Feeding a sick dog chicken and rice has to be one of the most common pieces of advice vets have for dog owners.
But...should you and what's behind this ubiquitous piece of advice?
First of all: Why is the dog sick? An operation? Runny poo? Neutering side effects?
We feel like sometimes vets give blanket advice irrespective of the cause.
Why chicken and rice?
Chicken is the most common food sensitivity in dogs. Why? It's how the chickens live.
Caged chickens are corn-fed, have limited running space, lack sunlight and are often overcrowded in the thousands.
If the food you feed is from caged chickens, the sensitivity will be passed down the food chain to your dog. Additionally, corn-fed chickens are high on inflammatory Omega 6.
Caged chickens may also be subject to massly administered antibiotics or rapid growth steroids.
Chickens raised in the UK/EU will have tighter regulations with regards to health standards, but if the food is sourced abroad, your guess is as best as ours at what life those chickens live.
Chickens that are allowed to live freely will eat crickets, flies, spiders, worms and other wonderful natural fauna which will make the chicken much healthier to be eaten.
If the dog is happy and healthy eating chicken, it's then a great source of protein!
But if the dog is poorly and the problem seems to be related to food (which is the most common problem), think of animals whose diet is harder to tamper with, as it could be a chicken sensitivity.
Some lighter meats are turkey or white fish. So, if you are going to feed one meat, we would probably suggest one of those.
Other suggestions include natural broth, Psyllium & Slippery Elm. All of these can help improve bowel movement & consistency.
RICE:
We keep banging our head against the wall when it comes to carbohydrates in carnivores' diets.
Can dogs digest carbs? Yes, they can. Whilst they lack salivary amylase to break down starches, they secrete some through the pancreas, kidneys to digest carbohydrates in the intestine.
The higher the serum amylase function, the higher the likelihood of pancreatic disease. In English: the more carbs you feed your dog, the more they will struggle breaking them down, increasing the changes of obesity, pancreatitis, insulin resistance...and more vet visits!
Why feed your dog high glycemic starches if they do not require them to function? Why cause unneccesary inflamation to the dog?
Overfeeding your dog rice is akin to you eating pasta multiple times per day. Those excess carbs will be converted into sugar & then stored as fat.
If you must feed your dog a carbohydrate, a little sweet potato or broccoli is better.
Grains release Zonulin, which is a protein that opens your dog's gut wall and creates intestinal permeability. Bacteria then floods into the bloodstream.
This does not happen overnight, but over long periods of time, feeding dogs these foods is not good.
We want to think that the reason why some vets recommend foods like these is simply ignorance and an unwillingness to learn.
We want you to be better informed when it comes to nutrition.
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