Chicken & rice diet for dog

trolleyrun

Hi all,

I've got to feed my dog on only chicken and rice for the next few days. I've bought a whole chicken and a bag of rice. Pipsqueak is a small dog (5kg) so a whole chicken will take some time to get through. I'd appreciate recommendations as to how to prepare the chicken. Should I boil the whole chicken and keep it in the fridge or segment it each day? Boil it with the rice to make the rice more tempting? Thank you in advance.

JP08

Egg fried rice. Our mutt loved it post op !

Unfortunately he got the idea the eggy rice was his every time we had a chinese takeaway ...

catkins

I've never boiled a chicken, only ever roasted them for my dogs. If you are going to boil it though it may be an idea to do it with the rice to give the rice a bit more flavour.


I would cook the whole chicken in one go. Kept in a fridge it will last ok for a few days

thistledome

Do you know how many calories pipsqueak needs per day? There are charts available if you give it a google, or ask your vet.

I make my dog chicken and rice and I do 1 week's food at a time. Put both chicken and rice in the one pot (I use a pressure cooker to save time, but you don't have to), then I portion it out into plastic containers and put 2 days worth in the fridge. The other five portions go into the freezer and each day I get the next day's one out and defrost it in the fridge overnight.

I hope it goes without saying that dogs mustn't be given cooked chicken bones, they can be very dangerous.

trolleyrun

I've butchered the chicken and saved the legs and breasts for me. The rest I boiled, some with rice, some without. I've stripped the carcass and saved the chicken water for rice in a few days. I mixed in a scrambled egg with a bit of chicken and rice + some pureed pumpkin (on advice from a knowledgeable friend) and Pipsqueak loved it! I made the rice a bit mushy so it was easier to hide her tablets in it, as she's good at spitting them out.

Owain_Moneysaver

I looked after a dog on a turkey and rice diet.

The turkey came ready diced in a bag from the frozen food store, and was defrosted/cooked in the microwave.

With a handy jar of Uncle Ben's it was quick and easy to prepare dinner for me and the dog at the same time.

teddysmum

I assume that you are aware that reheating rice can cause food poisoning.


Because of this, I would cut the chicken into cubes and freeze it, defrosting and cooking with the rice, on a daily basis, meaning you can feed a warm meal and the cubed chicken will cook quickly.

krlyr

teddysmum wrote: »

I assume that you are aware that reheating rice can cause food poisoning.


Because of this, I would cut the chicken into cubes and freeze it, defrosting and cooking with the rice, on a daily basis, meaning you can feed a warm meal and the cubed chicken will cook quickly.

The toxin that causes food poisoning with rice likes room temperature. If you cool the rice quickly and then refridgerate, or freeze, it will be just as safe as fresh rice.

OP, if you're short of time or want something really convenient, I'd cook the whole chicken, the week's worth of a rice (cool the rice as soon as it's cooked by running cold water over it, or spreading onto a baking tray to allow it to cool quickly), and freeze in single portions. You can microwave eat portion to serve warm.

Otherwise, a whole chicken should last around 3-4 days in the fridge once cooked.

What is the dog on a chicken and rice diet for, though? Unfortunately it's not standard for vets to learn all that much about nutrition within their studies - a lecture or two, usually sponsored by the large brand dog food manufacturers. Rice is just a filler ingredient with very little nutritional benefit to dogs, and can be a cause of allergies or intolerances in some dogs. I give it to mine occasionally as a treat (or a 'whoops, dog food delivery isn't here until tomorrow, what do I have in the freezer' meal!) as they don't have any issues with it, but if your dog hasn't had it before, and has a sensitive tum or any undiagnosed allergies/intolerances, you may want to go careful with the rice.

Also bear in mind that it's not a balanced diet, so fine for the short-term but don't be tempted to keep the dog on it indefinitely. Even if it's settled a tummy issue, if you want to avoid putting the dog back on its previous food, do research on homemade (or even raw) diets, as you'll need to include more variety to provide balanced nutritional (e.g. some form of bone meal or similar to provide adequate calcium/phosphorus)


Also, mine are more than happy with plain rice, but if yours is fussy, I'd perhaps make a little stock with the chicken bones before you bin them, which you could add to the meal to make it more tempting - 'bone broth' is full of lots of good nutrition, but only give in small amounts. You literally just need to leave the chicken carcass in water in a pan on the hob at its lowest, or in a slow cooker for as long as possible (24 hours is good if you can), and it'll form a jelly-like broth full of all the nutrients from the bone. Bin the bone, and you can freeze the broth in single portions if you like (ice cube trays work well for little dogs)

trolleyrun

This is just a short term "diet" as Pipsqueak has a slight bout of colitis. She's been given tablets for it and will only stay on the chicken/rice/egg mix for a few days.

I can't feed raw as she goes to her dog minder when I'm away with work and it doesn't fit in with the rest of the pack so to speak. She's never had colitis before so hopefully this is just a hiccup. She normally has an iron gut

teddysmum

A possible next step:


I used to go on a forum where a member was a vet and she suggested that Butchers original tripe mix or original with chicken was a good substitute if you don't have fresh chicken. This was because it has no additives (unlike other products in the range).


She, also, suggested that it is milder than some 'special puppy' foods which can cause tummy upsets for puppies. (based on this , the lady who bred my dogs , weaned a litter using Butchers tripe mix and they did very well).