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Hot summer days have our cats hiding in the shade and our dogs panting up a storm. Cool them down with these simple and delicious frozen treats that will offer extra hydration and mental enrichment!
Ice Cube Treats
These cat or dog ice cube tray treats are the perfect simple frozen snack to make with whatever you already have in your pantry and a plain old ice cube tray!
Start by choosing a base liquid: unsalted chicken broth for a meaty flavor, goat’s milk for a creamy treat, or good old water. Then choose your pet-safe mix-ins like fruits, veggies, or a scoop of their favorite wet food. Either give it all a quick blitz in the blender for a smooth finish or keep it as is for a chunky texture as your pet licks their way through.
Pour your mix into an ice cube tray or a fun-shaped silicone mold. If you want, this is the time to add a surprise to the middle of each cube like a berry or small treat! You can also cover the tray with tin foil and poke popsicle sticks into each cube for the classic pupsicle experience. Let the treats freeze for a few hours or overnight until frozen solid.
Serve them up to your pet outside or on a towel to collect the drips as they lick their way through the ice cube to find all the delicious goodies inside and get a big boost of hydration at the same time!
Frozen Toys & Lick Mats
Use your pet’s toys to turn a snack into an engaging activity! For pets who like a slower pace, try smearing an easy-to-wash silicone lick mat with their favorite soft, creamy wet food like these silky pâtés for cats. Pop it in the freezer for an hour or until frozen and then let your pet take their time licking every morsel off the mat—and cooling their body down. Flat lick mats are especially great for cats who experience whisker fatigue from bowls and deep toys!
For tough chewers and playful pets, try stuffing a hollow rubber dog toy like a Kong or Toppl with their dinner before freezing it! You can use dedicated puppy toys for teething pups to make sure they’re not too tough on their baby teeth. Fill the toy up with their favorite wet food or a kibble soaked with water or broth (like this kibble that’s coated with bone broth for extra deliciousness).
The best part of using a toy is that you can stuff them with hearty chunks of meat and vegetables for your pet to uncover without losing a morsel. Serving up dinner this way will slow down speedy eaters and burn energy as they lick and chew their way through dinner!
Frozen Tube Treats
Remember those rainbow-colored ice pops you would grab from the freezer on a hot summer day when you were a kid? Bring that joy to your pets by tossing some of their favorite tube treats into the freezer! Keep them in the freezer for 30 minutes or so for a slushy texture or let them freeze solid for a lickable treat. Tear off the top and let them get to licking an effortless cat or dog cooling treat.
Frozen Yogurt Drops
These simple homemade dog treats or cat treats are easy to customize to your pet’s palate! The base ingredient is plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt which is high in calcium and protein and low in lactose, making it gentle on the stomach. Add your yogurt to a blender or food processor and then choose your flavorful mix-ins!
Try ripe bananas or frozen berries for a sweet treat. A scoop of nut butter creates the perfect frozen creamy peanut butter dog treats! Pumpkin puree gives a little boost to their digestion with every bite. For the avid carnivores, a few spoonfuls of wet food will add protein and the meaty flavor they crave.
Mix and match your add-ins for a flavor your pet will love and then blend everything smooth! Add dollops of your yogurt mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can add spoonfuls for bigger treats or pipe smaller dots of yogurt with a piping bag or a plastic sandwich baggie with the corner snipped off to create perfectly bite-sized cat or dog training treats for hot weather.
Broth-Soaked Frozen Carrots
Looking for something your dog can really sink their teeth into? It turns out that a plain old carrot might just become your dog’s new favorite summer toy!
Soak whole carrots in a dish of broth for a few hours or overnight. You can use chicken broth, beef broth, or better yet bone broth for a big nutritional boost. Whatever kind of broth you choose, just make sure you use a plain, unseasoned broth without any added salt. After the broth has soaked in and the carrots have absorbed all that meaty flavor, pop them in a freezer-safe bag and put them in your freezer.
Once frozen, each carrot becomes the perfect natural dog chew for your pooch to gnaw on! Carrots are gentle on the teeth, making them a great puppy teething toy or chew for sensitive teeth. These are a safer alternative to chews made of rawhide, bone, or plastic, and your dog can eat every last tasty morsel.
With these basic recipes under your belt, you can experiment with flavors and ingredients to find combos that are irresistible to your unique pet! Best of all, every recipe will help to keep your cats and dogs cool this summer. Just don’t be surprised if you start hearing more meows and woofs for pupsicles coming from the kitchen…
Looking for more pet-friendly recipes? Try this cupcake recipe that makes the perfect dog birthday cake for all the good dogs out there.
