Dogs are like little children, requiring constant supervision and looking after along with a lot of loving company. A healthy dog is alert yet calm and playful, but there are times when your dog might not feel well due to any number of reasons, including physical and mental health issues.

For example, a dog instinctively knows how to bring back balance to its stomach by chewing on selective plants and grass in the normal course.

Then there are times when either your dog has consumed some rancid food or picked up something from the street while on its walk while you were not looking or managed to steal food off of the table or kitchen.

We mostly come to know about this when they experience an upset stomach or diarrhoea. A specific diet for dogs with diarrhoea needs to be followed to help them heal.

Just as humans, special meals for dogs with an upset stomach are needed along with their vet's prescribed medicines. Feeding a dog when it is feeling unwell is not easy as not only it is difficult to understand what they want, but they might also become cranky and lethargic and snap at you if you try to hand feed.

At such times the meals need to be simple, light, and preferably in semi-liquid or liquid form, which can be lapped up easily and, if needed, also spooned into their mouth.

Meal Chart for Dogs with Weak Stomach

We suggest a variety of meals – both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, which you should feed your dog when it is experiencing an upset stomach:

Non-vegetarian diet

• Chicken soup works equally well for dogs. Chicken bone broth is a liquid meal that is very mild and easy on the stomach. A meal that is both nutritious and delicious filled with moisture which your dog needs to replenish the water content in its body. You can begin with giving them just the broth, and as and when they begin to stabilise, you can add the broth to some simple food, giving it flavour and moisture. Bone broths are full of healthy bone marrow, but please make sure to remove all the bone pieces before serving the broth to your dog. You can also give them mutton broth if your dog prefers mutton, or you can alternate both the broths to add variety, which will help with bringing back the dog's interest in food and their appetite.
• Shredded Chicken: Dogs love chicken, and chicken in shredded form is light and easy on their upset stomach. Their love for chicken will help awaken their interest in food and revive their appetite. Plain bland boiled chicken is nutritious with essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fats.
• Chicken with Rice: Rice, as we all know, is the lightest food for upset stomachs. Chicken and rice are the most common ingredients in all dog foods. A combination that is light and strengthening simultaneously, with the vitamins, minerals, and fats enriched boiled chicken and the energy-giving carbohydrates of the white rice. Take a skinless, boneless chicken breast, boil it, cut or shred it into tiny pieces and mix with the boiled white rice.

Vegetarian Diet

Many families are pure vegetarians, and their dogs also adapt to the vegetarian staple. But it doesn’t provide them with the nutrition they need. 

Feeding veg food to your dog won’t immediately harm your dog, but it’ll hurt them in the long run. But if you don’t have immediate access to broths or plain meats, try the following: 

• Curd Rice: The go-to curd and rice dish for are unwell works equally well for the dogs too. Boil white rice and add some good quality curd into it, without adding seasoning or butter/oil. Please keep it in a semi-liquid state for the dog to lap it up with ease. Curd rice is light and easy to digest without straining the already compromised stomach. You can also add some light on the stomach vegetables to it, like red pumpkin or spinach.
• Pumpkin and sweet potato: Both vegetables are fibre rich and are beneficial for canine digestive health. Pumpkin ensures quick digestion and helps when experiencing light constipation since it is enriched with multiple vitamins, potassium, copper, riboflavin, etc. Serve them boiled and without any seasoning or additives.

Other alternatives include oatmeal, boiled potato, boiled eggs and, buttermilk.

Bland and boiled meals that do not burden their weak stomachs are the best diet to feed your dog while their stomach is not cooperating. However, the diet is not an alternative for medical treatment advised by the vet.