What better way to spend Valentine’s than showing a little love for your furry family members? We’ve rounded up some of our favourite Valentine’s treats that you can make for your cat, dog or backyard birds.  These recipes are a great way to cook up something fun with your kids that’ll have your pets begging for more.

Purrfectly lovely:
One of the great things about making pet treats for cats and dogs is that they involve a lot of the fun of baking, without the temptation of baked goods lying around.  These salmon cat treats are easy to put together for your favourite feline, as are these tuna ones—little kids will enjoy stirring and cutting out these treats, while bigger kids can run the show with measuring and baking. If you lack a small heart-shaped cookie cutter (or have many small chefs clamouring to use the same cutter) break out some plastic bottle caps: they’re the perfect size for cutting out cat-sized cookies.

I woof you:
We love making our rescue pup his very own biscuits and it’s surprisingly easy to do: these two ingredient dog biscuits are easy for kids to put together and they're a hit with four-footed friends. If you’re cooking with very small kids, we recommend these banana bites: they’re a great dog treat, but they’re fine for kids to eat too. For older kids, try these fancier dog biscuits using your favourite bone-shaped or heart-shaped cookie cutter. Or, treat your pup to a romantic homemade dinner with this dog food recipe (surprise: it’s packed with vegetables).
   
For the birds:
No pets? No problem. Show Mother Nature a little love with an easy-to-make bird feeder (or two!). Whether you hang your feeders in your garden or up on a balcony, you’re sure to make some feathered friends.  Many of the recipes we found call for birdseed and gelatin; but if you don’t have those in your pantry, your family can still make a simple feeder. Just take a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and use it to cut a pretty heart shape out of a piece of toast, or a slice of crisp green apple. Slather it in peanut butter, and poke a hole through it to insert a pipe cleaner or ribbon. Then, hang and enjoy! If you have time for slightly more prep, we love this heart-shaped seed feeder, and this bird feeder tutorial for toddlers is wonderful. If your kids are really ambitious, you can find many more great ideas here (we love the ice-cream cone feeder!)

Worked up an appetite celebrating Valentine’s with your pets? We’ve got lovely lazy Valentine’s Sunday brunch ideas ...and a Valentine's pizza party tutorial that’ll take a little pizza your heart! We’d love to see heart-melting photos of your four-footed (or feathered!) Valentine's Day companions, so please post your purr-fect pics over on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.