Cat Birthday Cake

Treat your felines to this cat birthday cake made with pate, catnip, and a mashed potato “frosting!” It’s easy to make and customizable, so even your pickiest kitties will love it!

I’m so excited to be sharing my first cat recipe! If you have a dog as well, you’ll have to try this dog birthday cake or pupcakes!

Birthday Cake for Cats

Today’s recipe is for all of the feline friends in your household! Whether it’s their birthday or you just want to treat them to something special, this cute homemade cake is the way to go. My sister’s cats are pretty picky when it comes to treats, but even they loved it! The great thing is, this cat birthday cake is easy to customize so if there’s something you know your cat won’t like, you can just swap it out! (I’ve included some variations below!)

The “filling” of the cake is made with pate. You can use any kind you want! To make it extra enticing, I blended up some cat treats into a fine powder and mixed it in. From there, all you have to do is frost the cake with some plain mashed potatoes and then decorate it however you’d like! Cut it into slices and voila! You have the perfect cat birthday cake to share with your fur babies. Even dogs can enjoy a slice!

Everything You’ll Need to Make It

This is everything you’ll need to make the filling, frosting, and then decorate the cat birthday cake with. If you know your kitty doesn’t like one of the following ingredients, feel free to swap it out. Note: exact measurements are in the recipe card below.

Dry Cat Treats: Some of these will be blended into a powder and added to the cat food. Be sure to also save extra for decorating! I used Temptations cat treats but any type will work.
Canned Pate Cat Food: I recommend staying away from shreds or anything too liquid-y so your cake can hold its shape.
Plain Instant Mashed Potatoes: Plain is key here! You don’t want any extra seasonings or spices added, as they can upset your cat’s digestive system.
Catnip: (For topping) Not only gives the cake a decorative touch, but makes it more irresistible to your cats.

How to Make a Cat Birthday Cake

It’s so simple, anyone can do it! My kids love to help with frosting and decorating.

Cat Treat Powder: Use a blender, spice grinder, or food processor to blend the cat treats into a fine powder.
Pate Mixture: Add the pate (without the liquid, if there is any) and powdered cat treats to a bowl and mix until combined.
Shape: Scoop the mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap and wrap tightly, so the cat food mixture forms a puck or a ball, depending on how you want to shape your cake. You can chill it like this, or you can carefully press the mixture (still wrapped in plastic) into a bowl, ramekin, or mold, to make it a specific shape. I used a 4-ounce ramekin for mine.
Chill: Let it chill in the fridge for 30-40 minutes to make sure it maintains its shape.
Transfer to Serving Plate: Once chilled, remove the cake from the plastic wrap and place it on your chosen serving plate.
Frost: Use an offset spatula to “frost” the cat cake with the instant mashed potatoes. You may also use a piping bag and piping tips to pipe decorative borders. If your potatoes are too soft or too thick, you can adjust the consistency by adding either another teaspoon of instant potatoes or another teaspoon of water until it spreads and pipes just right for you.
Decorate: Sprinkle a pinch or two of catnip on to act as sprinkles and decorate with cat treats.

4-photo collage of cake filling being prepared and frosted with mashed potato frosting.

Tips and Variations

This cat birthday cake recipe is very adaptable to your cat’s individual tastes!

Switch Up the Pate: The canned cat food can be whatever cat food your kitty loves, as long as it’s a pate. Tuna, chicken, salmon, you name it! The other wet cat foods have too much liquid and will not form a cake as they are supposed to.
Use Different Treats: As long as the cat treats can be blended into powder, use whichever brand you have on hand.
Adjust Consistency: The instant potato “frosting” should be pretty thick. It’s best to mix water into it a little at a time until it’s a good consistency to spread. If it has too much water and is sloughing off the cake, you can add some more dry instant potatoes to thicken it back up.
Different Frosting: Instead of mashed potatoes, you can also use pumpkin or sweet potato puree.
Ramekin Alternatives: If you don’t have a ramekin, you can use a small bowl or Tupperware to shape the cake.
Add Toppings: Decorate with your favorite cat treats! Garnish with a sardine or tiny canned shrimp. Press catnip all around the outside of the cake to act as sprinkles. Have fun making this the ultimate kitty cake!

A cat birthday cake with a blue candle on it. There is a purple party hat in the background.

Storing Leftovers

You can feed this to your cat in “slices” instead of all at once. Slice off what you want to serve and store the rest of the cat birthday cake in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day.