Simple Pet Care Solutions
Welcome To Little Paws Pet Club

Hello and welcome to Little Paws Pet Club! My name is "Little" and I'm the President of Little Paws Pet Club. If you want to be part of our club, just stop in and enjoy all of the free pet information that we share! Be sure to take part in our club by leaving your comments too! Check back often for lots of free pet ideas, pet patterns, healthy pet recipes and more! Thanks for stopping in! Your Little Paws Pet Club President~Little~
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I have created this site as a means to assemble all of my pet information in an organized, fun and easy to reference manor.

Of course I am not a veterinarian, so I can not guarantee the accuracy or safety of any information posted here. Before using any of the information contained in this blog, please consult with a veterinarian to be sure that the recipes, pet toys, patterns or other ideas posted here are appropriate for your pet.

Note: All of the patterns, recipes, information and instructions posted here are my own original writings, thoughts and ideas and are not to be copied for distribution or resale.

I have always loved and owned pets of all kinds. I hope that you enjoy visiting my pet blog and stop back often for lots of fun.

12/28/06

Doggy Donuts Treat Recipe

Here's a fun and easy dog treat that you can make to delight your pampered pooch, Doggy donuts!

Doggy Donuts

Ingredients:
2 Cups whole wheat flour
2/3 Cup beef broth
1 egg, beaten
3 Tablespoons uncooked oatmeal
1 teaspoon garlic powder


Preheat oven to 400°F

Mix flour, egg and broth well in a large bowl. Add oatmeal and garlic powder. Mix until ingredients are evenly distributed. Roll dough to 1/2" thick on a lightly floured surface.

Cut the dough with a donut shaped cookie cutter or use one large and one small circular cookie cutters to create the donut shapes. Carefully place each donut on a lightly greased or non-stick cookie sheet.

Bake 10-15 minutes. Watch to avoid burning. Remove donuts from oven to harden, or turn off oven and leave donuts in oven to harden. If you choose to allow the donuts to harden in the oven watch them to avoid burning.

Doggy Donut Icing Recipe

Note: White chocolate is a typical ingredient in many dog treat icing recipes. White chocolate can safely be given to dogs in small quantities because most of the caffeine in white chocolate has been removed. The main ingredients in white chocolate are cocoa fat, sugar, milk solids, lecithin and vanilla. If you are able to find them, yogurt chips or carob chips have also been used to make a healthier doggy donut icing. Be sure to check with your vet to be sure that any of these ingredients are safe for your pet before using them.

Doggy Donut Icing

1 cup yogurt chips or vanilla white chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 tablespoon of vegetable powder to color the icing
Vegetable Powder Examples:
Pink- beet powder
Green - spinach powder
Yellow - turmeric

Melt vanilla chips in a double boiler. Add vegetable oil and coloring powder. Lightly dip the tops of the donuts in the icing or spread a thin layer of icing on the donuts with a knife. You can also use doggy donut crumbs as sprinkles to decorate the tops of your doggy donuts. Place the donuts on waxed paper to dry.

Wheat Free Dog Treat Recipe

Many dog owners avoid feeding wheat products to thier furry friends because some dogs may experience wheat related allergies or are gluten intolerant. Other dog owners prefer to feed their dogs a wheat free diet because they feed thier pets a natural type of canine diet.

If you are looking for an easy, wheat free snack that you can make for your best freind, this turkey treat recipe is sure to fill your needs as well as your lucky dogs tummy!

Wheat Free Tasty Turkey Treats

1 undrained can of flaked turkey
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup of yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup water

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Use a food processor or blender to mix the turkey, dry ingredients and water until it is well blended. Then remove the mixture and knead by hand until it forms a soft dough.

Roll out dough approximately 1/4" thick. You can lightly dust the rolling surface with cornmeal to prevent sticking when rolling out your dough. Cut into shapes. Bake on a lightly greased or non-stick cookie sheet for 20 to 30 minutes. Be careful to avoid burning the treats.

12/27/06

Heartworm Facts

Little the cat here, Back from my top secret pet health investigation with some important information to share with you about heartworm disease in pets.

The following report has information that is very important to your pets health. I hope that this information will help you to work with your veterinarian to begin an appropriate heartworm disease prevention treatment for your pet.

Heartworms are a form of parasite usually about the diameter of thin spaghetti. Heartworm generally live in the right ventricle of the hosts heart and blood vessels. Heartworm parasites are transmitted from one host to another through mosquitoes. Heartworm parasite infections are diagnosed with a blood test and x-rays. Heartworms may also be detected with antigen blood tests when the heartworms are sexually mature at approximately six months after infecting their host. For an accurate blood test result for heartworm, female worms must be present in the host. Heartworm infections have been diagnosed in every state of the U.S. as well as world wide. Heartworm disease is a very important health concern for our pets. Most veterinarians recommend heartworm prevention medication for dogs as well as cats. It is recommended that dogs over seven months old be tested for heartworm prior to beginning heartworm treatment. Dogs over seven months old who are placed on a heartworm prevention medication may develop severe reactions. Most veterinarians recommend starting puppies on a heartworm preventative medication by the time they are eight weeks old. Most veterinarians recommend having your dog tested for heartworms on a regular basis if they have not been on a regular heartworm prevention program. In cats a single heartworm can cause extreme respiratory symptoms or death. It is believed that many cases of heartworm in cats is overlooked because feline heartworm disease symptoms does not appear the same as heartworm symptoms in dogs, but tends to mimic other cat diseases. Also detecting adult heartworm in cats can be difficult as feline heartworm tests are not totally reliable.

Be sure to ask your veterinarian about a program for pet medications to prevent heartworm disease in your pet. Until next time, Your Little Paws Pet Club President, Little.

12/11/06

Remove Mats Easily From Pets Fur

Hello Everyone! Little the cat here with another great pet tip to make caring for your pet easier.

This is a picture of my buddy Bijou. Bijou is pretty cute in a soft and fluffy kind of way. (I personally prefer more of a smooth and stripey look myself) The problem with Bijou is that she can really get in some tangles! (In more ways than one if you know what I mean!)

Any way, if your pets fur gets tangled or matted, Bijou has an easy tip that will help you to get your little mess straightened out quickly.

Simply sprinkle a little cornstarch on any mats in your pets coat when brushing and this will make them easier to remove. Sprinkle more cornstarch on the mat as you work it out of your pets coat and you should be able to remove the mat in a jiffy!

Happy grooming from Bijou and Your Little Paws Pet Club President, Little

12/10/06

Grapes And Raisins Toxic To Cats And Dogs!

Hello Little Paws Pet Club Members! Little the cat here. Even though I had a little too much fun at the party last night, I thought that it was best that I show up for work today and alert everyone to this important notice!

With the holidays here and everyone in a baking mode, I thought that it would be a good idea to point out a potential health hazard to our cats and dogs that many pet owners are not aware of.

That potential health hazard is grapes and raisins! Grapes and raisins are a very real health threat to your cat or dog if they consume them. Most pet owners are unaware of the fact that grapes and raisins are poisonous to their cats and dogs.

Between January 2001 and August 2004 the animal Poison Clontrol center received more than 200 calls from pet owners seeking help because thier dogs had potentially eaten grapes or raisins and were suffering the diverse affects.

The amount of grapes or raisins that a cat or dog needs to eat before poisoning symptoms develop varies. Some cats and dogs may experience an initial gastrointestinal upset after consuming grapes or raisins. This can potentially be followed by acute renal failure or kidney failure which can be deadly.

After your cat or dog has consumed grapes or raisins, vomitting will often occur within the first few hours. You may notice undigested grapes or raisins in your pets vomit or fecal matter. Other possible symptoms include diarrhea, depression, abdominal pain and excessive thirst.

If you believe that your cat or dog may have consumed grapes or raisins it is important that you seek veterinary care for your pet immidiately. The key to preventing acute renal failure in a cat or dog that has consumed grapes or raisins is early recognition and immidiate veterinary medical attention.

Please remember to keep all holiday treats safely up and away from all of your pets and have a safe and happy holiday season.

12/9/06

Helping Overweight Dogs

If you feel that your dog may be overweight, The first thing that you should do is have your dog checked by a veterinarian. Your veterinarian can tell you if your dog is actually overweight and what your dogs healthy weight range is.

Your veterinarian may also want to check to make sure that your dog is not suffering from any health issues such as hypothyroidism which can cause your dog to gain weight.

How can you tell if your dog may be overweight? Generally with an overweight dog it is difficult to feel your dogs ribs because they have an excess amount of fat covering them. When you look at an overweight dog from the side, the belly generally has minimal or no tuck. An overweight dog viewed from above, generally shows no indendted waistline in the front of the hips.

Keep in mind that these are general rules which can vary between different breeds of dogs. Always have your veterinarian examine your dog to determine if it is actually overweight, and if so, that your pets weight issue is not due to health issues.

If your dog is overweight, check with your veterinarian to see if these tips could help your dog get back into shape.

First, be sure that you are feeding your dog a high quality natural dog food. Some pets may over eat in an attempt to gain their daily required nutrients if they are fed a low quality food.

You may want to consider measuring your pets food each day to prevent your pet from over eating.

Be sure to exercise your dog each day. Even though you have a large yard your dog still may not be getting the exercise that he needs. Be sure to interact and provide physical activity for your dog each day. take him for walks and play games with him to be sure that he is getting the daily exercise and stimulation that he needs.

If your dog is trying to loose weight, be sure to limit his treats to small amounts of low fat healthy treats such as yogurt and cottage cheese or even carrots. Table scraps are a definate no, no for the overweight dog.

Some pet owners believe that they are pampering their dogs when they overfeed them or give them lots of treats, but serious health problems can occur from allowing your dog to become overweight.

Hopefully these tips can help you to determine if your dog may have a weight problem, and if so help you to get your dog back into the 'Grrrr'eat shape that will help him to live a long and healthy life.

12/8/06

Tasty Hamster Treat Recipe!

Hello Everyone! I had a request from one of our Little Paws Pet Club members for some fun hamster ideas and thought that I would start with this tasty hamster treat recipe! This is a fun and easy recipe to make and the ingredients can easily be changed to give your cute little critter lots of treat variety.

Mash some banana in a bowl. Add enough dried whole wheat bread crumbs until you can shape the mixture into tiny balls that are a good size for your hamster to hold. You will want this mixture on the dry side, but still moist enough to shape into little balls. You can also add some finely chopped carrots or apples, ground plain oats, wheat germ or flax seed to your mixture. Refrigerate the balls until you are ready to use them.

You can make endless variations of these hamster treats by using mashed potatoes or any type of baby food that is safe for hamsters as the base of your treats and then incorporating any types of hamster safe finely chopped or ground fruits, veggies, sunflower seeds or dry ingredients into the baby food until it is dry enough to form into balls.

Please note: Before incorparating any ingredients into this recipe, be sure to do some research to be certain that the ingredients that you plan to use are hamster safe. For instance, Peanut butter has been known to cause choking in hamsters as well as get stuck in their cheek pouches and should be avoided.

I hope that your little hammies love this healthy rodent recipe! Until next time. Your Little Paws Pet Club President, Little

12/7/06

Make A Cat Scratching Post

Hello Everyone! Little the Cat here with another fun project just for you! If you are scratching your head over how to keep your cute little kitties claws from scratching your furniture, I have just the project for you!

Today I thought that I would show you how to make a home made scratching post for your friendly feline! It's fun and easy to make your own scratching post for your cat and your cat will be amazed at your talent!

(If you are young, be sure to ask an adult before trying this project. Also, anyone doing this project needs to use caution and observe safety rules when using a staple gun, to avoid injury.)

All you need to complete this fun cat scratching post is a piece of wood, some rope and a staple gun.

I started my cat scratching post with a piece of 1"x4" wood, that was 24 inches long. Then I took a spool of hemp rope and fastened it to the bottom of my board using a staple gun. I made sure to staple my rope on each edge of my board as well as three times across the front and three times across the back of the board along the bottom edge. This secures the bottom edge of your rope so that it wont slide off of your scratching post.

Once the bottom of the rope was secured well to the board, I continued to wrap my rope tightly around my board. After several wraps around the board, I would secure the rope on each side edge with a staple.

I wrapped and stapled my rope to my board until I was approximately 3 1/2" from the top of my borad. At this point I took a sepperate 16" piece of rope and stapled each end of it securely down the unwrapped sides of the scratching post. This makes a hoop of rope at the top of your scratching post so that you can hang it on a door handle if you like.

Once I had my hanging loop securely fastened, I continued to wrap my rope up the board, wrapping it over the hanging loop rope on the sides of the board, until I reached the top of my board.

I secured the rope at the top of the scratching post, the same way that I secured the rope at the bottom. I then rubbed catnip on my scratching post and hung it on my door.

Be sure to check that your rope is secured tightly in all areas of the scratching post and that no staples are loose or sticking out that could injure your cat.

Well there you have it folks. A cheap and easy cat scratching post that you can make for your fluffy little fur ball to enjoy! Like I always say, "Nothin says lovin like a cat toy made with your own loving hands, er a paws. Well, you get the picture." Until next time. Your Little Paws Pet Club President, Little