Simple Foods to Feed a Sick Dog From Your Studio City Veterinarian

If your dog has a serious illness or is recovering from surgery or an accident, its nutritional needs will be different from when it's healthy. Diarrhea, vomiting, and a decreased appetite can make getting your dog the right nutrients a real challenge. At Animal Emergency Centre, our veterinary team recommends giving your pet a variety of foods designed to be easy on the stomach while affording the most nutrients in a small serving. Every bite counts when you're trying to build up your dog's strength, so make every one count.

Veterinarian Advises on Recovery Food for Dogs

After an emergency visit, our veterinarian team often advises pet owners to feed their dogs a mild diet, full of solid nutrients but very easy on the digestion. Some of the more common foods our team recommends are:

• Chicken and rice - These two ingredients are very easy for dogs to digest, and are the prime ingredients in many commercial dog foods. This mixture will give your dog the protein and carbs your pet needs for recovery.
• Sweet potato - Fill of healthy fiber and vitamins that dogs need, most pets consider sweet potatoes a treat. Bake or boil the sweet potatoes without any seasoning, them mash them and scoop them into balls before freezing. Your pet will perk up when you feed it these veggie treats.
• Bone broth Trendy for humans now, bone broth is very healthy and a tempting treat for the sickest dog. Boil beef, chicken, or turkey bones, simmering on the lowest setting overnight up to 24 hours. Refrigerate, scoop off the hard fat layer on top, then serve the jelled broth after heating a bit to liquefy it.
• Pumpkin – Pumpkin has much the same nutrients as sweet potato, and has the added bonus of often regulating dog's digestive systems. If you want to give canned pumpkin (two to four tablespoons only), make sure it's solid pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.
• Baby food - Our emergency vet often recommends giving sick and recovering dogs baby food because it's found with a wide variety of protein recipes without the spices, garlic, or onion that most human preparations have. It's easy to keep on hand and very simple to feed even the sickest dog.

Schedule an Appointment with Your Studio City Veterinarian

Caring for sick or recovering dogs or cats can be a challenge, and even more so when you can't contact your regular veterinarian. In our Studio City CA animal hospital, we're here for any pet emergency when your usual clinic is closed. For any accident or emergency illness, bring your pet in right away to our ER. If you've got any questions for our vets, call our L.A. office at (818) 760-3882.