Sweet Potato Chicken Mash for a Pup's Upset Tummy

It's not often Misty gets to partake of my kitchen handiwork. But, when she gets sick, she gets to enjoy the same home-cooking any other family member would benefit from.

Poor little Misty has more issues than any dog I know. In fact, she's more of a handful then our new baby, in some ways. We're talking about a pooch who's got her very own (very full) shelf in the medicine cabinet. She's had it all, from ear infections and allergies, to tick bites (ehrlichia) and montezuma's revenge (giardia).

Speaking of the latter, almost all dogs are going to experience some tummy trouble from time to time. The first thing my vet's office advises is to give her chicken and rice and call back in a couple days if she hasn't improved. Sweet potatoes and canned pumpkin are also good for the runs. And, from my own experience with Misty, you also have to make sure your little friend drinks plenty of water to replace any lost on her "runs" outside. Easier said than done, especially in Misty's case. Seeing her with a fluid injection (looks like a blobby hump on her back) once was enough to make me do anything to get fluids into her since.

Misty is also the only dog I know who could care less for food and treats. When we adopted her, she would eat on her own schedule, no matter what we did. Even if that meant eating once every two days. We tried scheduled meals, leaving food down for 2 hours at the same times every day. But she continued to starve herself. We had to, and still do sometimes, hold her food bowl up to her nose and coax her to please eat.

She's eventually gotten better about eating, but it has to be on her own terms. So we've become the people that leave the food out all day, and just gave up on stressing about her weird habits. She fits into our family so well in every other way, but she just doesn't enjoy food like the rest of us.

The one exception however, is fresh chicken. It's magical. So when she is feeling ill, she gets her very own fresh chicken to entice her to eat and settle her tummy. I've tried adding pumpkin and sweet potato in the past, but she will only pick the chicken out. I'm reading up on homemade baby food, so I must have purees overloading my brain. Why shouldn't Misty get her own "baby food"?

Misty has been having a tough time dealing with the bad weather lately, and to top it off this morning we had an emergency run outside at 5am that lasted 30 brutal minutes. As I cooked my own lunch, I decided to make her a special meal. I blended the sweet potato with the chicken so she couldn't separate the two. It worked awesome - she loved it so much. And she licked up every last bit of that sweet potato, since it was so intermingled with chicken she had no choice. So far, it's doing the trick and she's feeling much better.

Sweet Potato Chicken Mash for Dogs
makes 4-5 cups

2 large chicken breast halves (boneless, skinless)
1 large sweet potato, peeled, cut into 2" chunks
Pinch of salt

Heat oven to 400F. In a baking dish, place chicken and sweet potatoes. Season with just a pinch of salt. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour. Cool at least 15 minutes, and cut the chicken into small pieces.

In a food processor, add chicken, potatoes, a couple spoonfuls of the liquid from the baking dish and about 1/2 C water. Puree until well blended, just for a few seconds, to combine potatoes and chicken. 

Doggy sit! Serve with love!