How to Feed an Unsettled Stomach
When we picked Lady Muck (aka the menace, aka millicent t. wildabeast) from the SPCA as a cross breed 8 month old puppy she appeared to have been on the streets for some time. She was stick thin and very, very nervous and I suspect had not been eating much, if at all, while in the SPCA’s care (it’s not uncommon for a dog to not feed in a stressful kennel environment).
As per the SPCA and our vets advice we tried to start her off on dry pellets fed in two small sized portions twice a day. She would devour them with such speed that I would sometimes wonder if I had imagined feeding her. In fact within seconds the only evidence of the meal having existed at all would be the occasional pellet that had been shot across the room at high speed. And even these would then be hunted down with something that could only be described as “fixed determination”.
Perhaps predictably she was having stomach trouble within days.
It reached a peak when I had to rush her to the emergency vet. She was immobile and lifeless and I was genuinely concerned that she may be in serious trouble (the Menace, even starved, is usually a VERY lively and active dog).
The new advice was a diet of plain boiled chicken and rice with only a warning that it would probably be hard to wean her off it once she had gained some weight. We decided that allowing her to develop an expensive taste in food (this was a street dog) was the least of our problems and cooked up the first batch as soon as we got home.
It was devoured with the same relish as everything else that had been placed in front of her and had none of the ill effects (except the occasional grain of rice flying across the room of course).
Since then it is our stock fallback meal plan for any dog having stomach problems and so far it has worked a treat.
And weaning Lady Muck off the chicken and white rice? We needn’t have worried. Food is still her thing and two years and many kilo’s later the only thing she occasionally pauses over are those dry pellets… and even then not for long.
PLEASE NOTE: An upset stomach in a dog can be an indication of any number of illnesses that require veterinary attention. If your dog has stomach problems get them checked out by a vet.