I'm pleased to announce we have a new member of our family. Her name is Smooches; she weighs about 2 pounds. Ok about now you are going HUH? Let me explain she's a Shih Tzu (that's dog for those that don't know.) She is cute as a button.
Poor Snarf, my cat objects to her mere presence in my house. So I've been making him treats so he knows he's still loved. They deserve a little pampering, and home cookin'. After all, our pets are members of the family too!
Check with your vet before feeding any of these recipes to your pet. There may be certain requirements they need that I do not know about. Now that I've said that, let's move onto the recipes. Puppies just LOVE the puppy formula or, as I like to call it, gravy. Be sure to cool it a bit before feeding it to the puppy ... just as you would a child. You wouldn't want them to burn their mouths. Pour it over their dry food to soften the food a bit.
Puppy Formula
- 4 tablespoons Karo syrup
- 2 eggs (yolks only)
- 2 cups milk
- 4 tablespoons Lime Spring Water
Mix the Karo syrup with the yolks of the eggs only. Bring the milk to a quick boil. Add the milk to the eggs and Karo syrup. Mix it and then add the spring water to it. When the formula is ready to use, pour it over the pup's food and watch him eat. Your pup will love it.
- Yields: 2 1/2 cups
- Preparation Time: 10 minutes
For a bit of a treat, try the peanut butter puppy poppers. Dogs just go crazy for peanut butter. These make a good and tasty treat you could use for training. They are easy to make ... more like cookies really. You could feed them to your kids too!
Peanut Butter Puppy Poppers
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
- 1 cup milk
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix the peanut butter and milk, then add it to dry ingredients and mix well. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes on a greased baking sheet until lightly brown. Cool the cookies on a rack, then store them in an airtight container.
- Yields: 2-3 dozen cookies - depending on cookie cutter
- Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Garlic is a special ingredient for removing fleas from your pet. See the garlic puppy treats below for a great no-flea home remedy. Be careful with them, since you can feed too much garlic to your pet and that could cause gastric problems.
Garlic No-Flea Dog Biscuits
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 1/2 cup brewers yeast
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup chicken stock
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Oil two or three baking sheets.
Combine first four ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine garlic and oil. Slowly stir flour mixture and stock alternately into oil and garlic, beating well, until the dough is well-mixed.
Shape dough into a ball. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1 to 2-inches thick. Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter or knife cut dough into rounds.
Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are well browned. Turn off heat and allow biscuits to dry in oven for several hours.
Store in refrigerator or freeze.
- Yields: 26 cookies
- Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cat and Dog Mini Cakes
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup soybean flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup skim milk or water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon canola or sunflower oil
Mix the dry ingredients. Add the milk or water and honey. Mix and let the dough rest in a warm place for 15 minutes. Add the oil and allow to sit for 30 minutes more. Take walnut-sized portions of dough and flatten into small cakes. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
For cats, roll dough into 1/4" thickness and bake on a sheet scored into small sections 1/4" square or smaller.
- Yields: 12 Servings
- Preparation Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Kitties go crazy over tuna cookies. I like to use these as special treats for Snarf. He would sit and gorge himself on these cookies all day long if I let him.
Tuna Cookies
- 1 - 8 oz. can tuna (in oil)
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup water
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine all of the ingredients and knead well to mix. On a floured surface, roll the "dough" out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into little squares or other shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.
- Yields: 2-3 dozen, depending on the size
- Preparation Time: 40 minutes
The rice cat munchies below can be added to your cat's regular dry food diet as a little something extra.
Cat Munchies
- 2 cups well-flavored beef, chicken or fish stock (bouillon cubes are fine)
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 to 3 tablespoons oil
Bring the broth to a boil. Stir in rice, bring back to a boil, and then simmer, stirring occasionally until all broth is absorbed (about 40 minutes). Spread cooked rice on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the rice is browned. Allow them to dry at room temperature overnight. Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil in a frying pan. Add the rice paties about 1/2 cup at a time to the hot oil and shake and stir until the grains puff. Drain on paper towels. Store in an airtight container.
- Yields: about 2 dozen, depending on the size
- Preparation Time: 90 minutes, plus overnight drying
Of course, we can't forget our feathered friends out there so I've included recipes for seed-bells and birdie bread. Max, my cockatiel, loves the birdie bread. I use the seed bells as a fun way for him to get some exercise while getting some nutritious treats. I like to hang the bells in his cage so that he has to stretch to reach it or climb up a ladder perch.
Seed Bells
- 1 cup seed mix (suggestion: millet/sunflower/safflower/poppy/hulled oats, best mix: 1/2 crushed nutriberries & 1/2 seed mix)
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- Small terra cotta pot 2" (unused) w/hole in bottom (craft stores have them)
- 1/2 oven bag
- 1 piece safe wire, small hook at top & big loop at bottom (i.e.: 2" 90% base angle)
Mix the seed mix and egg white in bowl. Line the pot with the oven bag. Pour most of the seed mixture into the pot. Poke the hooked end of the wire into the mix and through the hole at the end of the pot. Make sure that the flat base of the wire is firmly in the mix. Top off with the remaining mix. Place the pot on an oven rack in an upright position with the wire hanging down. Bake in a slow oven (i.e.: low heat) for 90 minutes. Remove the bell with oven mitts, as it will be very hot! Tip out of the pot and remove the paper. You can also form the seed mixture into a shape (using a measuring cup or any form you like) and put it onto a cookie sheet instead of inside the pot.
- Yields: 1 bell
- Preparation Time: 2 hours
Birdie Bread
- 2 boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin
- 2/3 cup milk
- 3 eggs with shells
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 2 Gerber's Jr. size jar of carrots or sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup pellets
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup frozen corn
Mix all of the ingredients together. Bake in muffin tins or cake pans at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until done. These can also be frozen.
- Yields: about 1 dozen muffins
- Preparation Time: 30 minutes