Surprise your beloved pet to a tasty homemade snack with our Vet-approved recipe – but remember that feeding too many treats on top of your pet’s regular diet will cause them to pile on the pounds. We recommend making sure treats don’t take up more than 10% of your pet’s daily food allowance. Find out more about how to give your pet all the ingredients for a happy, healthy life with our Weigh Up advice.
What ingredients you’ll need
You can be rest assured that there will be no complicated method to this recipe – just throw in some ingredients with some love and care.
Ingredients:
This recipe will make 20 biscuits.
- 55g grated carrots
- 60g applesauce (must not contain the sweetener Xylitol/birch sugar as this is toxic to dogs)
- 145g canned pumpkin (or pure pumpkin puree)
- 160g rice flour
- 25g oats
- 20g plain flour for rolling
Instructions for making homemade pet treats
Step 1
Before you prepare your ingredients, heat your oven up to 150°C (Gas mark 2).
Step 2
Then, pick up your carrots, applesauce and pumpkin to blend them all together. You can use a processor, blender or a whisk to do this – just make sure that the texture is smooth.
Step 3
After this, mix the rice flour and oats into a bowl. Add in the carrots, applesauce and pumpkin mixture to begin forming the dough.
Step 4
Scatter plain flour on a cutting board or a smooth surface. Then, place the dough on the surface and begin rolling it until it’s about ¼ inch thick. You can use a rolling pin or a smooth bottle to roll out the dough.
Step 5
Cut out cookies into 20 equal shapes using your favourite cookie cutter. Alternatively, you can free hand your cookie shapes or use small household items, such as a bottle lid, to cut out the shape.
Step 6
Finally, bake for 12 minutes on a baking tray using greaseproof paper or non-stick cooking foil, turning just after the halfway point.
Once cooked, wait until cooled to serve. A batch of cookies baked like this is too much for one pet, so be sure to freeze and store the remaining cookies for later. If you made your cookies quite big, make sure that you break up the biscuit so that your pet can eat easily.
Proposed guidance:
- Cats can have half a biscuit daily, with their food reduced by 10%
- Dogs under 15kg can have one biscuit daily, with their food reduced by 10%
- Dogs over 15kg can have two biscuits daily, with their food reduced by 10%
There you have a homemade pet treat for your four-legged friend!
Read next: Is it okay to dress up my pet?
FAQS
Is it safe to give my pet human food?
Unless using a Vet-approved recipe, feeding human food is not recommended. Human food can cause your pet to put on weight, be bad for their teeth, or make them unwell; some ingredients are also highly toxic.
How many biscuits can my pet have?
We all love our pets, and it can be tempting to show them how much by ‘treating’ them to tasty extras. However, too many treats can lead to your four-legged friend putting on weight, making them unhappy and unhealthy.
We recommend making sure treats don’t take up more than 10% of your pet’s daily food allowance – and their usual food will need reducing by the same amount to make sure they aren’t over eating. The calories in these biscuits have been calculated by our Vet teams - cats can have half a biscuit a day, dogs under 15kg can have one biscuit a day, and dogs over 15kg can have two biscuits a day, with their daily food allowance reduced by 10%.
Does my pet need treats?
Your furry companion does not need pet treats and will be perfectly fine without them. However, there is no problem with giving your pet a healthy treat to promote positive behaviour or reward them – just make sure you treat them in moderation and that you are not overfeeding them. Remember you can also show your love or reward them with extra fun-filled playtime, a new toy, extra snuggles or even a good groom!
What is a good pet treat?
As previously mentioned, treats are not essential in your pets’ diet – but can reinforce positive training or reward good behaviour. Just make sure that you are giving them treats in moderation and balancing their diet.
In terms of a good pet treats, aside from this recipe, pet safe fruit and veg can be a healthy snack for your four-legged companions, or you can try some steam-cooked chicken or a flake of white fish.! For dog owners, check out our more here. Cat owners will be able to find safe fruit and veg for their pet here.