Vegan dog treats? You betcha!

I know I mentioned transitioning from vegetarian to vegan in my last post. I've kicked this idea around several times in the past, but never really with much conviction. A while back I realized that all I would have to "give up" is eggs, cheese, and yogurt. The eggs and cheese are easy. But yogurt? I LOVE yogurt (especially Stonyfield Farms!), and every variety of soy yogurt I have tried in the past makes me want to gag. Recently a friend turned me on to Whole Soy yogurt, and it's not half as bad as the others. With that hurdle behind me, I began pitching the last bits of shredded cheddar and looking into common vegan substitutes (which can be hard to come by in Starkville, Mississippi, let me tell you).

Another part about my lifestyle that doesn't sit well is what I feed my pets. If the reason I'm not eating meat is that I can't support "factory farming" on a social and environmental level (let alone animal welfare), why am I feeding meat (and byproducts and other nasties) to my animals? My dog Ariel, a terrier mix I adopted six months ago, LOVES store-bought organic vegan treats. Her favorite are these pumpkin blueberry crunchers . I like them because she has to actually CHEW instead of simply inhaling the way she does anything else edible (and sometimes inedible, but that's for another time). She also loves fresh blueberries and gets them often. So...I started to do some research. I learned that there's a lot of fluff out there. For instance, I discounted certain websites that told me cats can subsist on a purely vegetarian diet. I am in vet school, after all, and they do teach us that cats are obligate CARNIVORES. This bothers me, as I still have to feed my cat meat, but it is nature. But I digress. After realizing that it was going to take me lots of research and a seriously long time to transition Ariel to a vegetarian diet (p.s. dogs are omnivores like us), I decided to start small and make my own treats. I found this recipe for blueberry banana oat treats. I substituted whole wheat flour for the rye flour because I couldn't find any, and almond milk for the cow milk. Not only were these super ridiculously easy to make (with the aid of a trusty hand blender - lifesaver! - and a cookie dropper), but they are almost the perfect consistency for dog treats. I waited until they cooled off a bit and tried a bite myself - not bad! When I called Ariel into the kitchen and offered her a bite, she sniffed, then gulped. More, please! What a hit. She followed me around the house for a full 5 minutes afterwards! When I realize how little the ingredients cost and how much this one batch made, I think I will definitely try this one again. And maybe some others!