Bland diet?

fruffell · #1 20th December 2005, 06:43 PM

I was just wondering what works well for a bland diet? We've read that boiled chicken and rice helps an upset stomach, but do other meats work tool? In particular, we are thinking of boiled ground beef and ground pork. Also, should a bland diet produce hard stools despite the lack of bone? Thanks!

**gmacleod** · #2 20th December 2005, 07:36 PM

Ground beef is commonly used with rice as a bland diet - and is the food of choice for those needing a bland diet but whose dogs don't tolerate chicken. Preferably lean ground beef

No, it won't produce hard stools though. They should be firm, but they're not going to be the small-volume, hard stools you'll be used to a raw fed dog producing. It is the bone content of the food that makes the stool hard and chalky.

fruffell · #3 20th December 2005, 08:03 PM

Okay, thanks. I have a related question then - is it common practice to serve offal and meat meals (non-rmb) with some bone added to preserve the hard stools, or do these meals on their own still produce fairly firm stools?

We are opting for a bland diet this week to see if we can pinpoint what part of Oscar's BARF diet may possibly be the source of his frequently wet stools. The goal is to firm them up a bit with a bland diet, and then gradually add his meals back until the culprit is found. Thanks again from a newbie BARFER

**gmacleod** · #4 20th December 2005, 08:13 PM

I would say that most people tend to feed offal as a side dish to an RMB meal (ie. a bit less RMB than usual, and offal making up the difference). Not so much to preserve hard stools, but to prevent runny ones.

Personally I just feed offal on it's own. But my dog doesn't have any problem with that. His stool after an offal meal is naturally softer than after an RMB meal, but not so soft as to be any sort of issue. That isn't the case for all dogs though - which is why most people feed offal as a side-dish only.

Muscle meats are commonly fed with vegetables. But if your dog gets too loose stool doing it that way, then you can just make that a side dish to RMBs as well.

fruffell · #5 20th December 2005, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmacleod

I would say that most people tend to feed offal as a side dish to an RMB meal (ie. a bit less RMB than usual, and offal making up the difference). Not so much to preserve hard stools, but to prevent runny ones.

That's great to know - when I start to add back his offal\muscle meals I will try this approach. I suspect these meals are a possible source of his wet BMs since they usually occur in the evening, andhe is fed these meals in the morning. Thanks again for helping us through our BARF problems

Checkers · #6 20th December 2005, 09:05 PM

I feed offal meals as one meal, but add in either rice or sweet potato to them. Its usually about 1/2 and 1/2. Keeps her stools firm

fruffell · #7 23rd December 2005, 06:18 AM

Oscar has been on the bland diet of chicken and rice for about 2 and half days now. Unfortunately, the last hard stool we had was when he was on BARF. In fact this morning it had no form and was pretty much a waterfall. I'm going to book and appointment with vet, but in the meantime, I was wondering maybe I'm not adding enough rice to firm it up? His meals have been half rice and half chicken (boiled together in the same pot). Or perhaps it just takes longer than 2 days for the firmness to set in ...