How to Make Yummy Pet Cookies

Trying Mom's cooking.  hmmmm

 I'm not a fantastic cook. Not for people. Not for dogs. But recently I was thrilled to discover that I could bake treats for my dogs that didn't require:
1.  buying unusual ingredients
2.  a lot of time to make
3. skill

PetCakes for Dogs

PetCakes are wholesome, organic, microwavable pet treats.  
PetCakes creator Melinda contacted me and asked if I'd like to review the product. She sent me a great package with PetCakes for Dogs, PetCakes for cats, and special microwave pans. PetCakes are a pre-packaged kit including mix and baking dishes in fun shapes like bones for dogs, and fish for cats.

 I used carob flavored for dogs. (Keep reading below for a review of Pet Cakes for Cats.) The ingredients are oat flour, rice flour, wheat germ, flax seed, baking soda, baking powder carob and cinnamon. Good stuff, huh? I found PetCakes easy to make and that's saying a lot for me! I like that they're made of wholesome ingredients. I happily noted that PetCakes don't have an unpleasant aroma, unlike some other cake/cookie recipes and products I've tried.


Just mix with water and peanut butter, applesauce, yogurt, or whatever your dog likes.  I used yogurt. Spoon into the special pan provided...

and microwave for just 2 1/2 minutes. The cakes came out moist and spongy. Be sure to cool before serving.


Did Kelly and Brooks like them? You bet! They both were excited to sample and wanted more!

You can even buy frosting and decorate your PetCakes for special occasions. And, for extra fun you can enter the PetCakes video Contest, open now through March 24. Your video of your pet and PetCakes (see complete rules) could win you free PetCakes for an entire year and $500 to your favorite charity!
 

Now, what about you cat people? Here's a review--

PetCakes for Cats

I gave my daughter the PetCakes for cats to try with her admittedly picky cat Cinnamon.
She reports:
Making PetCakes was easy.  Just add water, and then a tbsp of canned tuna.  As soon as I opened the tuna, Cinnamon came over and was very interested in what was going on. (Note: Opening a can of tuna to use just one spoonful can be a disadvantage if you don't have a use for the rest of it right away.)

Everything worked well and they cooked properly.

However, once cooked, Cinnamon wasn't as interested. She sniffed briefly at it.  She's never eaten anything quite so big, so I'm wondering if she couldn't tell that it was food. I have broken it into pieces and put it in her food bowl.  It looks like she's eaten some that way. She is picky about her food and trying new things.

So there you have it! My dogs give it unanimous and enthusiastic approval! Cinnamon the cat thinks it's interesting, but she's not going to give in to temptation quite so soon.
 


Want more great pet news, fun content and special bonuses? Subscribe to my free newsletter. Brooks and Kelly hope to see you there!  


*Disclaimer:  I was provided with this product for my review. All opinions are 100% my own.

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Pet Blogger Challenge - Paws to Reflect

Once again, Amy from Go Pet Friendly has put us to the task of reviewing our goals and achievements with the third annual pet blogger challenge.This is open to all pet bloggers, so grab the questions, put on your thinking cap, and join the linky!

1.  How long have you been blogging? Provide a link to your post from last year’s Pet Blogger Challenge so we can refresh our memories.

 I've been blogging 5 or 6 years

Here's last year's post! 

2. What do you consider the most important goals you set out in last year’s post?

Last year I challenged myself to step it up with more useful content, topics that will help other pet parents or get them thinking.

 3.  Have you made progress toward those goals, or have your goals changed over the past year?

I’ve added Brooks’ Books (book reviews), more guest posts, and a feature called Pointer and Counterpointer, discussing two sides of an issue.  I’ve also started a newsletter, PPP’s Pawsitvely Pets which is kinda like a short, cool ezine, where I share good news, dog treat recipes, and popular posts, and I’m having so much fun with it, I hope you check it out!

 I don’t tend to take on really controversial topics on the blog, but I think I’ve been successful in steering away from obvious topics that may be common knowledge to most pet blog readers who, as you know, are very smart already.  In my effort to avoid controversy, however, I think sometimes I play it too safe. I may brush the surface instead of revealing my deepest thoughts. I still marvel at some of my favorite bloggers (you know who you are!) and wish I’d said that.

4. How often do you post? 

Minimum of 3 days/week, up to 6 days/week

5. Has your opinion of blogging on a schedule or as the spirit moves you changed?

I love having a schedule!

If you publish on a schedule, why? How strict are you about your publishing deadlines? What do you do for inspiration when it feels like you’ve covered every topic?

As a freelance writer, I have multiple projects going at all times, so I have to stick to a schedule or I’d have papers and notes flying all over the place and no idea what I’m doing. (Haha reality isn’t much different.) I have a general editorial calendar for the year which is subject to change as the need arises. Then I have a schedule of what specifically I plan to write for a couple months, and I try to post at least a week in advance. I love it when I get several posts scheduled ahead, so that takes the pressure off a bit. The key is being flexible, because I often have to shuffle things around.

I have to admit that I’m never stuck for inspiration, I always have more to blog about than there is time to blog. Kelly and Brooks aren’t always in the midst of exciting blog-worthy stunts, so I read the newspapers and check out pet websites to see what catches my eye and what people are talking about. I receive quite a few requests from companies and individuals asking for reviews or offering guest posts, which I also welcome.

 6. How much time do you spend writing your blog per week? How much time visiting other blogs? Share your  tips for staying on top of it all.

Agh! The answer is too much and never enough. Most days I visit other blogs and leave comments, and this takes 2 or 3 hours every morning. It could take even longer because I have so many wonderful blogs in my Google reader that I would want to keep up with, but I never can do it all. I love connecting with so many other bloggers and always feel like I’m missing out when I fall behind.

 I have no idea how long it takes to write the blog, it feels like I’m doing it on and off  all day-- between scouting ideas, writing, designing, posting. Book reviews are the most time consuming because it takes a few days to read the books first.

7. How do you measure the success of a post and of your blog in general (comments, shares, traffic)?

I feel really good when I get a lot of comments because that means the content was engaging enough to initiate sharing of thoughts and opinions. When I don’t get many comments, I try to analyze if it was a boring topic or was it because I hadn’t had time to connect on all my social media networks? I have no scientific method of analyzing this however! I actually don’t check my stats often, and envy those who analyze posts and are so smart about it all. I check my overall pageviews once in a while and I’m really happy with how well they’ve grown!

8. If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one issue you’re having with your blog, what would it be?

Great question! Actually, if I may, I’d like to ask for help with two issues

*Do you enjoy reading product reviews?
 

*If you’re familiar with my Wednesday Pet Roundup, do you have any tips for how I can improve it? Do you click on the links? Are there too many or too few links? Too much or too little details? Should I move it to a different day of the week? Anything else?

9. What goals do you have for your blog in 2013?

My goal is to be more personal, to dig deeper, and to focus on quality posts that say what I really want to say. I will continue to support pet adoption and focus on healthy lifestyles with pets. I am so grateful to this community of bloggers and their pets, some of whom we lost this past year, and I thank you all for being a part of my world. I’m looking forward to continuing to celebrate, support, share and grow together in 2013.

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