Animal Treat Cookbook: Biscuits Pour Animaux by Cassandra Bouclé

Genre: Pet Cookbook
Language: French
81 p.
Publisher: Alter Real Editions
Published: Feb. 2, 18
Source: From Publisher for review
Stores (French resources): Amazon Fr, Publisher Website

Des recettes 100% bio, faciles et économiques, pour chats, chiens et rongeurs. 

Vous trouverez dans cet ouvrage des recettes de biscuits faciles et rapides à faire. Le livre se veut pratique : à chaque page, sa recette, avec la liste des ingrédients et des conseils pratiques. Les recettes peuvent être modifiées selon les goûts de votre animal, ou selon de sa santé. S'il doit éviter les biscuits sucrés ou salés, vous pouvez changer les ingrédients. 

Ce livre de recettes est pensé pour les animaux, mais aussi pour leurs maîtres, qui doivent prendre plaisir à cuisiner, que ce soit pour leur chien, leur chat, leur lapin ou leurs autres rongeurs.

Bon appétit !

English Translation:
100% organic, easy and economical recipes for cats, dogs and rodents.

In this book you will find easy and quick cookie recipes. The book is practical: on each page, the recipe, the list of ingredients and practical advice. The recipes can be modified according to the tastes of your pet, or according to his health. If it should avoid sweet or savory cookies, you can change the ingredients.

This recipe book is designed for animals, but also for their masters, who enjoy cooking, whether for their dog, cat, rabbit or other rodents.

Enjoy your meal!

My thoughts:

I got a note from Melliane from Between Dreams and Reality Blog about a interesting treat cookbook. The only thing... it was in French. Since it was a cookbook I figured I could translate it well enough (with a bit of bad Google translate... LOL) to make some treats. It worked out well.

The book also consulted with a veterinarian to make sure the treats were nutritious and well suited for the various animals in the book. There is a section for dogs, cats, and rodents. It wouldn't be hard to convert some of these treats for horses if you know your horse. The recipes are simple, easy to follow and my dogs found delicious. My only problem was translating the recipe amounts since America usually uses cups instead of grams and ml. However, with a few grams to cups translations on the web according to product and I was able to get it done.

Dog treats and monster pup waiting for it to fall...

I did use gluten free all purpose flour for the treats but I'm not sure it is as necessary to do so elsewhere. I have talked to many people who have gluten problems in the US but not in Europe. So these treats became gluten free. I also substituted the rice milk for plain water since so little was used. The treats were made in ball form (as the meat scrap ones suggested) for ease in making it. These small substitutions worked!

The big pup letting me know the cat isn't getting this...

I made the Dumplings with Meat Scraps, Cheese Bites, and Biscuits with Apple. My dogs LOVED the meat scrap ones as well as the cheese bites. The split was with the apple ones. My pup loved them and my big boy was a bit lukewarm about it. He is a bit on the picky side (not too bad) and he still ate a few which is a big deal to me.

I also thought I'd make the Diced Tuna treats for cats and perhaps see if my neighbor would give some to her cat. It never made it over there. My dogs loved that one so much as well. There was nothing in it that a dog couldn't have in those treats so they gobbled those treats up. In fact, my malamute that I had would have LOVED them as those breed of dogs tend to love fish. In fact, I often treated her with fish. The tuna I used was the healthiest I could find and the fish could easily be substituted with salmon (which I may try later as I feel better about salmon).

To sum it all up, I really liked this cookbook. The recipes are easy enough to make and also make substitutions when needed. You could also use these recipes to make your own tailored to your pets tastes. I give this one 5 stars (and I'm very picky about what my animals eat). I think my pups also give it 4 paws (they don't have 5 paws.. obviously! LOL) which is their highest rating. For the US peeps, this one is well worth translating with a little help from the web. The book is also filled with very cute animal pics waiting for their treats.

🐾🐾

Bloggy Note:

Today is also Rare Disease Day. I had planned to do something better than a note today, but my plans have been laughed at a lot lately. So, please take the time and go HERE to the official website to learn why it is important to fund these diseases and disorders. One treatment or cure can lead to other more common diseases and disorders to be cured as well.

✋

Clawed by L. A. Kornetsky

Series: Gin and Tonic Mysteries #4
304 p.
Published: 5/26/15
Publisher: Pocket Books
Source: From publisher for review

In this fourth mystery in the charming and witty Gin & Tonic series, private investigators Ginny and Teddy—with the help of their faithful pets—must unravel their most intriguing case yet… 

Even though she’s unlicensed as an investigator, the infamously nosy Ginny Mallard and her cohort Teddy Tonica have begun to make a name for themselves in solving cases. But Ginny still has her day job as an event planner, and the promise of a lucrative job draws her to Portland, with her shar-pei puppy, Georgie, in tow. Much to her shock and horror, however, she’s been led there under false pretenses—and discovers a body in the parlor of her client's house! 

Though the cops warn her to keep her nose out of it, Ginny just can't resist the itch to solve this case, and soon gets drawn into Portland's seedy underbelly of identity theft, forgery, and of course, murder…with Teddy and his cat Penny's devoted sleuthing helping her at every turn.

My thoughts:
I've only read the book before this one and I think you could pick this one up with no problems as well. You would know there is back story but nothing of such import that you can't follow along. While this one seemed to have less of Georgie and Penny (the dog and cat respectively) but they were still involved enough to lend some humor to the case.

I have to say that this mystery had a lot of twists and turns and I found myself more invested in the people in the story than solving the murder. I was more interested in why Ginny was called down there and then framed for a murder. She was easily cleared but she had to know why she became involved with people she never met. It was an interesting twist in getting Gin and Tonic involved.

I give this book 3 1/2 stars and did enjoy this cozy. I LOVED Penny (the cat) solving the mystery of the stolen tips when none of the humans were any wiser. It really gave the story a push in the humorous direction. I recommend this book to those that enjoy cozy mysteries with a side of dog and cat commentary. :)

Doghouse by L. A. Kornetsky

Series: Gin and Tonic Mystery #3
288p.
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: July, 22, 14
Source: From publisher for review

In the third novel in the entertaining (Library Journal) Gin & Tonic mystery series, the stakes are raised when Ginny Mallard and Teddy Tonica stumble on an underground dog fighting ring with bloody consequences. 

Even though she's unlicensed as an investigator, the infamously nosy Ginny Mallard has begun to make a name for herself as an unofficial champion of the tongue-tied. When a mysterious stranger comes to her with landlord trouble, she convinces her bartender friend Teddy Tonica to help her once more. Soon, they realize they might have got themselves tied up in an underground dogfighting ring. With the help of Ginny's pet shar-pei puppy and Tonica's tabby cat, they have to figure out what's going on before someone else gets hurt. Will twelve legs really be better than four?

My thoughts:
This is the third book, but you don't need to read them to start this book. While you might have missed some details about the main characters, the mystery is complete within this book. So it can be read as a standalone.

The mystery actually plods along and you are wondering exactly what you are dealing with in the mystery. You know it has to do with puppies and some illegal activity but no real clues are produced until the end. Even then the mystery doesn't quiet seem clear. The ending is quite messy but complete. It actually feels more realistic and as if in real life it would happen that way. While the story line for the humans seems to be slow, the inner dialog with the animals (yes, you get inside their heads) was quite entertaining. I would have loved to see more involvement with the animals even though they couldn't directly communicate with their humans.

I give this book 3 stars. I recommend it to those that really like animals and cozy mysteries.