Rice pudding for dogs

ISDW

Another thread about feeding a pup made me think about this. When I got a pup about 17 years ago:eek: the rescue I got her from recommended rice pudding as her afternoon meal. I got another pup 3 months later, and both of the dogs would get a tin of rice pudding divided between them in the afternoon until they were a year old. They would get it throughout their lives every now and then as a treat. They both loved it, and seemed to thrive on it. The first pup lived until she was 15, unfortunately the second one died too young of cancer.

Logically rice pudding shouldn't be fed to dogs, the rice, the milk, etc but they really did seem to do well on it. Has anyone else ever used it for pups?

Thats just crazy. We feed our pups Chicken Tikka Masalla and a Donor Kabab for a treat.

kylith

I wouldn't use human rice pud; too much dairy and sugar by a long way. If I were making a rice pud for dogs I'd probably make more of a risotto type thing out of chicken stock.

mymo

My dogs breeder said to give him weatabix or porridge to build him up (he was terribly thin until about a year old, vet also gave me a casserole recipe for dogs:o), but to make it with goats milk and water, he loved it, but doesn't cope with dairy well at all now.
For a treat mine get curry too, home made for our dinner and they get scraps and some rice.
They also go mad for frozen broccoli or peas.

Oliver also likes Fajitas, salad and all, so my daughter found out when she took one to the livingroom and turned her back on the plate for a min, they were really spicey too. Strange how he can eat that but a drop of milk gives him dodgy belly for days

We did give rice pudding to a cocker we had growing up, he'd gobble it up making funny happy sounds all the time wagging his tail, but it was home made stuff my dad makes.

**Vai**

Cant say I have, mine dont get any dairy. Strange that a rescue would recommend it though. Then again Ive heard of dogs getting bowls of milk and slices of cheese for a treat.

Sigma Force

Like with people some folks can eat junk food or drink all their lives and live to a ripe old age whereas others can keel over early on a healthier diet. I believe in general dogs are the same (same goes for their dental issues too) but obviously too much of anything isn't good for any animals (or human).

Some food esp. pre made stuff contains onion powder and other stuff so I don't feed my dogs any meat unless it's something like the left overs of a standard roast that I know hasn't anything added but a few dog safe herbs.

I guess if someone has nothing else to feed their dogs sometimes you have to substitute and different people have different opinions on what's ok as would different vets but I would think and hope that most vets wouldn't encourage people to feed their dogs spicey, milky or sugary food. Even if it doesn't upset their tums it doesn't mean it's good for them.

DBB

**Vai** wrote: »

Cant say I have, mine dont get any dairy. Strange that a rescue would recommend it though. Then again Ive heard of dogs getting bowls of milk and slices of cheese for a treat.

I'd imagine that many rescues have no more nutritional expertise than vets do! I regularly hear the most experienced dog people giving out jaw-droppingly poor advice based on nothing other than "that's the way it's always been done (and it never did me any harm)"!
Mymo's dog's breeder is a case in point: it makes no sense whatsoever to give dogs porridge or weetabix, they have virtually no nutritional value for a dog of any age. Why they recommended goat's milk as opposed to any other type of milk is a mystery.. goat's milk has just as much lactose as cow's milk (which is quite a lot), and is no less harmful to a dog's digestion than cow's milk is.
Just for clarity though, cheddar cheese, although high in fat, is very low in lactose, and from that point of view in small quantities is not likely to cause a reaction in dogs. Similarly, yoghurt is low-lactose too, and safe enough to give dogs, though owners should watch the sugar levels in flavoured yoghurts.

ISDW, at one stage in my career I fed rice pud to pups before bedtime, and they looovved it:o But looking back now, I cringe a little at the thought of (a) the lactose in the cream/milk, and (b) the sugar levels in it! So I wouldn't go down that route now, personally. I think I'd opt for a nice meaty stew for them!

_Lady_

Sounds mad but my pup wouldn't drink water when he was about 8-9 weeks so I used to add a little milk in (just enough to colour the water) and he loved it. Weaned him off it pretty quickly but he was happy enough with it and it got him drinking properly.

I'd say he'd die and go to heaven if I gave him rice pud... he's fierce fond of custard creams - you have to be v careful if you leave a biscuit beside a cup of tea next to the couch!!!

boomerang

Doesn't sound that mad to me - not when the pup or dog are getting a morning and evening meal of regular dog food so their protein needs are being met.

Cooked rice is easily digested by dogs and it is a source of energy. Wouldn't be so keen on tinned rice pud on account of the sugar, but actually dogs tolerate milk fine, so long as its something that is given regularly.

I have a very thin dog here at the moment. She gets her regular dog food morning and evening, but she gets a mid-day meal of rice or spud with starchy veg and and a boiled egg, sardine or bit of chicken. She needs the extra calories from the carbs and the high-quality protein to help heal her skin and coat.

This idea that you shouldn't feed scraps on top of a commercial diet because it throws out the nutritional balance I think is bunkum. Just don't over feed.