Sunday late at night I received a phone call from Katie, a friend taking care of my cat Brady during my travels. The first thing I heard was Brady sounding miserable in the background. He has had two spells of constipation in the past few months, and it appeared it was time for round three. Since the last two times both passed within 24 hours I decided to give him some time and tuna with a little oil to help out. As much as I hate seeing (or hearing this time) him in pain, it didn’t make sense to rush him off to the pet-ER late at night if he was just going to end up pooping in a few hours.

Monday evening he was still wailing, had not eaten a thing in two days and still had clean litter box. So Katie dashed off with him to the vet while I called to give them permission for her to admit my cat since I was boarding my plane home (thank goodness for Katie!). She got there just after 6pm, but still let her in and took their time checking him out even though they would normally be closing for the night. Good thing too, because had he been forced to wait to be seen until morning, he would have been in serious condition. His bladder was so full, it was the size of a softball and hard as a rock. Poor thing couldn’t pee! And his toxicity levels were off the charts. Thankfully they were able to relieve him with a catheter and stayed overnight. I was told her was a very sweet cat despite his miserable state.

Tuesday morning the doctor called to tell me his levels were much lower but still not yet at normal levels. The catheter was taken out later that afternoon to see if he would be able to urinate himself (sorry if this story just became unappetizing). He thinks the blockage may have been caused by crystals and will need to go on a special diet, but first they needed a urine sample to examine. He stayed overnight again yesterday to recover further and I am waiting to hear from the doctor today in hopes that I will be bringing my little cuddle-buddy home sometime today. My apartment seems so empty without him there.

Thanks for sticking it out through that story. I hope you still want to look at food after that little tale of bowl movements. Maybe you can see some sort of transition between that and some granola bites? Yea? Ok just go with it…

Dried fruit, nuts, chocolate and oats. Typically these are the ingredients which one can play around with in order to produce a favorite granola bar. But there are times when preheating the oven is already too much effort, and passes too much time (but I want it NOW).

These granola bites are perfect for such a time. I tried them out first with the original recipe ingredients, but immediately knew the possibilities were endless. But first I need to restock on my dried fruits and nuts! What do you think would be your favorite combination?

One year ago: Chicken and Veggie Nuggets

APRICOT WHITE CHOCOLATE GRANOLA BITES

Makes approximately 20 bites

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups oats

1 cup unsalted cashews

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup agave nectar (or pure maple syrup)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: