Box of 'Chocolates' for cats and dogs

This a super simple way of making your pet treats for a special occasion. I got the idea for these because it was my friends dogs birthday and thought it would be cute to give a unique present. The great part about these treats is that you can alter them to suit you pets needs, taste and dietary requirements.

Below I'll give an example of the ingredients I used for both cats and dogs. 

For dogs you will need:

• Empty box of chocolates 
• Half a banana
• Their normal wet/dry food
• Coconut oil 
• Peanut butter (100% peanuts)
• Carrot/apple

For cats you will need:

• Empty box of chocolates 
• Their normal wet food
• Coconut oil
• Treats/dry food
• Pinch of grated mozzarella 

How make these treats:

• Combine your chosen ingredients in a bowl.
• Spoon the mixture into the empty tray.
• Decorate the treats with carrots, apple or treats/ dry food.
• Leave in the freezer for at least 3 hours or overnight.

   

*Tips*-  You can hide things like supplements inside the treats as long as freezing or chilling does not compromise /alter the nutritional value. 

            - Adding hot water to the mixture or heating coconut oil in the microwave will help with mixing.

Training cats

Yes, cats can be trained just like dogs can. People have been so shocked when I've told them  that my cats can sit and give the paw.
They are all desperate to know how I taught them, the answer is pretty boring.... 'Just like dogs'.
In truth you can teach pretty much any animal using the same techniques I talked about in my Training Basics post

It's no well kept secret or anything you just need to know a few basics like what motivates them  to work/learn. I've taught other animals like goats, donkeys, guanaco and even a turkey and chickens to do tricks. Believe it or not even goldfish can be taught to do tricks( and remember them lol).



So why do people think cats can't be taught?
Well because we had dogs. Dogs have a much longer history with us and nearly every breed originally had a job, which involved some degree of training/teaching.
Cats on the other hand starting hanging around us to kill rats and mice for food, which we appreciated so we kept them around, now we keep cats for companionship for the most part. Things are slowly changing for cats, and we are even starting to see them as service animals. This is something I'm excited about as it does wonders for changing peoples conceptions of cats as 'disloyal' or 'sneaky' etc.

If you enjoyed this post please feel free to subscribe for posts about cats and dogs.
Can your cat do any tricks? Leave me a comment down below.

Peanut and Banana dog cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 teaspoons of coconut oil 
• 1 teaspoon of parsley
• Half a mug of white rice
• 6 tablespoons of oats
• 2 bananas
• 3 teaspoons of peanut butter (100% pure peanuts)
• 1 heaped tablespoon of uncooked rice

Leah exercising self-control

Recipe:

• Boil the kettle

• Add half a mug of rice to a pot

• When the kettle is boiled, fill the same mug with hot water and add to the pot

• Turn to a high heat and when it reaches boiling point turn off and leave to cool.

• Preheat your oven to 200° C /390° F

• In a large bowl add the coconut oi, peanut butter, parsley, oats, peeled bananas, uncooked rice- mix and mash all the ingredients together. 

• Line a baking tray with tin foil

• Melt some coconut oil in the microwave and pour/spread over the tin foil

• Add the cooked rice to the bowl and mix.

• Shape as desired and put on the baking tray.

• Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

• Leave to cool

• You can 'ice' the treats with peanut butter if you like. 

If you have large dogs and small dogs/cats then the shape I used for the treats could serve as a great portion size. The heart shaped part of the paw for large dogs and the 'toes' for small dogs/cats.

These homemade treats are fairly healthy for dogs, the coconut oil has many benefits including promoting a glossy coat and it could even help with arthritis.
The parsley could help with 'doggy breath'.
Peanut butter is a source of protein and contains vitamin E.
The oats are a good source of fibre.


Use a peanut butter that is low in sugar or and ideally sugar free and that does not contain xylitol (this is toxic to dogs)

Remember when feeding this cookies that they are a treat, and to feed in moderation.

Check out our Youtube video of when we made these treats and see what our gang thought of them: https://youtu.be/_mXkknsql80

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