# Rice daily?



## Beka (Apr 17, 2013)

Ok, my 15 week old pup has just gotten over a serious bout of Campylobactor infection and of course for the first few days of being treated he was on boiled chicken and rice. 

The vet said his tummy was very very sore and inflamed so suggested he stayed on the rice atleast for a week or 2 but to mix his usual food with it gradually as his tummy can handle it.
Thing is he has been on Acana and i don't think it has ever really agreed with him so am not feeding it to him anymore and don't intend to again.

I am currently feeding him a mix of rice, meat (sometimes mince, sometimes beef and kidney, sometimes chicken etc so he gets varierty) and a few mixed veges thrown in also.

My question is, i wanted to start feeding him on meat rather than dry food permanently and i spoke to the vet about feeding him rice daily for his sensitive tummy with his meat and she said it would be no problem as long as the bulk of his meal was meat product etc. She said being an active growing puppy the carbs in the rice would be no problem for him. She also said the daily rice will help keep his stools firm etc.

What does everyone on here think? He just gets about 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup of rice with each meal and the rest is meat (and a few veges since he really likes them and a spoonful of mashed pumpkin). He also gets Flaxseed Oil (high source of Omega) and probiotic youghurt. He gets this morning and night daily. 

He also gets chicken necks or meaty lamb bones etc at lunch time daily.

I have noticed his stools are far firmer and less frequent since he has been eating like this daily where as before hand on the Acana he was pooing at least 3-5 times a day and it was never very firm!

He is a good weight, doesn't look skinny (but also not fat!), his skin isn't flaky anymore like it was on the dry diet and he also seems less hungry between meals.

And opinions etc are greatly welcomed!


----------



## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

Since your pup is doing well on this mixture and your vet approves, I would continue it.


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Glad your pup is doing better and handling the raw diet well. 

I don't think that the amount of rice you are feeding would be a problem for the long-run. He seems to be getting a well balanced raw diet in addition to the rice. However, I don't really see the point of feeding rice on a regular basis if he is doing well on the meat diet. 

If this were my pup, I would continue feeding as you are for a few more weeks to give in digestive system a chance to heal up completely, then try to phase out the rice and just keep him on raw, and see how he handles that. You could continue giving some rice occasionally for variety if you wish (I feed raw, and sometimes cook up some rice with fish or other cooked foods, just for variety), but don't think it is really necessary.

If removing the rice and feeding 100% causes gastro-intestinal problems to return then just stick with your current feeding regimen - shouldn't be a problem for the long run, except I would add in organ meats (about 5 - 10 % of each meal), and work on introducing more meat variety. 

Have you read Ian Billinghurst's "Give Your Dog a Bone"? 
[ame]http://www.amazon.ca/Give-Your-Dog-Bone-Commonsense/dp/0646160281[/ame]

This is my favorite book on raw feeding. This forum has a lot of info for raw also in the BARF section and there is even a specific section for doing raw with puppies in the puppy section of the forum.


----------



## Beka (Apr 17, 2013)

Castlemaid said:


> Glad your pup is doing better and handling the raw diet well.
> 
> I don't think that the amount of rice you are feeding would be a problem for the long-run. He seems to be getting a well balanced raw diet in addition to the rice. However, I don't really see the point of feeding rice on a regular basis if he is doing well on the meat diet.
> 
> ...


Thanks for that, that's what i thought also... keep him on this diet as is for a few more weeks until i can be sure his tummy is well healed and then slowly take away the rice and just feed different meat variety and a few mixed veges (he LOVES carrots and peas!) and keep up with his bones and chicken necks etc and see how we get on with his tummy. 

I buy him lambs liver and kidneys and chop that up and add that to his evening meals rather than both daily meals if that is enough?

No i haven't read that book but i will certainly have a look, it sounds great!


----------

