Bland Dog Food

cuddlymarm

Hi everyone

Could anyone give me ideas of bland dog foods. My little old dog has arthritis and colitis. The problem is that he has steroids for his arthritis and this gives him a delicate stomach. A bland diet works but he's got bored with pasta, he'll eat potatos, scrambled egg, boiled turkey which I blended with some rice. Has anyone ideas about other bland foods that I can give him that take a little less preparation eg could he have an occasional slice of bread or plain breakfast cereal. Any other ideas would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance:rotfl: :rotfl:

Rowan_2

How about canned value tuna?

Curv

Have you thought about tripe? That's pretty bland and you'd just need to poach it in a little milk. Ditto for white fish.

And I've yet to meet a dog that doesn't like toast...

Gingermonkey_2

We had a similar problem with our old retriever, with the only bonus being she was a walking dustbin and gratefully gobbled anything we put in front of her!

The vet recommended chicken and rice, which is what we stuck to be it chicken, turkey or cheap white fish. We would cook up a big pot of value rice for her which lasted a few days in the fridge, and microwave the meat or fish every couple of days. That was cut into small chunks and mixed in with the rice and some water at meal times - sounds revolting but always went down a storm!!! Her treats were squares of toast which we still use for her successor, toasted value bread goes a lot further than dog biscuits and they have never complained.

I vaguely remember the breeder recommending porridge for her when she was a pup, I presume for the same bland reasons?

For off the shelf dog foods Chappie is worth a try but we had mixed results with that.

Hop that helps!

Lillibet_2

I work in a vets (I am an administrator, not a ver or nurse) apart from the usual chicken/tuna/turkey/rice (be carefulwith turkey it is quite fibrous & can affect some animals accordingley!) we also sometimes recommend porridge made with either water or milk, and also Chappie as being the most nutritionally balanced of the off-the-shelf canned foods (my dog has it sometimes & the vet feeds his dog almost soley on it)

HTH;)

lil_me

Have you tried one of the more bland basic dog foods? One of the dry mixes that isn't full of colourings etc maybe moistened with water. My primary concern would be still achieving a balanced diet suitable for the dog.

I would have to say I think any diet for the little guy with such complex health issues should be discussed with the vets. A high carb diet I doubt would be recommended with colitis. High fibre and low fat are usually recommended. My friend's dog has colitis and is on Hill's food successfully. Many recommend raw food diets for colitis. A lot of vets now do a pro biotic.

If he's got an iffy stomach I would stick to one type of bland food, the more you change around (even if he's bored) the more you'll cause his tummy to be upset. He may seem bored but if he's hungry he'll eat it, aswell as that you don't want a dog who is pigging out and gaining weight with issues like colitis and arthritis.

Glucosamine, Cod Liver Oil and Chondroitin are regularly recommended as supplements for animals with arthritis, I started our oldie we got back on these, it may be coincidence as there are other factors like she isn't in kennnels, outdoors etc but within 2 weeks she was running round like a daft puppy, when she came to us she struggled to walk.

Gingham_Ribbon

You should get more answers in the pets board. I'll move it over for you.

Raksha

Fish usually goes down well with most dogs - coley is cheap. There are brands of dog food which are based on fish (Burns and James Wellbeloved spring to mind).
Why does the food have to be bland? Do you know if there is anything specific which irritates the stomach? My Springer reacts to wheat gluten, but can eat rice happily.