DIY Cool Cat Treats For The Dog Days of Summer

Cool Cat Treats

It is hard to believe that summer is coming to an end when these last days have been the hottest of the entire season.  With temperatures in the 90’s and high humidity, these are definitely the dog days of summer.  Annie, Eddie and Mercy love spending time in the sun room but on these hottest days they need something to help them keep cool.

I used a cute Fish Ice Cube Tray but you could use any ice cube tray you have around your house.  Annie was curious about the ice cube tray and she inspected it thoroughly to make sure it was ready to be filled with water.

We have a Reverse Osmosis Water Filtration System so I use the filtered water and filled the fish shapes about half full.  I got Mercy’s approval to go to the next step.

Here’s where things might get a little tricky.  Place your cat’s favorite treats in a bowl beside the ice tray half full of water. Make sure your cat doesn’t eat all the treats in the bowl.  Eddie pounced right away.  He didn’t want to wait until they were frozen into the center of the fish cubes.

Once you politely ask your cat to not chomp all the treats in the bowl, you then sprinkle the treats in the water filled fish shapes. Annie quickly took Eddie’s place sampling the treats. If you have any treats left, finish filling the fish shapes with treats.

Once you have the treats placed into the fish shapes, your fish ice treats are ready to go into the freezer.   I tried not to fill the fish shapes too full because I didn’t want the cats to get too discouraged trying to get the treat out of the ice once frozen.

Place the fish shaped tray into the freezer. Don’t worry, Annie is only demonstrating how cold the freezer is, she did not go into the freezer with the treats.  Once frozen, the treats are ready to come out of the freezer.

They are easy to remove from the ice cube tray. They just pop right out.  I put them into another container with a lid and place them back into the freezer until we are ready to give the cats their treats.

After receiving Annie’s approval, I selected a few of the frozen fish shaped treats for the cats to enjoy.  These treats are a good size for the cats.  They are about 1.5 inches in length, 1/2 inch width and 1/2 inch in height.  This size makes it easy for the cats to swat around with their paws and small enough for them to carry in their mouth if they choose.  These small shapes melt rather quickly so the cats stay engaged in play until they get their reward of a treat in the center of the fish cube.

You can mix up what you put into the cool cat treats. Maybe some  tuna juice, some of their wet food, pieces of chicken or any other treat your cat might like.

Ice Fishing in the Sun Room

I placed  some of the frozen fish shaped ice treats into a larger rectangular container and took them out into the sun room.  This keeps most of the water in the container, but like Annie, your cat might carry a fish or two off to play with it on the floor.  The sun room has a tile floor so I don’t mind if the ice melts.  I just clean it up the water a little later.

It didn’t take long for Eddie to join in the fun.  The kittens, I know they aren’t really kittens anymore but they always will be to us,  had such a good time playing and then eating their treats.  The fish shaped ice treats were a big hit with Annie and Eddie.  This is also a great way to get your cat to take in a little extra water to help them stay hydrated.

Mercy ate his fill of treats before they were placed into the fish shape and frozen. He watched Annie and Eddie playing with the ice treats with the proper amount of disdain.

Do you make frozen treats for your cats?