My dog has IBD. Can I feed her plain chicken and rice for flare-ups?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Feeding a high quality, high fiber, low fat, and low allergen diet will be important. Hill's HA or z/d are good places to start, and then you can introduce other foods in slowly, one at a time, to determine what food is causing the allergy. Some dogs do well on Hill's HA, ID or ZD and just remain on that food strictly their whole lives. You can talk to your vet about different immuno-suppressive drugs that can be trialed. Immuno-suppressive drugs have side effects, so using as few drugs as possible is ideal. Also, since Scooby has urinary crystals, you will need to get a food that will help with the crystals as well, especially if you are going to start on immuno-suppressive drugs. Best of luck with Scooby!

Most cases of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) require hypoallergenic diets composed of hydrolyzed proteins (proteins broken down to the point where they will not stimulate the immune system). These diets are prescription based and include Royal Canin Ultimano, Royal Canin HP, Science Diet Z/D and Purina HA. In some cases of IBD, a dog can tolerate a novel protein diet (one protein source and one carbohydrate source) after a period of time on a hypoallergenic diet. Some novel protein diets are prescription based (such as Science Diet D/D), but others are available over the counter (such as Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet). Most cases of IBD also require some form of corticosteroids for management in addition to the diet change. Before making any changes in Peaches' diet, be sure to consult her vet to make sure this is appropriate for her case. I hope this helps!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Cosita! There are several diets available that do not require a prescription. Most of these are labeled “light” or “lite”. I recommend Hill’s Science Diet I/D food. You can also consider giving dog-friendly probiotics. If Cosita does not eat, you can offer her some plain boiled chicken and white rice (no bones, skin, or spices) which should be gentle enough on her intestinal tract and low in fat. I hope this helps and that all is well!

It is common that dogs will develop diarrhea from a sudden food change, but it can be challenging to do a slow diet change when they stop eating their regular diet. If Chi won't eat a bland diet, adding cooked white rice or cooked white or sweet potato to a diet may be a good option for her. I think at this point, you could continue the previous food since she was eating it well or try to introduce a new limited ingredient diet if that was what your vet had recommended. Sometimes 95% meat diets are too rich for dogs alone, but Chi may tolerate it with white rice or potato. However, you may also need to talk to your veterinarian about medication for the diarrhea since she has IBD and those dogs will sometimes have a harder time getting their diarrhea to resolve with diet change alone. I have included a handout with more information on IBD below. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=598 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Chi feels better soon. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would love to help you with this. He needs to eat 450 to 500 calories per day. Basically you just have to check how many calories the meat you are feeding him has and calculate his daily intake from there. For example 1 cup of cooked white rice has approximately 200 calories while 8 ounces of a chicken breast is about 350 calories. Good luck and have a great day!

No, this is not a complete and balanced diet for long-term feeding. It's fine to use for a few days here and there, especially if your dog has an upset stomach and needs something bland and tasty, but you should feed a commercial dog food or work with a veterinary nutritionist to put together a balanced home-cooked diet for the long term, if you prefer.

Since Cash is a small dog, you might consider one of the more expensive options such as a dehydrated or fresh food diet. They are able to control their ingredients much more easily than a large manufacturing plant does that makes dry food. I have been very pleased with The Honest Kitchen ( https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/ ) and Just Food For Dogs ( https://www.justfoodfordogs.com/ ). Both have foods that will not have chicken and both have options without any poultry. You do not have to worry about the potential addition of chicken fat which a number of dry food companies do as well. If those are not good options for Cash, then you may consider a canned food which again will generally be safer than a dry food at making sure there isn't any chicken contamination. I have been pleased with Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets ( https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/ ), but be sure to read the labels carefully. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and gives you some ideas. Thanks for using PetCoach.