Hi! I have a silly question. When you're making the chicken and rice for cats, how do you make the chicken? Do you bake it, or boil it - and if you boil it, should it be the thigh, or the breast? Thank you in advance!
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Chicken And Rice
- Thread starter LisaT.
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Poaching is probably the easiest. The cut of meat doesn't matter either. Thighs or breasts both work.
When I make it for my dog, I use the water from boiling the chicken to make the rice. It makes it a bit yummier and saves some of the nutrients lost in water. Depending on what's wrong with your kitty, you may want to save as much extra chicken water as possible to mix in with the food and prevent dehydration.
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Wait. Cats aren’t small dogs?!
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I agree about the pointlessness of the rice. Why are you making it? If you're feeding this on a regular basis you need to add the appropriate supplements.
Personally I wouldn't even cook the chicken.
Personally I wouldn't even cook the chicken.
I'm surprised the use of chicken and rice isn't more widely known on here. It's usually used to "reset" upset stomachs. If an animal is a little ill and is throwing up or has diarrhea (not a chronic issue or a serious illness), chicken and rice are usually bland enough to clear up tummy troubles. It's only fed until the problem resolves, usually not more than a week. It's often mixed with plain canned pumpkin to help solidify poop. It can be a lifesaver when an animal gets a bit of a tummy bug.
How is the rice typically served? Mixed up into a chicken-rice-pumpkin mush? I was considering this to help Trin, but he never tried new food if it’s not chicken.
When I make it I use so much chicken water in the rice that it's absolute mush. Generally, my critter has diarrhea and I want them to have tons of liquid in their food. The chicken gets shredded, it's all mixed together with the appropriate amount of pumpkin, and they get to chow down. If the kitty likes pate, the mix might have to go through the blender.
It's not a balanced diet and it's not meant for long-term feeding or meant to replace meals regularly. It is simply a very short reset period for the occasional upset stomach.
I almost forgot a very important part! Reintroduction of the normal food should be very slow. It should be mixed with the chicken and rice in gradually increasing amounts over a few days, but not until the upset stomach has resolved.
It's not a balanced diet and it's not meant for long-term feeding or meant to replace meals regularly. It is simply a very short reset period for the occasional upset stomach.
I almost forgot a very important part! Reintroduction of the normal food should be very slow. It should be mixed with the chicken and rice in gradually increasing amounts over a few days, but not until the upset stomach has resolved.
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If the point of the temporary diet is to be bland and easy for an upset tummy to digest, why is rice needed? You could just feed chicken without the rice. The rice doesn't make the chicken any more bland or easier to digest.
Or feed meat baby food. No rice in that either.
Or feed meat baby food. No rice in that either.
White rice helps with diarrhea. It's easy for cats to digest and helps firm up stools. I would guess that it is in the recipe because Lisa's cat has diarrhea. Same idea as when people recommend adding pumpkin to food to firm up stools.
I don't know why the rice works, but it does. I've never had plain chicken get the job done. Plain chicken on its own has never cleared diarrhea or improved vomiting in my experience. Somehow the rice helps with that. My cat doesn't like baby food much at all so I'm not sure how well that would work. I get that cats, in general, have no need for grains, and I like to keep them out of the regular diet, but if it cures an upset stomach quickly and is only for a short period of time I see no problem with it.
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White rice being easy for cats to digest goes against what we know about obligate carnivores though. I feel like we have just taken an age old trick that works for humans and applied it to cats as if their digestive systems function the same way but in reality they are very different. If my cat had an upset stomach the last thing I would give him is grains.
If your cat had an upset stomach the first thing it would do is go outside and eat grass, which is a grain.
This is obviously not a long term diet, but if it works for op to settle her cat's gi issues then I don't see a problem with feeding chicken and rice for a few days.
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We actually don’t know why cats eat grass. My vet said that they tend to throw it up because it scratches their throats and advised me against feeding it. There’s not much of a digestive benefit to it. Popular to contrary belief, cats aren’t supposed to be puking all the time.
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Thanks, Everybody! My 1 yr old, Theo, has repeated bouts of diarrhea and has a sensitive stomach. That's why I wanted to give him chicken and rice. I definitely didn't know that pumpkin firms up stools. I will try that too!!
Questions: Can you use Minute Rice, or should it be the regular kind? And, would I put a teaspoon of pumpkin in the food? Would that be enough?
Questions: Can you use Minute Rice, or should it be the regular kind? And, would I put a teaspoon of pumpkin in the food? Would that be enough?
