Homemade Cat Treats (Tuna & Catnip)

We spend a lot of money on treats for our lovely cat Molly moo.

Picture for you:

Homemade cat treats

She’s a gorgeous short haired tortoiseshell.

I’m not overly precious about what I eat but I do care what she eats as it’s not like she can decide she doesn’t like or is allergic to things to and tell me!

Therefore, the recipe challenge for this week was to find a recipe where I could make and entirely control what she was eating. I figured it’s probably best to start slowly as cat food itself I presume is designed to give cat’s a balanced diet (or that’s what the vet said anyway).

I found a lot of recipes but equally I didn’t want to try something I know she’s never eaten before just in case.

So this is a combination of a few recipes I found and trusted:

Ingredients:

• 200g of oat flour
• 100g cornmeal
• 1 large tin of drained tuna
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of cat nip

Method:

1. The best way to make oat flour if you can’t find it is to grind down using a food processor some porridge oats
2. Mix everything else in with the ground oats and keep blending until reach a relatively dry and non-sticky mixture
3. I tried two methods of shaping which is rolling into little balls and pressing into a baking tin and cut into small squares
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 190 degrees c but make sure they are completely cooked so they will store nicely dried out

It was a good sign that Molly was walking up and down in front of the oven like she does when we have a chicken in the oven.

Initial thoughts are that she loves them but I think maybe they won’t last that long in the jar as they are made of fish. I’ll keep them for the next couple of weeks and feedback on how we get on.

Here’s a lovely jar you can buy to store them in:

https://amzn.to/3yzZb8q

Jam jar labels:

https://amzn.to/3Ti9OV0

Some Cat Nip:

https://amzn.to/3rQZjMS

Pom Poms for Molly Moo Cat

As promised earlier in the week I said I’d share some of my crafting activities for Molly Moo Cat.

I was taught how to make pom poms by my mum when I very little but not until fairly recently that they came back into fashion. I’ve seen little plastic tools in shops you can buy now to make them but I’ve never tried them.

The traditional method is to get some plain flat card such as the back of a cereral box. Cut in half to make double the thickness. Place on a flat surface and draw around something round such as a wine glass or bowl cut a circular shape. This will be the size of your pom pom. Place a smaller circle such as an egg cup in the centre and draw around. Cut out the two rings of cards. This is your base.

Grab a ball of wool and cut into long strips. I use the wool that is made up of rainbow colours so you get a mix of colours. Tie a piece of wool around the each or the ring and then loop the wool through the centre and around the outside and then repeat over and over. The aim is to cover the rings with wool until there is no more room in the centre circle. Keeping the wool in strips means you can squeeze the residual wool through the centre hole. 

Once it’s full up grab some scissors and cut around the edge of the card pushing the scissors between the two rings. Do it carefully and keep the card together. Grab an extra piece of wool and wrap it around the card between the two pieces where you just cut and tie in a tight knot. Therefore, you have tied all the pieces together. You can now remove the cards and fluff up the pom pom into a nice round shape. Use some scissors to cut off any extra fluffy bits and make the pom pom really round.

Now technically pom poms made of wool are not meant for cats so you really shouldn’t let them eat the wool but my cat loves to play with them and push them around. It’s a good tip to leave the last wrap around piece really long as you can dangle the pom pom from their scratching post or any other fun spot.

Repeat until you have a house full of pom poms and a happy cat…

If you want to do this here’s a link to some wool to buy:

https://amzn.to/3TkwnbW

Growing Cat Grass for Molly Moo Cat

Ever since I’ve had my cat Molly Moo (who you have met before in Blog https://modernmrsbeeton.blog/2017/04/13/pom-poms-for-molly-moo-cat/) I’ve regularly grown her Cat Grass. Cat Grass is really good for digestion in cats and often I’ve seen Molly when she’s had a big meal or seeming a bit lazy go straight for her grass and then she’s running around like a crazy lady in no time. Apparently if you have a long haired cat, it can also really help with furballs but Molly is short haired, so I have no experience of this.

You can buy seeds pretty much anywhere, but I’ve included an Amazon link below.

Simply grab a plant pot with potting compost; add a layer of seeds and water Then grow like wildfire and are super resilient.

A few tips are to sow them densely as Molly likes a good chomp across a few blades at once; remember to water and give them sunlight. Don’t make the mistake of leaving them out in your garden unless you enjoy other cats visiting (but you may well like this!). I also like the plant pot method rather than just sewing into your flower beds as Molly can then have it inside on a rainy day and you can keep them controlled.

https://amzn.to/3T0EwSV​

Pom Poms for Molly Moo Cat

As promised earlier in the week I said I’d share some of my crafting activities for Molly Moo Cat.

I was taught how to make pom poms by my mum when I very little but not until fairly recently that they came back into fashion. I’ve seen little plastic tools in shops you can buy now to make them but I’ve never tried them.

The traditional method is to get some plain flat card such as the back of a cereral box. Cut in half to make double the thickness. Place on a flat surface and draw around something round such as a wine glass or bowl cut a circular shape. This will be the size of your pom pom. Place a smaller circle such as an egg cup in the centre and draw around. Cut out the two rings of cards. This is your base.

Grab a ball of wool and cut into long strips. I use the wool that is made up of rainbow colours so you get a mix of colours. Tie a piece of wool around the each or the ring and then loop the wool through the centre and around the outside and then repeat over and over. The aim is to cover the rings with wool until there is no more room in the centre circle. Keeping the wool in strips means you can squeeze the residual wool through the centre hole. 

Once it’s full up grab some scissors and cut around the edge of the card pushing the scissors between the two rings. Do it carefully and keep the card together. Grab an extra piece of wool and wrap it around the card between the two pieces where you just cut and tie in a tight knot. Therefore, you have tied all the pieces together. You can now remove the cards and fluff up the pom pom into a nice round shape. Use some scissors to cut off any extra fluffy bits and make the pom pom really round.

Now technically pom poms made of wool are not meant for cats so you really shouldn’t let them eat the wool but my cat loves to play with them and push them around. It’s a good tip to leave the last wrap around piece really long as you can dangle the pom pom from their scratching post or any other fun spot.

Repeat until you have a house full of pom poms and a happy cat…

 

Molly Moo Cat

Introducing Molly Moo Cat

I am starting some crafts and recipes this week for my cat…. I did say that, for my cat. What you need to understand is Molly; Molly Moo Cat; aka Mollywobbles is the most pampered Cat in the Universe.

I’ll give you an example. This weekend was super sunny and for England you get this type of nice weather maybe a few weekends a year so you have to take advantage of them. So what did I do…. Yes, myself and my lovely other half went for a walk in the park ; fed the ducks and stopped to grab some lunch in sunshine but I also set up a paddling pool. Not a cat specific pool but a small child’s pool filled with cold water. I have no delusions that a cat will merrily jump in water and swim away (or actually if watch some amazing Youtube videos you learn this isn’t necessarily true) but I just like her to stay hydrated in the heat. Molly beautifully obliges and immediately drinks like a fish from the pool.

Molly is super special in the weirdest kinds of way. Firstly she doesn’t really like other cats and it has been my suspicion since she was a kitten that she actually thinks she is a human. When I first got her she was abandoned and incredibly nervous so she wouldn’t go outside, not that she could for her few weeks as I lived in an apartment. When eventually she got the chance to go outside she would only go to the end of garden and even now she runs around the house as I will only let her out of the back of office right around the block and the mews at the front door, not realising she can walk back the way she came. Crazy cat.

She also has her own bed and I don’t mean a cat bed, a human bed. A full day bed from Ikea placed in the dining room. She uses it to be in an artfully high position, as most cats enjoy.

So please forgive me if I post a lot about Molly Moo but do understand that she is ridiculously important to me. I do a lot of crazy things for her so I figured I might as well add them to the blog. Crafts planned this week are to make pom poms and build new house for her.