Injured Pup!

I'm not sure if any of you know, but Gerry hurt his paw about a week ago and has been bandaged up and not allowed to exercise since. He is currently spending the night at the vet's and will be x-rayed tomorrow to see what the problem is. My boyfriend was out walking him and he ran down to the trees by the river and came back limping. The weird thing is that he wasn't crying at all - he's hurt his paw temporarily before and has uttered screams I've never wanted to witness again for the rest of my life, yet has been fine 2 minutes later after a cuddle and a treat! This time however, there was no indication of the cause of the problem. Tomorrow we will find out what exactly has gone wrong. He's been putting a bit more weight on it lately, but it's still swollen and sore. Not a great time for it to occur really, as soon as I've been made redundant! Luckily the insurance will cover most of it so I'll get my money back.

I've been treating him a lot since he has been poorly. I feel sorry for him being on house arrest. The only time he's been let outside in the last week is to do his business. He's been exceptionally good though, minimal complaining. It's as if he knows he's injured. When we've had falafels I've made him his own little portion. And when we had stewed spiced nutty apples he had his own doggie version without spices or sugar. He's also had a few puff pastry treats! The vegan kibble seems to be going down really well - no upset stomachs, no excessive pooing, very healthy coat... and he really looks forward to meal times! I have to monitor what he eats at the moment because he's getting no exercise. He seems to be adapting well though and it helps that I'm around for him most of the time.

I'll update soon regarding the status of his injury. I think it's either a dislocation or a fracture... fingers and paws crossed it's not broken! Here he is with his funny squeaky-fries toy! Apparently his two girlfriends (YES TWO!) have bought him a present, so next week he will have his first visitors he's had in a while and I'm sure he will be delighted! :)

Gerry's Vegan Transition

I can't believe that I have finally done it - I've taken the plunge and bought vegan dog food for Gerry!

In the past it has been difficult for me to find a good enough deal on vegan dog food to justify spending that amount of money when I have only had a part time job. How ironic it is that now I have been made redundant I am splashing out on it! Actually, getting this deal from Zooplus with the discount for first orders brought the total for 20kg of Yarrah down to just under €65, which is very reasonable indeed.

I really hope Gerry likes his new food, and I shall probably supplement it with rice and veggies depending on how he gets on (I've heard some dogs lose weight on vegetarian food, even though it does make their coats and skin a lot healthier), as well as his other treats. Of course, I can always go back to his normal good quality German organic food if the vegan lifestyle doesn't suit him... but it's worth a try for a couple of months at such a good price, isn't it?!

New Ink!

Here's a picture of my new tattoos by fellow vegan and rescued lurcher owner, Joe Deegan... I was almost 6 hours under the needle and was ready to scream at the end - but it was well worth it as you can see!

I'm so happy! :)

There's my Gerry on the left, and a cute girlfriend for him on the right.

Fun in the Sun!

Hi Everyone!

As always, apologies that things have been so quiet here at Velovegan. The weather is just too nice to be inside blogging. Gerry and I have been out on walkies in the sun and I have a new macro lens for my camera, so we've been wandering around exploring the local countryside. Gerry has also been terrorizing the neighbourhood, stealing bread rolls from families out on picnics and knocking small children over in excitement... I didn't know whether to laugh or be mortified!!! I guess dogs are there to embarrass you occasionally, just like children! Gerry's skin condition is getting much better, he really is on the mend now, and we went on an organised walk for Sighthounds up at the Hellfire Club in the Dublin mountains the other day which was amazingly good fun and made lots of new friends.

Here are a few photos I've taken recently:

That's Gerry's new girlfriend Stig, who belongs to my friend Jeni :)

I've not really been doing much cooking recently, although we did make the Cottage Pie again yesterday, but added some sweet potato to the topping as well, which was delicious. I also went to my boyfriend's sister's house over the weekend, who gave me some lovely homemade vegan soup and some roasted vegetable cous cous.

The only place I've eaten out at lately is Cornucopia - here's a photo of what I got: Delicious stuffed aubergine, spicy mash and lots of different salads. YUM!

Hope everyone's having a lovely time in this nice weather! :-)

The Boyfriend is Quite a Chef!

My better half has made some lovely meals this week. First is a Ginger and Lemon Chickpea Curry (adapted from a Chicken recipe), and secondly a Vegan Cottage Pie using this recipe from the Quorn website but substituting the Quorn mince with Soya. There are quite a few nice recipes on the website, which I think I may try using other vegan ingredients instead of the Quorn.

My dad also came to visit this week and we got up to loads of interesting things! We went to Airfield Farm and Gardens in Dundrum, and Russborough House in Co. Wicklow. I took a lot of beautiful photographs, my favourites of which you can see below.

We also ate at quite a few vegan places with good options. I got a Veggie Soup and Chips at the IFI Cinema Café, some Crisps and a Vegetable Samosa from M&S, a Vegan Pizza from Hell, lovely Vegetable Fajitas from The Speaker Connolly, and of course we went to Govindas and I had a very tasty Veggie Coconut Curry with mixed Salads (pictured below).

Gerry behaved himself well, it was the first time my father had met him and he's allergic to dogs... but he didn't sneeze at all and he loved him! So in all, it was a lovely week!

Sickly Pupsickle

I'm really excited for the week to come. My father is coming to visit from Wales on Saturday and I literally can't wait to see him. I don't think I've seen him since May of last year, seeing as my visit at Christmas fell through because of the terrible snow and ice. I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with him, eating good food, strolling in the evening sun with Gerry (the weather has been fantastic through the whole of March in Ireland, for once!), and visiting lots of galleries and some new sites he's never seen before. I'll be taking my camera with me everywhere so I'll definitely have a few pics and stories to share about vegan eats and treats!

We'll also be visiting Dublin Flea Market. Some friends and I are thinking about getting a stall there next month - I will be flogging some vintage jewellery and clothes, while they will be selling their artwork, zines and papercraft items. It will be a really fun venture and will give us a bit of extra money on the side.

In other news, I took Gerry to the vet as he has been experiencing hair loss on the back of his legs since January. I hadn't taken him any sooner as I thought it may have been natural shedding, or something known as "Bald Thigh Syndrome" that greyhounds are prone to getting, for no particular reason. Also, as he didn't seem irritated by it in the slightest I didn't really see the urgency. Anyway, yesterday I trotted him over to the vet to get it checked, as it's been getting a bit worse lately and I wanted to make sure it wasn't something serious. Gerry is always straining at the lead to go to the vet's because he can see all the doggies in the waiting room and wants to go in and say hello and have a good sniff around the food and toys they have for sale at reception. However, getting him into the surgery is a totally different matter! He refuses point blank to walk in, and I have to carry [all 21kgs of] his big, gangly body into the surgery and up onto the table. What a scaredy-pup! Once he was in there he was grand though, he waited patiently while I talked to the vet and didn't whine or make a fuss when he was given an antibiotic injection. He is now on antibiotics for 2 weeks, as he seems to have a bit of a skin infection. They are hoping it's some sort of mite and that the antibiotics and application of a repellent spot-on called Advocate will get rid of it once and for all, and that it's not a skin condition that will need constant management or an allergy that we can't do anything about. I have to take him back in a fortnight to see how he's doing. If it hasn't cleared up they'll be taking him in for a skin test, but hopefully it won't come to that and we can just continue with the monthly application of the Advocate and see if he needs any more antibiotics or not. Poor little chap! Apart from this he's in amazing health though, enjoying the Springtime sunshine in the park, running around with his friends and lapping up the attention he attracts from everyone!

I am still trying to source vegan kibble for him. It's a nightmare. I've literally checked everywhere, and as nowhere in Ireland stocks any (apart from one place which is way too dear) it's either too expensive to get it shipped over from the UK, Europe or America, or they won't deliver here at all! I've emailed a few places to check that their ridiculously high shipping fees are correct, but I've yet to hear back from them. All I can do at the moment is feed him as high quality raw organic kibble as I can, and make sure all his other treats are vegan. He goes crazy over a kong filled with frozen mashed banana and apple chunks, and he adores his vegetable based chews and biscuits, as well as rice, broccoli and carrots, so he's definitely a healthy pup who doesn't get fed any junk :-)

***UPDATE***
I just got a lovely email from a staff member at Veggie Pets about ordering 30kgs of  V-Dog. She is going to find out exactly how much it is for me to send it to Ireland, and they can hopefully do it quite cheaply if I'm going to be a regular customer. I really do hope it's an option as £22 for a 15kg bag is very very good, and I would have no problem paying an extra £20 on top of that for shipping. Even if it costs me a total of the equivalent amount of euros that it would to get the Yarrah food from Zooplus, I still wouldn't mind as it would be 10kgs extra food than what Zooplus could give me. FINGERS CROSSED!

Here's a photo of the gorgeous Bianca over at Vegan Crunk, and her vegan dog Datsun who is a most handsome ambassador for V-dog. Hope you don't mind me stealing this pic from your blog, Bianca!

Not Going To Plan

Gerry will have his first birthday next month, meaning that I've owned him for 6 months now. Time has flown and he's a pleasure to have around!

The only thing is..... veganising his diet is not going to plan at the moment. It's not worrying me too much, but it's still annoying. Especially as the only obstacle is money. I work part time and the cheapest place I can get vegetarian kibble from charges €72.00 for 20kg. That's a lot of money for food which would only last about 2 months tops. I am currently in the process of changing him over from Red Mills to Happy Dog, which is only €48 for 30kgs and is described as: "dog food containing no chemical colourings, flavours or preservatives, no animal meal and no soy."

I was recommended Happy Dog by a German girl who works in Maxi Zoo. I mentioned to her that I fed Gerry Red Mills and she told me that it wasn't very good quality, and that it was still full of sugar even though it wasn't listed plainly in the ingredients, as Irish advertising standards do not require that you do this. I don't know if this is true, it sounded odd to me, but I took it on board anyway. When I got home I checked the ingredients and the pack actually said "animal and meat derivatives" on it....... last time I checked all it said was "chicken" and a certain percentage, which I was happy about as I was avoiding foods that just vaguely listed "meat and animal derivatives" as an ingredient, for obvious reasons. I have no idea if the ingredients suddenly changed, or the way they listed them changed, but I clearly remember not seeing this before. So I decided to get the Happy Dog, which is apparently made from the best raw ingredients, and actually seems to list everything concisely on the package. I want to know that the meat he does eat is pure and not any kind of disgusting off-cut unfit for human consumption.

It still sickens me to think that I'm failing with this, but what else can I do? I simply cannot afford Yarrah Bio-Vegetarian. If anyone out there can recommend a site where I can get vegan kibble at a more affordable price and cheap or free shipping to Ireland please let me know! The other alternative is, of course, to make meals from scratch for Gerry. But I worry about my own health and nutrition on the best of days, and vegan canine nutrition for a naturally carnivorous animal is even more complicated to cater for, not to mention costly.

I don't know where to go from here. I guess it all depends upon me getting full time work, but I am happy where I am at the moment and if I were to change jobs it would mean I'd be around far less for Gerry.

Also, if anyone could recommend a vegetable based oil that I could feed Gerry to improve his skin and coat that would be great. Greyhounds are prone to getting BTS (Bald Thigh Syndrome) where they lose their hair on their bums and back legs. Gerry has this now to some extent and it's a cosmetic condition, rather than medical.  It doesn't bother him in the slightest but it still is rather irritating to have to deal with. I've had to temporarily start feeding him salmon oil to improve his coat and give him the extra fatty acids and Omega-3 that he needs. If there's a vegan alternative out there I'd certainly be using that instead.... Would coconut oil have the same effect and similar amounts of Omega-3? HELP!!

Dog Treats fit for Humans!

Just a quickie...

As Gerry has to be left alone for the occasional day where my boyfriend and I are both in work at the same time, I decided to bake him some lovely treats to go inside his activity ball. I'd run out of his Christmas supplies of Organic Pet mini biscuits, so instead of buy more I decided to go for the cheaper (but very much more laborious!) option of making my own.
























I used:

- 1 Cup Cornmeal (Polenta)
- 2 Cups White Flour
- 1 Cup Oats
- Honey (a little to sweeten)
- Vegetable Oil (to glaze and aid browning)

They turned out really really well! It took me FOREVER to roll them into tiny balls, and this amount of mixture made quite a substantial amount. I wouldn't normally have honey in the house, of course, but we still had some left over from when Gerry had kennel cough back in October. You can substitute this for agave nectar or molasses.

They are gorgeous by the way, I even had a few myself!! This should keep him entertained tomorrow, trying to fish them out of the ball by pushing it around the floor with his nose. I feel so so bad having to leave him for the whole day, but as long as he gets a long run in the morning and another again when I get home he's usually fine... I leave the radio on for him, he has plenty of toys, and some long-lasting chews to keep him happy.

Valentines Day, Pies, And Stuffing Kongs!

Just two more days to go til Valentine's Day! I'm not really a big fan of this over-hyped and overly-commercialised event and would never bother going for a meal out - but hey it's an excuse to spoil my Gerryboy and have fun making homemade cards. I really couldn't wait until Monday to give Gerry his treats, so I gave them to him today as he was such a good boy and because we are going out later to celebrate two family members' birthdays so I thought it would be a nice idea to leave him with some gifts.

Here he is totally enjoying his new LOVE pillow in fine greyhound style!

And his other Valentine's treat is a new Kong toy:

Er, yes, you non-doggie people must be thinking "what the HECK IS THAT"... yup, it does look a bit freaky/weird/dubious/scary... but I can assure you, it is the best present he could ever wish for! Kongs keep doggies entertained for hours. You stuff them with whatever food you want and it keeps them busy for ages trying to get at the food while they chew on the rubber and clean their teeth and gums!

Now, Gerry had a Kong ages ago, but it was a knock-off unbranded version and it slowly started to fall apart under the constant pressure from his greedy jaws, so I decided to go all-out and spend €14.99 on a super extreme strong Kong. I'd never really known what to stuff it with before, peanut butter was the only vegan thing that came to mind and that I'd heard worked well in a Kong, but with more research (namely THIS page) I have become really inspired to make Kongs Gerry's new vegan heaven! I have so many ideas.

Tonight his Kong is going to be stuffed with a frozen mixture of Mashed Banana, Peanut Butter and "The Organic Pet" Mini Biscuits.

Other ideas include:

- Mashed Peas, Broccoli & Potatoes
- Cooked Pasta & Mixed Beans
- Frozen Banana & Plain Soya Yoghurt
- Chopped Apples & Peanut Butter
- Frozen Oatmeal & Unsweetened Apple Sauce
- Chopped Carrots & Celery with Kibble

Yes, you read that right... Celery. He goes bloomin' mad for the stuff!! Is there anything my Gerry won't eat?! ;)

Anyway, What about human food for once?, I hear you cry! Well ok then, here's a few pics of things I've eaten recently.

First off, a bloody amazing pie the Boyfriend cooked for me - Curried Chickpea & Lentil. HELL-OH...!! SO GOOD! Mmmm - just fry some onions and garlic in a pan until browned, throw in a can of chopped tomatoes and loads of pulses and coriander, cook them for a while with some chana massala spice powder until some of the liquid has been absorbed, line a pie dish with pastry, pour in the yummy mixture, cover the top with more pastry and let the oven do it's magic:

(Yes The Boy was even artistic on the top, EXTRA KUDOS!!)

And here is my variation on the Veganomicon's Pineapple & Cashew Nut Quinoa. I used red quinoa and served it over a grilled portabello mushroom. I am a huge fan of pineapple in cooking (much to the disgust of many friends and the boyfriend), so this was right up my street. It's cooked in pineapple juice too which gives it a lovely sweet flavour, and the cashew nuts go so well with it and lend it a nice, crunchy texture. I will definitely be making this one again!

I'm going for an Indian meal tonight at the Royal Tandoori in Terenure. Pretty excited to try their Chana Massala and Mushroom Bhaji. They also have Chana Rice and Mushroom Rice... NOM! I'll be posting pictures! Then we're having a Chinese takeaway for Valentine's Day (Sczechuan Tofu here I come!) and going for a meal in a Moroccan restaurant in town on Wednesday which I'm particularly interested to try out - their Pumpkin, Carrot and Lentil Tagine sounds divine as does their Seven Vegetable Cous Cous. So look out for my next blog entry!! :D

I Love You, Gremlindog!

So it's been 4 months since I got my Lurcher pup Gerry. Wow he's grown, I didn't really realise how much till I was looking at some old photos of him today.

He's such a handsome lad now, and since cutting down his meat intake his skin has improved tremendously and he's so full of energy and is fighting fit. He's such a cheeky little lad, he makes me laugh so much... he spontaneously leaps in the lake to run after swans, he pulls this funny little gremlin face in the mornings when he stretches, he puts his head under the duvet in the morning and nibbles my toes to wake me up, and he'll chase me for miles on my bike. I'm also constantly amazed at how obedient he is... he woofs, twirls around and hi-5's on command, he always comes when he's called, he never does anything naughty around the house, and he is so good around other dogs and people. I just love him to bits and couldn't imagine being without him!

The only meat in his diet now is in his Red Mills kibble - and that is only a small percentage of Irish reared, organic chicken. Everything else he eats is vegan. I'm so glad I changed his diet and got rid of any indecent meat derivatives: the next order I'll be making is for Yarrah Vegetarian kibble at the end of March. Then in April, when he reaches a year old, he will be making his first trip to the vet to have a health check and get his boosters. Hopefully they will look at him and tell me what I already know - that he's on top form and that I'm doing well with him :)

Snow Days

Not much going on in the Velovegan household at the moment. It's been snowing for 2 days, so I thought I'd share some lovely pictures of what we've been up to recently...

Ikea Goodies!

We went to Ikea today, to get a few Christmas presents, some of their adorable wrapping paper and gift bags, as well as some food. Here's a picture of my haul:

















From the left, clockwise:

Elderflower Cordial - I love Elderflower and it's normally so expensive to buy the cordial, so this decent sized bottle at under €3.00 was a steal.

Applecider Vinegar with Lingonberries - I've never actually used applecider vinegar. Does anyone have any ideas what I can do with it? It looked really nice and was only about €1.25 if I remember correctly.

Oat Biscuits & Cappuccino Thins - I've had the spiced orange version of these so I expect they will be just as yummy. The Oat biscuits are gorgeously crumbly and very moreish. They are quite rusk-like and not too sweet, and I tried them with some jam spread on top of them - delish!

Sour Cream and Onion Kettle Crisps - These are vegan despite the "cream" mentioned in the title. They are so good, really crunchy and crispy. I've had the ready salted version of them too, in smaller packets from their canteen.

Filter Coffee - For only €2.00 I couldn't really resist buying some.

Mustard Dressing with Dill - Surprisingly vegan, this is usually served over smoked salmon. I love it so much, it's so tangy and sharp, with a sweet mustardy taste. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, maybe use it as a raw vegetable dip or a salad dressing.

Dark Chocolate - The usual Ikea favourite, I can't not get one at only 45c a bar!

Strawberry Laces - My German friend, if you remember, sent me the toffee version of these and I hadn't seen them in Ikea before, but they were there this time so I decided to try a different flavour.

And below is a Non-Alcoholic Mulled Wine and some Blackcurrant and Raspberry Jam. The wine can be mixed with vodka and served hot with raisins and almonds... can't wait to try this traditional Swedish drink!









































And guess who couldn't stop looking at me as I ate my oatie biscuits with blueberry and raspberry jam??? YES... GERRY. He had a taster and give it the Gerry Seal of Approval (the GSA).

Here he is in his new little Christmas jumper! ^_^
He doesn't look impressed...