Cooking chickens...

[Nicki]

I remember somewhere mention of cooking a chicken for the dogs and cats - I think it may have been Karlin, but I can't find it, sorry

Well the question is, how do you cook the chicken when its for the animals?

I normally roast a chicken on a rack, to drain the fat off, for hubby, and sometimes the doglets have little of this {but not the skin}.

I didn't know whether it would be better to either microwave it {i have one that microwaves and conventional cooks at the same time}; boil it in water, or even cook it in the slow cooker? I don't have a pressure cooker.

However they've both had colic this week {desperate to get outside and eat grass; refuse breakfast - this is really rare for Rupert, it's usually time to call the vets if he refuses food! ; Rupert had obvious stomach cramps - first time in almost 9 years and it's happened twice this week}

I've tried BIO - live yoghurt, Slippery Elm tree bark powder, Denes Gastric tablets, teh "usual" homoeopathic remedies etc

I've decided to give them a week of just chicken and rice, to "rest" their digestion, with a couple of tsps of BIO yoghurt daily.

Normally they have Burns dry organic food, a selection from 1/2 organic carrot, frozen green beans, organic sweetcorn, peas, apple.

They also have dried sweet potato, and homemade liver or fish {sardine, tuna or salmon} cake {a couple of sq centimetres daily}.


The colic doesn't seem to be related to anything they've eaten - Peaches has suffered from this on and off for several years, at different times of the year.

[Karlin]

Nicki, I both roast chickens sometimes and boil them. I boil them til the meat really falls off the bones and then the liquid they are cooked in becomes gelatinous, and I spoon that over the shredded chicken. I don't know if one or the other is better -- if fat is potentially bothersome to their digestive systems then I would guess roasting is better and then removing skin. I give them the skin and all, both boiled or baked, but not the really fatty bits. I would guess microwave would work well too as it is supposed to keep the chicken nice and moist. In general mine go mad for chicken -- they are fed it as puppies by their breeder (along with a good dry and some wet) so I'm sure that's why they have a special relationship with it!

I've always been told just some chicken and rice for settling stomachs. Lots of the Americans will also swear by a tablespoon (dessert spoon) of tinned pumpkin (no salt) -- the fiber helps their digestion and it is quite bland. Over here I use baked and mashed winter (hard) squash/marrow -- it is the same basic idea and family of food. It is great for diarrhea.

Leo can eat grass for Ireland. It never makes him sick but it sure gives him solid poops. I always call him my little Holstein as when I take them to the park Jaspar wants to play fetch but after a little bit of joining in, Leo just wanders around and grazes like a little black and white cow...

[Nicki]

Thanks Karlin, that's really helpful. I will try both ways then and see which helps the most!!

Interesting about the tinned pumpkin - I've not seen that in the shops here, but regularly buy Butternut squash, so will try roasting that for them too. Thanks for that tip!

Both doglets regularly "graze"!! especially in the Spring, but this is a more urgent grass eating exercise. They are very seldom sick afterwards, so it doesn't seem to work like that.

Will keep you posted as to how the week of delicate diet works!

[Julie]

Nicki I hope Rupert and Peaches have some relief from their colic now. That can be quite painful for them.

Chloe often has chicken and loves it. I give it to her either roasted, grilled or fried but only gently cooked in it's on fat .
I've often looked for canned pumpkin but so far Iv'e never managed to find it.

Good luck.

[Karlin]

Nicki their diet sounds delicious -- I'd join them with a plate of all those things!!

How do they act when they have colic? Outside of refusing food, I mean. I don't know if I'd know what to look for.

[Nicki]

They certainly eat better than I do!!! I'm trying to follow Dr Gillian McKeith's "You are What you eat" books, which are brilliant, but I can't do it all!! I have lost over 1 stone though!

I have been sprouting my own seeds, alfafa and a mixture of aduki beans etc, I quite like them and tried them out on the doglets, they loved them!! They do like beansprouts too. V. healthy, lots of nutrients!

With the colic, they have a lot of stomach noises - very "gurgly" bellies! They are desperate to get outside, and when out, head for certain types of grass, and try to eat a lot of it. They are very rarely sick though - grass can be an emetic, used to get rid of excess stomach acid.

Teh stomach feels tight when pressed *gently*!

Refuse food.

Rupert had obvious cramps - - also he appeared to be in pain, was sitting on our feet or behind us, or in corners/under the table. I guess it was like stomach spasms.

Peaches suffers from this quite regularly, but doesn't seem to have as much pain as Rupert did. I really paniced with him, thought he was heading for bloat, although that's rare in Cavaliers. {more info about Bloat/GVD here, something EVERY dog guardian should be aware of:

http://www.gad.net/Newf-FAQ/Newf-FAQ_11.html}

This was the first time Rupert's been affected, and he's almost 9. He had two episodes.

Once I can get one of the Denes tablets into them, and them manage to get them to eat a small biscuit, they are usually much better. {they have 1/2 a Burns Keltie biscuit or James Wellbeloved Crackerjack at bedtime, so I always have some in the house - I use these as neither contain "meat and animal derivatives" - I try to avoid this, as basically it's all the cr*p left over from human food and can include other horrific contents too}

They've been fine since being on the chicken and rice, that's going down a storm!!

I will try to reintroduce their normal diet from next week and see how it goes.

Karlin, I cooked this chicken in a roasting bag in the microwave - dual convection and microwave. It was beautifully moist. I drained off the liquid, and have left it to set. I can then remove the fat, and give the doglets some of the jelly.


I would love to be able to cook for the doglets all the time, but one it would be terribly expensive {it's also very difficult to get organic food here} and two I struggle to cook for us, so would find the extra work very difficult.

I do try to make all their treats though - to avoid the sugar and other yuck in purchased treats.