Rice is a meal eaten all over the world is a delicacy in so many cultures.
When getting a dog in your household, it is important to know what is safe for them to eat and what foods may irritate your dog’s digestive system, and what may be toxic to your dog.
The big question that’s brought you here is whether dogs get constipated from rice. This is a good question, especially amongst new dog owners. Giving your dog rice does not constipate them but instead can be used to help them with their digestive system. Brown rice is healthier than white rice, which also applies to humans. This is because brown rice has fiber which helps with constipation in dogs. White rice helps clean out your stomach especially when you suspect your dog has a problem with their digestive tract.
Below is more on the health benefits and all the factors considered with giving your dog rice.
How safe is rice for your dog?
As a dog owner, knowing what foods are safe for your dog is important to prevent emergency trips to the vet and other more serious scenarios.
Rice is extremely safe for your dog and even has nutritional benefits.
Rice and some type of meat like chicken, is a meal that is usually given to dogs on a bland diet.
It is also added in some types of dog food and you probably have not realized it, but your dog has meaning they identify rice as edible food for them.
When sick, bland rice and chicken are usually a go-to meal for your dog as they recover.
It has to be bland and no unnecessary additions; just boiled rice and chicken.
It helps build their appetite and helps their digestive tract as well because of how easy it is to digest.
What is the difference between white rice and brown rice?
Apart from the fact that brown rice is brown and white rice is white, what are the other differences between white rice and brown rice that may affect your dog when put in their diet?
White rice is the most preferred rice for your dog
This is because white rice is generally easy to digest and does not give your dog’s digestive tract a hard time during digestion.
White rice does not cause constipation but instead does the opposite which is inducing diarrhea.
Dog owners may want to induce diarrhea in their dogs when they eat food that was may have been spoilt or when they think they have intestinal worms in their bodies.
However, as much as white rice has all of the above benefits compared to brown rice, it is important to know that white rice has more starch than brown rice making it food that should not be fed regularly to your dog.
They may gain unnecessary weight or get high blood sugar as well.
Brown rice can also be eaten by your dog
The reason it is brown is that brown rice is rice that still has the husks which are the outer coatings that are generally removed to make white rice.
Brown rice is healthier than white rice due to the husks which hold all the nutrients in the rice.
They contain a lot of fiber thus help in preventing and reducing constipation cases in dogs.
However, due to the added husks, digesting brown rice is a bit harder than white rice which only contains the grain of rice.
This might prove a hustle for your dog so it is preferred that if you feed your dog brown rice; do so in small amounts in their regular diet.
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What are the nutritional and health benefits of including rice in your dog’s diet?
If you have not included rice in your dog’s daily meal plan, what are you waiting for? Rice is an inexpensive meal that is both healthy and nutritional to your dog if taken in the proper amounts.
Below are some of the nutritional benefits rice gives to your dog:
- Rice is a carbohydrate thus provides energy for your dog in the right amounts. It also contains fiber which is used in the body to reduce constipation problems in your dog’s digestive tract.
- Rice also has vitamin D which is also a very important vitamin required in the body. Vitamin d helps the body to regulate the levels of phosphorous and calcium in the body at the required levels in the body.
- Rice contains minerals such as iron for your dog. Iron is the main component in the formation of blood components knows as hemoglobin.
- Rice is preferred to any other gluten starch option in dogs with allergies to gluten products. Some dog owners give their dogs starch with gluten in them but if your dog is allergic to gluten, rice is a better option because it is gluten-free and will not harm your dog or make them sick.
How to prepare rice for your dog?
When making rice for your dog, it is always preferred to boil. Just boil.
Bland rice is the way to go.
Boiling rice is boiling rice when it comes to dogs.
There should be no added spices or any salt to the rice being made for your dog.
The secret to making rice for your dog is bland.
This is because spices can be toxic when involved in your dog’s diet.
They tend to upset your dog’s stomach and may cause them to get stomach problems later on.
When serving rice to your dog, it would be advisable to pair it with some boiled beef, boiled peas, and boiled chicken or boiled gizzards.
The accompaniment should also have no spices or salt.
Conclusion
In dogs, constipation may look like an abdominal blockage which may occur when dogs eat things that are not food such as hair.
Constipation in dogs can be caused by eating a lot of bones and bone meals.
Rice is therefore a very good healthy addition to your dog’s meal plan and is an inexpensive meal at that.
