Pet Treats You Can Make in a Flash

Many people have pets and with all the bad treat recalls, why not learn to make them ourselves and save money and the health and lives of our pets?   Here are some good recipes from a trusted veterinarian. 

Nutritious, Delicious Pet Treats You Can Make in a Flash

By Dr. Karen Becker

Pets love treats! And pet parents love being able to offer them to four-legged family members. Unfortunately, the majority of commercial pet treats, while yummy tasting to dogs and cats, are neither species-appropriate nor do they contain high quality ingredients. In fact, most species-appropriate pet treats won't remotely resemble the cute and colorful dog biscuits and cookies you may be used to seeing on store shelves.

Forming treats into tiny dog bone or fish shapes requires the use of undesirable ingredients like grains and other starches, not to mention fillers, preservatives, sugar, and other additives. Wouldn't it be great to be able to offer delicious, delectable treats to your pet that also provide your dog or cat with species-appropriate nutrition? I certainly think it would be, so I asked my team to keep their eyes open for some excellent alternatives to the usual pet treat fare.

I'm sharing a few of the results of our research with my readers here at Mercola Healthy Pets. I hope these recipes, tips and ideas will inspire you to make those treat calories count by offering nutritious, biologically appropriate snacks to your furry loved ones.

Story at-a-glance

• Most popular commercial pet treats are loaded with grains and starches, sugar, preservatives and other ingredients that don’t promote the health of dogs and cats.
• Rather than offer empty, biologically inappropriate calories to their dog or cat, many pet parents are looking for alternative, healthier treats.
• To answer that need, we’ve found several easy-to-make, nutritious, species-appropriate pet treat recipes we think your dog or cat will love.
• We’re also including a great tip on how to turn pet food into pet treats, and some ideas for healthy pet treats that are already in your fridge or pantry.
• And remember… treats should be fed only occasionally and in very small amounts. Otherwise, the calories from treats add up fast and before you know it, your pet is overweight or obese.

Super Easy Nutritious Pet Treat Recipes
Click Here to see the recipes that Dr. Karen Becker shares!

Here is one of the recipes:

Crunchy Beef Cubes

What you'll need:

• 1 pound lean beef
• Baking sheet covered with baking parchment

To prepare:

• Dice beef into half-inch cubes
• Place cubes close together on baking sheet
• Put baking sheet into cold oven and heat oven to 300^oF
• Cook for 1 hour
• Reduce oven temperature to 200^oF and prop open oven door (to allow moisture to escape)
• Continue cooking for 2 additional hours
• Remove beef cubes from oven and allow to dry overnight at room temperature
• Place beef cubes in airtight container and keep refrigerated or frozen until ready to serve

Additional Ideas for Quick-and-Easy Pet Treats

Don't count out people food when it comes to offering healthy treats to your pet. Fed in moderation (meaning fed only occasionally, and in very small amounts – no more than a 1/8 inch square for a cat or small dog and no more than a ¼ inch square for a bigger dog), any of the following items from your kitchen can provide a nutritious snack for your dog or cat:

• Fruit
• Cheese
• Raw almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts
• Blueberries
• Frozen peas

No matter what treats you feed, they should be counted as part of your dog's or cat's daily caloric intake. It's easy to imagine, as you're handing a tiny morsel of this or that to your pet, that those extra calories are inconsequential in such small amounts.
Most pet owners would be surprised at just how many extra calories a treat here and there can add to a pet's daily energy intake.