Homemade cat food
Tuna & Pumpkin Bites
Soft baked bites of tuna and plain pumpkin — a little added fibre makes these a gentle favourite for fussy eaters.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 30 min
- Makes
- About 24 small bites
🧺 Ingredients
- 1 small tin (about 80 g) tuna in spring water, drained well
- 2 tbsp plain tinned pumpkin (100% pumpkin, not pie filling)
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp plain rolled oats, blitzed to a coarse flour
👩🍳 Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking tray with parchment.
- Mash the drained tuna and pumpkin together until fairly smooth.
- Mix in the egg and oat flour to form a soft, sticky dough.
- Roll into pea-sized balls and flatten slightly onto the tray.
- Bake for 15–18 minutes until firm and lightly golden, then cool completely before serving.
Nutrition: Tuna keeps these bites strongly aromatic and protein-forward, while a spoonful of pumpkin adds gentle fibre and helps bind the mixture without relying on much grain.
📝 Notes
Use tuna packed in water, never brine or oil, and drain it thoroughly to keep the salt down. Pumpkin adds a little soluble fibre that many cats tolerate well, but keep these as an occasional treat under 10% of daily calories. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for a month.
⚕️ Before you cook for your cat
- Homemade food must be balanced. Cats need taurine, and deficiency causes heart and eye disease.
- Treat recipes are supplements to a complete diet, not a replacement for it.
- Check any new ingredient against the toxic-foods list, and ask your vet before switching diets.