's World

I found this cookbook recently about making your own cat treats. I’ve heard of people making dog treats and always found it interesting, so I thought I’d give this a whirl. I made a batch of tuna cookie type things on Thursday. I rolled out the dough and cut out cut little heart shapes and everything. It was kind of fun, but also a lot of work. I let them cool and then presented them to my taste testers, Nemo & Buffy.

First, the heart shapes, while only 1 inch, were too big for their tiny mouths. So after all that work, I ended up having to chop the treats up into smaller bits. Note to self – making the treats cute does not make them more appealing to the target audience. So I chopped one up and presented it again. The reception was….less than enthusiastic. They nibbled and licked the pieces a little, but I got the impression that they knew I had worked hard and didn’t want to hurt my feelings. Yesterday morning, I gave them each a few more tiny bits, and this time they didn’t even bother. One sniff and they both wandered away. Rats!!

I decided to try another recipe. This one is chicken based, but still baked like a cookie. I whipped these up this morning. This time, I just dropped them by the teaspoonful onto the cookie sheet – no fancy shapes. Once they were baked and cooled, I took a tiny biscuit, chopped it into bits, and put some in front of Nemo. Again, polite licking and nibbling, but no real enthusiastic chewing. Hmmm. Next I went to Buffy. She LOVED these – she tore into them right away and ate all I gave her. SCORE! I tried Nemo again with a few more bits – nope. Not interested. I have found Buffy’s favorite. She has always been a carb lover, so the cookies were bound to be a hit eventually. She loves breads and potato chips. Nemo is not into carbs, he is more of a meat eater. I have one more recipe in mind for him and I think he will dig it. It’s made with canned cat food, scrambled egg, and cheese, and it isn’t baked. I am 90% sure this will be Nemo’s kryptonite. Pics:

I have a buttload of Tuna Hearts leftover, so I am giving them away to other cats to sample. We are heading up to Grand Rapids this evening to see some friends, and I am going to try to unload some there as well. At least all the cats of my homies can maybe benefit.