It happens, sometimes your dog will get an upset stomach and everyone will tell you to stop feeding your normal food and start feeding a bland diet. For most people they think of chicken and rice when they think of a bland diet for dogs, I’m here to tell you that ground turkey and pumpkin is a better bland diet for your dog. Rice goes through the body super quickly and mostly comes out as it goes in, looking like white rice. While this means that your dog is not having diarrhea because rice is binding, it doesn’t mean that your dog actually got any nutrients from the rice. Two issues with chicken for a bland diet:
1: Chicken is a hot food according to TCM and feeding a hot food to an already inflamed digestive track will only cause more discomfort.
2. Many dogs have an intolerance to chicken, and if you don’t know if yours does then turkey is a much better option and is easily available in low fat grinds. You want a low fat meat on an upset stomach because high fat could cause more stomach upset.
BUT WHY PUMPKIN?
According to Mercola Pets (posted by Dr. Karen Becker)
Canned 100% pumpkin provides about 80 calories and 7 grams of soluble fiber per cup, compared to 1.2 grams of fiber in a cup of cooked white rice. The soluble fiber in pumpkin coats and soothes the GI tract; it also delays gastric emptying, slowing down GI transit times and helping to reverse the effects of increased peristalsis (muscle contractions).
When animals have diarrhea, they can lose important electrolytes, including potassium, which puts them at risk of dehydration. Hypokalemia, or low potassium levels, can result in cramping, fatigue, weakness and heart rate irregularities. Pumpkin happens to be an excellent source of potassium, with 505 milligrams of naturally occurring potassium per cup. Pumpkin is also safer for diabetic pets than rice. And most animals love it (including cats).
Since dogs don't have a nutritional requirement for grain, feeding a pro-inflammatory food like rice when they're already having GI upset is counter-intuitive. There's also the issue of arsenic in rice.
Switching the rice out for pumpkin makes sense for fiber, digestibility and also to provide valuable nutrients to help your dog get over their digestive upset. If your dog has a major problem with their stomach and diarrhea then please contact your veterinarian. This recipe is not a replacement for a diagnosis, but can help your pet with a better bland diet than chicken and rice.
Raw Goat Milk is a great source of probiotics and is easily digestible for dogs. Raw goat milk for pets is fermented, has vitamins, minerals, enzymes and fatty acids. Answers Pet Food has many protocols on their website for common ailments and one of their protocols is for Pancreatitis and I have heard many good things from others who have gone through the Answers Pet Food protocol instead of switching to a highly refined and high carb prescription diet. I highly suggest researching this option when making the right decision for your pet.
Tripe is another great source of enzymes for your dog. It has essential fatty acids omega 3 and 6, digestive enzymes and protein.
Green tripe is very easy to digest. In fact, green tripe is partially digested already, since it comes from a grazing animal’s stomach. Freeze-dried, frozen, or fresh tripe is the best for naturally-occurring probiotics and digestive enzymes. If your dog or cat has “Leaky Gut” syndrome, raw tripe is very digestible and can ease these symptoms.
Tripe we use -
Now for the Crew’s Sour Tummy Recipe -
1 package lean ground turkey 90/10 fat or lower fat
1 can pumpkin or 2 cups fresh pumpkin
1/2 tsp natural salt (Electrolytes come from salt)
*I added in some fresh ginger (1/4 tsp) because ginger is a digestive aid, you can choose to add this or not
*I also added a ground eggshell. Eggshell is calcium and you can choose to add this or not. Ti was already on the rebound so I didn’t hesitate to add in the small amount of calcium to the meal.
Probiotics are also something that you can add to help replenish the gut. The raw goat milk has probiotics, but for sensitive tummies I like to up the dosage. We use several brands, but these are in main rotation.