Canine Eats
Posted
Wed, 09/08/04
My puppy Rainee is under the weather. She must have eaten something disagreeable, or consumed scraps from the many twigs she has a habit of gnawing on in the backyard. Rainee has a case of the tummy rumbles, asking to go out several times during the day as well as in the middle of the night. She is fine otherwise – full of vim and vigor. Rather than take her to the veterinarian again and rack up another bill, we're trying a bland diet for a day or two. I prepared a mild mixture of chicken and rice for her that should last until Saturday. I gave her a taste this afternoon and she loved it.
Sometimes I forget that Rainee has a "puppy" tummy, that she shouldn't eat the same things my adult dog Foofer does. Yet it's hard to give him canned dog food and treats and not give her the same thing, especially when she looks at me with those soulful black eyes. I referenced The First Aid Companion for Cats & Dogs by Amy D. Shojai, and found the following pertinent information:
It may take a day or two for your pet's tummy to settle down after a severe upset, so ease the recovery period with bland food and small meals. Cook plain white rice or macaroni until it's very soft. Mix it 50/50 with boiled skinless, boneless chicken breast or lean browned and drained ground beef. You can flavor it with a bit of low-fat, no-salt chicken broth. Offer small but frequent meals of the rice mixture – about three or four a day for twenty-four hours. If the dog's condition improves, increase quantity but decrease the frequency of the meals for an additional two days. After that, gradually begin mixing your pet's regular food in with the rice and chicken until he/she is back to his/her old feeding pattern. Start with a ration of 30% regular food and 70% bland diet. Each day, increase the amount of regular food while reducing the amount of the bland diet – 50/50, 70/30, and so on. After four to five days, your pet should be back on his/her regular diet.
I went to a market near my house and spent $16 on chicken breasts at the butcher counter – only the best for my Rainee. Utilizing my new steamer, I cooked white rice in the bottom container and cooked two of the large chicken breasts in the steamer basket. No spices, no chicken broth. The steam-cooking flavored the rice slightly, and after all was cooked I cut the chicken in small pieces. I combined the rice and chicken in a large stainless steel bowl, and let it cool for about forty-five minutes before giving Rainee a small portion. She wanted more, of course, but I held off until a few hours had passed. So far so good - knock on wood.
The chicken-rice mixture is now safely stored in a zip-lock freezer bag in the refrigerator. I even tasted the food, and it wasn't bad for plain fare. The trick will be getting Rainee to eat the food while Foofer consumes his regular dinnertime serving of Alpo, which includes prime cuts of beef and chicken in gravy.
*POSTSCRIPT (Saturday, 09/11/04): Rainee is much better, but now Foofer has tummy troubles. I've made a repeat of my chicken-rice recipe, this time using ground chicken instead of chicken breasts. Is it possible for dogs to pass flu bugs back and forth? It just seems too coincidental for both Rainee and Foofer to have similar ailments within a few days of each another. Now Foofer is getting the round of bland food, so we'll see how it goes.
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