Category Archives: Nutrition

Super Good Super Food for the Super Bowl* (*especially for your pets!)

 

Super Good!

Super Good!

Try this tantalizing treat for your cats and dogs – it’s easy and they’ll love you for it!

Cassie oversniffing the proceedings.

Cassie oversniffing the proceedings

 SUPER GOOD SUPER FOOD FOR THE SUPER BOWL*

*especially for your pets!

Gather:

1 can wild Alaskan salmon

1 organic egg (local, pastured?  Even better!)

1 TBSP organic mayo

bunch organic parsley

organic sweet bell pepper

raw almond slices (or pumpkin seeds)

Prep:

  • Drain canned salmon.  Keep “juice” in a glass jar – you can use a little at a time as a meal enhancer later.
  • Stir salmon, egg, and mayo together in a medium bowl.  Use yolk and egg white (forget all that noise about avidin and biotin – foxes, wolves, and the big cats aren’t separating theirs, right!?)

    Salmon, egg, mayo mix.

    Salmon, egg, mayo mix.

  • Place chopped parsley on dish.
  • Form salmon mixture into a football shape and place on “field” of parsley.
  • Cut part of bell pepper into thin strips and form into “seam” of football.
  • Finely chop almonds and throw on as “dirt”.
  • Serve as a snack or meal. (refrigerate what isn’t served)
  • The parsley will help with fish breath.

Copyright Pawgevity, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super Good!
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Healthy Grain Free Holiday Cat and Dog Treats

Making holiday cookies and looking for a recipe for grain free, healthy cat and dog treats that your companions will love?  These are easy, fun, fast  – and pooch and feline tested!

Pawgevity Junior and Mindy's HoHoHo Balls

A healthy, grain free treat for cats and dogs.

Pawgevity Junior and Mindy's HoHoHoBalls

Told you it was easy!

Hint:  put the almond butter in the freezer for a little bit before making – the balls will form easier.

Enjoy and happy holidays!

 

 

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Variety is the Key (Answer to a Recently Asked Question)

Recently Asked Question:
“I opened a container and it looked different than the last one. It had a darkish layer on top. Is it OK to feed?”

Answer:
The short answer is yes, it’s OK to feed.

The longer answer is why there’s variation in color and appearance from batch to batch.

Pawgevity is an artisanal food. That means it’s made in small batches. Although the ingredients and amounts remain the same from production run to production run, there will always be differences in appearance – some more noticeable than others.

Fresh produce sometimes contains more moisture, particularly if picked after a rainfall. It will also vary in color – for instance, one of the leafy greens we use is Swiss chard. Sometimes it’s rainbow chard, which, when pureed and mixed with all the other produce, tends to get very dark. Beet greens are gorgeous vibrant colors before pureeing – after, not so much!

Sometimes, the more moisture filled produce leads to a “wetter” mix. When frozen, some of that mix will rise to the top and sides of containers – thus the darkish layer.

Batches vary in color and appearance.

There can also be a difference in appearance and color of animal meats from one run to another – depending on time of year and breeds. Since we don’t chemically treat our foods in any way (remember the recent “pink slime” story?), they won’t always look exactly the same – uniformity doesn’t exist in the natural world.

Thanks for asking!

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Weighing In: Junior and Mindy’s Official Progress Report

Junior and Mindy thought they were just going for a ride. We had other plans. We were headed to (shhh) the V-E-T’s office for an official weigh-in.

Hey, this isn't so bad!

They fooled us – they pranced right into the Marshall Veterinary Clinic like it was their favorite place on earth. Happy, effusive greetings from Dr. Becky Verna, also of Paws for Holistic Pet Care, didn’t hurt.

But, it was time for business. Their last weigh-in was on Valentine’s Day, before we’d met them – Junior was at 10 lbs. and Mindy a whopping 13.2. We’d decided not to do an in home weigh-in as we really wanted an accurate reading of how they’re doing. Kathy and Dr. Verna did the honors.

All smiles!

We are ecstatic to announce the results!
Junior is now at: 8.6 lbs.!
Mindy (drum roll): 11 lbs.!

We’re very proud of our “little” chichis. More on how they’ve obtained those losses in our next post.

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Also posted in Baby Steps - The Adventures of Junior and Mindy, Chunky Chihuahuas | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Eat Your Fruits and Veggies! For Cats and Dogs, too. Another RAQ.


Recently Asked Question (RAQ):

“Wow, why all the veggies? What percentage of the food is plant matter? I’d rather see more meat and less veggies. :)”.

Our Answer:

Glad you asked.

Actually, the list is long and it may seem like a lot of produce but it’s a small percentage of the actual food ratio. Each ingredient provides a very important benefit.

Our Cat Formulas are 90% protein/10% produce.
Our Dog Formulas are 80% protein/20% produce.

The produce plays an important part in ensuring that the animals get phytonutrients and other essential nutrients from whole foods – as opposed to adding synthetic vitamins, minerals and inappropriate ingredients.

Cats are obligate carnivores. Dogs are opportunistic omnivore/carnivores. It has been observed, by scientists and those in the field, that both wild and domesticated cats and dogs “graze” when given the opportunity – most all of us have seen cats and dogs chomping on grasses, goodies in the vegetable garden, and fallen fruit. They are self healers and will eat what their bodies need, when left to their own devices. When they down herbivorous prey, they often go for the stomach contents first – which contain ground produce.

All of our Formulas have been carefully formulated and approved and are recommended, fed, and sold by wholistic vets very knowledgeable in nutrition and with decades of experience with raw feeding, in particular.

What’s your animal’s favorite produce?

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Back to the Beginning

Junior and Mindy have been with us a week now! Their first night home we mixed a very few pieces of their kibble with Pawgevity Chicken Formula, cooked. We decided to take the conservative course as they’ve had so many changes in their lives recently. Overnight and the next morning, there were no signs of digestive upset.

As of their next meal, we nixed the kibble altogether. In the past week, they’ve had cooked Pawgevity only, carefully measured prior to sauteing. We’ve switched it up randomly between Chicken and Lamb Formulas, with no detrimental effects.

Junior in Detox (and Sleeping Soundly)

We’ve seen a humongous difference in their stools – quite literally, when it comes to size (sorry, no pictures). Both dogs seem to be gaining energy. And they’re still detoxing, that’s for sure – but not on the extreme end. Their mild detox symptoms range from runny eyes to Mindy exhibiting a limited amount of paw licking. We’re quite pleased with their progress.

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Also posted in Baby Steps - The Adventures of Junior and Mindy, Chunky Chihuahuas | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Baby Steps – The Adventures of Junior and Mindy, Chunky Chihuahuas

How do I put this delicately? Our newly adopted, wonderful and sweet Chihuahuas, Junior and Mindy, are, well – ahem, a tad chubby. Chunky butterballs, really.

Mindy and Junior

This makes them extra adorable. It also, statistically, will take two years off their lifespans. It’s time to get to work.

A bit of background. Junior and Mindy originally hail from South Carolina – they ended up with a rescue group there when their person passed on. They’re a bonded pair of littermates, almost 7 years old. Several months later, they were transferred to one of our favorite rescue organizations, Paws for Seniors. They began the weight loss process with them.

We brought Junior and Mindy home with us as fosters, six days ago – our household includes four senior cats with special needs and we had to make sure that they would be comfortable with any new additions to our family. It was almost instantaneous. We’ve now officially adopted them.

We want Junior and Mindy to live long, healthy and happy lives – as we wish for all of your animals. As we guide them through their weight loss program, we plan on sharing their progress with you, in hopes that their improved selves will help others out there.

Excuse me, it’s time for our walk!

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Fun and Easy Valentine Treats

We’ve been having some fun in the test kitchen. Give these easy heart healthy recipes a try – your cats and dogs will love you for it!

Valentine Pawcakes

Valentine Pawcakes
Skill level: for graduates of L’Academie de Cuisine (kidding! Easy!)
Ingredients:
One container thawed Pawgevity Frozen Formula (choose your protein – you won’t be using whole container)
Pawgevity Chewz (one package)
Raw, unsalted: walnuts, almonds, sunflower or pumpkin seeds (or any combo you wish – we used local walnuts)
Plain yogurt
Strawberry or sweet red bell pepper

We found this neat mini heart cake pan at our local craft store but any mini muffin pan will do the job.

Take Chewz and nuts and crush and mix together.
Place a layer of Chewz/nut mixture in bottom of pan (no oil necessary).
Add raw Formula to fill and pat in well.
Add another layer of the Chewz/nut mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Cool and remove from pan.
Garnish with a small dollop of yogurt and slice of strawberry or sweet red pepper and serve.

U Stole My Heart Valentine Cookies


U Stole My Heart Valentine Cookies
Skill Level: Simple
Ingredients:
Same as above, with the addition of organic coconut or extra virgin olive oil.

We used these heart shaped cookie cutters – if you don’t have any, you can form patties by hand and cut a heart shape out with a knife.

Roll out thawed Formula, thickly (about 1/2″ thick).
Take cookie cutter and grease with oil.
Use cookie cutter to cut out hearts, then press Chewz/nut/seed mixture firmly on top.
Remove cookie cutter and place hearts on oiled cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes.
Cool and serve.

Make extra and share with your animals at your local animal shelter. Share the love and share your sweetheart stories with us!

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Superballs – A Healthy Super Bowl Sunday Treat for our Four Legged Friends

Superballs are a grain free, guilt free, healthy and wholesome goody for cats and dogs. You can make as many or as few as you’d like.

Recipe:
Thawed Pawgevity Frozen Formula of your choice
Pawgevity Chewz (same protein as Formula)


Take Chewz and crush into small pieces, using a roller or by hand.
Form thawed Formula into small meatballs.

Roll meatballs in the crushed Chewz.

Serve on a field of shredded greens.

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From Barn to Bowl: The Raw Food Diet

From Novadog Magazine, Winter 2012:

“Raw diets for dogs and cats are now readily available in most urban areas, and a good many consumers are starting to hear about the benefits of feeding a raw diet. It is important first to understand what comprises a whole, balanced, raw diet for dogs and cats, and then to know the benefits and risks, and how to safely transition them over”. Read more here

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