I love making treats for the pets, almost as much as I love things that are easy to make. Sometimes I’m in a complicated mood, and sometimes I’m in a lazy mood. This month, I’m lazy.
As you know, I’ve started a torrid love affair with my dehydrator, using it to suck the water out of everything I can get my hands on in the house like a hydrophilic vampire. The chicken jerky treats went over very well, so I figured, hey, let’s make some Valentine’s Day treats while we’re at it where I don’t have to turn the oven on.
Sweet potatoes cut with a heart shaped cutter are as easy as it gets.
Though no one will blame you if you want to spice things up with a little bit of cinnamon. These are great not only because they’re easy, but in small bits they are relatively low-calorie and a veggie that is rarely allergenic.
Be still, my tangerine heart. One for you, one for me, sweet potatoes are super yummy.
Now, if you want to get fancy, and a little grosser, you can also continue experimenting with meat. I took some thinly sliced beef and cut it into little strips to evaluate its performance in the dehydrator.
But you know, it’s Valentine’s Day, so before you put it in to dry, you should arrange it in festive patterns by poking it into heart shapes.
OK, the resulting jerky hearts are not the most cosmetic of treats, looking more like actual dried out hearts than the adorable meaty love-nibbles I had in mind, but I can tell you of two dogs in the house who didn’t care that it looked like something you might find in a serial killer’s pantry. They loved the effort. And the meat.
Are you doing anything for your pet for Valentine’s Day?
It’s a big weekend for those of us who like to sit by the TV and eat. One, the AKC/Eukanuba show airs on Saturday, so I’ll be glued to the screen jumping up and down every time I spot myself on TV. And of course, the next day is that most festive of sports events, the Super Bowl.
It’s fair to say I am ambivalent at best about football, so the question here is not so much “Team Pats” versus “Team Giants” as it is “Team Game” versus “Team Commercials.” I for one, am of the latter persuasion. After all, there’s no dogs in the game, unless you somehow manage to convince your significant other that the Puppy Bowl is fine to watch at the same time.
But I don’t let that stop me from eating my way through the show. That’s the best part. And because I don’t want the dogs to feel left out of the junk food bacchanalia, and I’m afraid if I don’t have something for them someone will slip them some seven layer dip, I decided to create their very own Dog Nachos to get them through the day.
Nachos are not rocket science. There is no high level of culinary talent or expenditure required to create a plate of nachos. All you need is something crunchy, some sort of gooey meat substance, and a topping. Which works out perfectly, since I happened to have all three on hand:
Step two: Arrange artfully. Done. Best served immediately, since they smell exactly like how you would expect them to smell.
And that smell is delicious, at least if you are a dog.
And do dogs like dog nachos?
I think it is safe to say, dogs really like dog nachos.
STEP OFF, CAT! These are DOG nachos! (pawcurious is not responsible for your dog going all Cartman on the cat when dog nachos are around.)
I mean it, cat. MINE.
Hey, wait a minute…
Of course, the cleverest of dogs do not waste time chasing cats off, but take advantage of the distraction to hone in on the plate and clear it off. Touchdown Team Labrador!
So what team are you? Pats, Giants, or commercials?
Chicken jerky is one of those things I had never even thought of trying to make until recently. I know my dogs love it, and until the FDA put out multiple warnings about how imported jerky was making pets ill it was something I included in their treat regimen.
About a year ago I got a dehydrator, in one of my occasional crunchy fits of health (it never lasts.) I used it a handful of times and then let it sit on the counter. A few weeks ago, I thought I would try and figure out how to make my own chicken jerky with some chicken that had been languishing in the freezer, and guess what: it is, like, the easiest thing in the world to do. (more…)
Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days in the veterinary ER, which should surprise none of you. The very first Thanksgiving I had Emmett, he dug the turkey carcass out of the trash and settled down for a little leftovers. Luckily he left a disgusting trail of grease from the kitchen, across the living room and up the (carpeted) stairs so I managed to find him before he did too much damage, but Thanksgiving is a time of excess and gluttony for all of us, and for pets unaccustomed to the traditional rich foods of the holiday, it can lead to trouble.
Not to say you can’t give your pet some judiciously chosen Thanksgiving treats, as long as your pet is otherwise in good health. Choose wisely.
Foods to Avoid
1. Bones. Cooked poultry bones are exceptionally brittle and can easily splinter in your pet’s stomach, leading to a painful bellyache, a blockage, or even an emergency surgery.
2. Turkey skin. The fat is the problem here- most pets on commercial diets just aren’t accustomed to sudden high levels of fat in the GI system, which can lead to the pancreas essentially overreacting and the very painful, dangerous condition known as pancreatitis.
3. Cheeses and sausages. The same reasoning as above, with fat being the culprit. Keep that Hickory Farms gift box up high.
4. Alcohol. Not that I think any of you would actually do this, but yes, people try to get their pet drunk on purpose sometimes, and it’s not nice. Have you ever seen a hungover Yorkie? It’s awful. If you see your dopey uncle trying to give some microbrew to the family pet, you have my permission to pour the beer on his head.
5. Toxic foods. The following commonly used food items are specifically toxic to dogs and cats and shouldn’t be used in any food item they might ingest:
There are plenty of things that your pet can enjoy with you on Thanksgiving. The number one key to remember is fat is not your friend. The best way to deal with this is to set aside a small portion for your pet before you toss in the butter, cheese, or whatever Miracle Whip concoction your Great Aunt Edna insists is vital for the perfect mashed potato. So assume all these items are butter and gravy-less.
sweet potato
turkey meat sans skin
mashed potato
steamed green beans
stuffing (no onions)
corn
canned pumpkin (before you add in sugar and cream and turn it into a pie)
butternut squash
low sodium broth, which can be used in place of butter for a bit of flavor
The best thing to do is plan ahead, make sure your pet is full, and, um, in my case, get a covered trashcan. Make some pet-friendly treats ahead of time so that when you see Grandma plucking forkfuls of fat-laden cheeseball out to give to Sparky, you can cut her off and tell her, “Why not give him a nice Brody ball instead?”
Lots of people like to cook for their pets, but most people don’t do it every single day. Of those who do, most do so because they have to, a pet with kidney disease who also has food allergies and diabetes, that sort of thing. Occasionally there is the person who just likes to do it, like the chef who makes seared sea bass for his two incredibly spoiled schnauzers every day. I admire that dedication, which is significant.
More common are people like me, those who do it every once in a while for giggles at times like Thanksgiving- and yes, I’ll be coming up with something for the dogs because why not, it’s a holiday. And then they will go back to their regular food until Christmas, when I make them gingerbread. Because cooking is a show of love, even if you only do it twice a year.
(Yes, I made those both last year in a peppermint induced fit of insanity.)
For those sorts of occasional treats, balance isn’t a big deal. But when you are making a maintenance diet, a complete and balanced diet is vital.
I recently wrote an article on the topic of home cooking for Good Dog Magazine, and rather than re-invent the wheel I’ll just give you the link because I worked on it for quite a while, and I’m very proud of it, and it has tons of information about how to go about the process if home cooking is something you’re interested in. I had to interview a bunch of people for it, which as you know is a show of journalistic effort I don’t undertake on a regular basis, so you know it’s something special.
For the article, I interviewed Dr. Sean Delaney of BalanceIt.com. Dr. Delaney is a board certified veterinary nutritionist who just happened to be a resident in training when I was a senior student at Davis, and he remains just as friendly and knowledgable and excited about nutrition as he was that day one hundred million years ago when we were in a cramped room in the hospital annex with some Flintstone-era nutrition software doing nutrition consults.
We talked about food. We talked about online recipe sites and books. We talked about kabocha squash (did you know it caused neurologic signs in a group of labradors? Brand new info here, guys. You heard it here first.) I kept the poor doc on the phone for an hour but it was so interesting, and I love nutrition topics, and I know you do too.
Dr. Delaney has since developed newer web-based versions of nutrition software that creates custom recipes for veterinarians as well as for consumers. BalanceIt has about 500 recipes to choose from, all designed by a board certified veterinary nutritionist and best of all, balanced. When clients tell me they want to cook for their pets, this is where I send them because I know they’re getting information from a trusted source. After the melamine fiasco, I’ve been mentioning this site more times than I can count.
It’s a neat site because, as you can see above, you can really customize your options. You select the protein source and the carbohydrate source, enter your pet’s age and weight, and out comes a list of choices that fit your criteria. If your pet has a medical condition, you can ask your vet to create an appropriate recipe on the section of the site that is just for veterinarians.
So here’s their gift to you all: with the holidays bearing down, perhaps you are looking for a little something special for your dog or cat’s festivus plate. Dr. Delaney is offering all pawcurious readersone free recipe from the Pet Lovers BalanceIt site- a $20 value! The diets can be made using BalanceIt supplements or human supplements- you’ll get options for both.
Just enter the code “pawcurious” at checkout. And don’t forget to give them a like over on Facebook and tell them I said hi!
Will you get the English dinner? The Surf and Turf? Which recipe are you going to try? Have you ever cooked for your pet?
by Dr. V | Sunday | November 13, 2011 | Comments are off for this post
Hey, if the stores are closed and the zombies have shut down the Target, you won’t have access to kibble. Do you know how to cook a healthy meal for your pet? Here’s a great dog-friendly breakfast recipe courtesy of Tasha Ardalan at Foxy Treats:
1 large buttercup squash
5-6 eggs
1/4c broccoli florettes
2tsp nutmeg (Dr V note: there are some reports of nutmeg causing toxicity; you may want to substitute another dog-friendly spice like a small amount of cinnamon)
shredded cheese, any kind
Cut off the stem of the buttercup so that it sits flat when upside down. Cut a hole around the blossom end of the squash (where it starts to look like a turban). Remove the cap and scoop out all of the seeds and “innards, ” leaving just the “meat” of the squash. Par-bake the squash for 30min at 350ºF. Whisk eggs and nutmeg together. While the squash is hot, fill cavity with broccoli and pour eggs into the buttercup. Top with shredded cheese. Replace the cap and bake an additional 25min. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Slice into wedges.
For more about how to cook for your dog- an AMAZING and EXHAUSTIVELY researched magazine article in Good Dog Magazine, check it out here!
Let me start with a warning: If you are in the camp that was offended by the legendary SNL Schweddy Balls skit, skip right on over the first half of this post and proceed straight to the G rated Cake Pops portion of this post, because you’re going to hate the first half.
Still here? Good.
I have been searching my local grocery establishments high and low trying to find this ice cream to no avail. I don’t know if it’s because they have refused to carry it in protest of its saucy title, or because it’s flying off the shelves faster than they can keep it in stock. Based on the Facebook chatter I’ve seen, I’m going with the latter. Nonetheless, it was a great inspiration for me to come up with today’s Baking With Brody Segment, Balls Done Two Ways. (more…)
I am, to put it mildly, really into cupcakes. I think they are amazing. Adorable, teeny tiny little bites of cake heaven in a portable handheld form. When cupcakes started coming back into fashion a couple of years ago, I sighed, knowing my waistline was doomed. In their sugary clutches, I am powerless.
I’ve sampled some of the wares from local cupcakeries, most recently the Sprinkles that opened up about a half an hour from my house- which is a relatively safe distance. This week, I discovered Pubcakes, a cupcake bakery and coffee house, a couple of blocks from one of my favorite local bistros. This could be bad.
You might think the combination of beer and cupcakes an odd one, which I did at first, so I had to sample for myself just to prove how horrible they were going to be. I was sorely disappointed in how not-bad they were when I went on Tuesday, so I had to go again on Saturday just to verify that they were, in fact, amazingly delicious. This is definitely bad.
Good for the dogs, though. With all these cupcakes around and me in a cuppy state of mind, I decided that the dogs deserved a little something for all the longing looks they were throwing me when I was most decidedly not sharing any of my people cupcakes with them. So I decided to give this recipe a whirl: (more…)
This whole thing started out simply enough. I blame it all on the Zoku, that instant popsicle maker that I finally broke down and ordered last week after coveting it for the good part of a year.
Ever since I bought the original doggie donut for Emmett back in the day, I’ve been trying to figure out how to reproduce the results. Donut in shape but granola in texture, crunchy, dog-friendly perfection. I’ve done zucchini donuts and banana donuts and granola bars, but this latest incarnation is my closest yet to perfection.
I have decided, after a bit of time off the wagon, that I again need to re-commit to a vegetarian diet. I did it once for a year, felt great, then got lazy, overcompensated with pasta and unhealthy stuff, and just decided to throw in the towel.
But I didn’t feel good about it. I did it for health, yes, but also because I wanted to make a more conscientious choice about what I eat. I wanted to avoid contributing to factory farming and the multitude of ills it visits upon the world. Finding humanely sourced meat is a big challenge in our area, and rather than making the 45 minute drive to Whole Foods I ended up going to the grocery store and getting whatever.
I don’t want to do that anymore. To be honest I don’t even really like meat all that much, at least not as much as I think I once did. I really don’t have a good reason for eating meat and lots of good reasons for not doing it. So there you go. Meat galore for the dogs and the cat, and none for me.
It’s a tremendously personal decision how one wants to nourish oneself, just as fraught with debate and self-righteousness as the decision as to how one should feed their pet. So while I am never going to be one to tell someone else what to do with their food (except my kids), I’ll be happy to ask advice from those who have been there before.
My challenges are this:
Son and husband dedicated carnivores (though the daughter could easily go veg, I think).
Staying organized enough to prepare in advance
Choosing beans and kale when mac and cheese is oh, so delicious
I hesitated to even put this on the blog because then it seems like OH NO AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT NOW I’VE DONE IT but really, what better motivation is there than a public proclamation?
So there you go! Done! Now I need you all to keep me on the straight and narrow, and if you’ve done it yourself I am happy to accumulate a list of favorite blogs, books, sites, lay it on me.
