What to Feed Your Pet After Surgery or Illness

If stressful situations affect your appetite, you’re not the only one. The same happens to your furry friend after illness or surgery. It’s no wonder that there are specific recommendations on the best type of dog food after surgery or disease, as you’ll want to help your pet regain strength and good shape through the intake of proper nutrients.

At Pawy, our experts are dedicated to crafting tailored fresh food recipes that are suitable for helping your pet get right back on its feet, and we mean that literally. That’s why we’ve created this guide to get you on the same page with vet-approved recommendations that will help your pet get moving again in no time.

How Surgery Affects Your Pet’s Appetite?

There are several reasons why vets recommend a recovery diet for dogs after surgery, but it mostly boils down to getting your pet’s appetite back. Here’s a rundown of the most common changes that your pet might experience post-surgery:

• Extremely low appetite for 12 to 24 hours

• Eating less than half of their regular portion size

• Not being able to eat despite appearing interested

• Significant weight loss or changes in body condition

• Digestion-related problems, such as diarrhoea, for an extended period after surgery

Of course, there are some differences in the way in which your pet may exhibit these changes. Smaller dogs and cats might refuse to eat for around 12 hours, while it might take 24 hours or even more with larger dogs.

This is all related to the pain and discomfort while dealing with post-surgery conditions. Simply put, your pet might be too tired to eat, so fresh food is the way to go to switch their appetite back to normal.

Appetite Changes After Illness

When deciding the best food type to feed your pet after an illness, just think about how you would feel. Most of us struggle with portion sizes, so you might notice a significant drop in appetite.

On top of that, there could be some complications that directly affect your pet’s desire to eat. These range from post-illness infections to fever, inflammation, and other side effects. Besides, it also depends on the medication that your pet received during treatment.

Some medications might cause nausea or digestive problems, resulting in a much lower appetite. To tackle this, you’ll need to look for a tailored, fresh-food diet plan. Remember, a recovery diet for cats might significantly differ from one for a dog. It’s crucial to get it right to avoid potentially prolonging your pet's lack of appetite.

Diet-Based Route to Recovery

Fresh food is by far the best option for pets after surgery or severe illness. At Pawy, our team of dedicated nutritionists and veterinarians always recommends tailored diet plans for cats and dogs of all sizes, addressing various post-surgery or illness-related issues.

For instance, fresh shredded chicken meat is often considered the best food for dogs after surgery. That’s because it is easily digestible, which results in faster appetite recovery. 

Pawy’s meal packages are all locally sourced, made with fresh ingredients, and slow-cooked or steamed to ensure there are no additives or harmful components. Ensuring a proper mix of nutrients is crucial to helping your pet get back on track, with faster healing and regeneration after illness or surgery.

Steps to Take for Appetite Recovery

In a nutshell, you’ll want to give your pet easily-digestible food that won’t cause an issue or further extend their inability to consume food. To bring them back to full appetite, you can follow these steps:

• Start slowly by only feeding your dog a few tablespoons at a time. Remember, you’ll want to rebuild their appetite fully, not make things worse by forcing food on them.

• Timing their meals also significantly impacts recovery. If your pet just came out of surgery, you can schedule meals every 4 to 6 hours or more frequently for those recovering from illness.

• Only serve your pet fresh food at room temperature to avoid burns or further appetite damage.

• Make sure to also offer them more balanced meals throughout the day, and focus on 4 to 6 rather than just 2 or 3 larger meals.

• At times, hand-feeding can be beneficial, as some pet owners report it serves as a trust signal for pets that are refusing to eat on their own.

  
  

Best Food Types for Recovery

Since your pet’s stomach might be sensitive after surgery or illness, you’ll want to be as gentle on it as possible. This means you should avoid hot foods or high-fat meals, as they can damage the digestive tract.

We recommend sticking with clean sources of protein, such as boiled and shredded chicken, turkey, or fish. They will also need easily digestible calories that can be found in white rice, pumpkin, or sweet potato.

You should also focus on moist foods that are easier to eat and digest, as they also provide proper hydration. While canned food might tick some of these boxes, it’s still a better choice to use slow-cooked fresh food for this reason.

Which Foods to Avoid?

While some foods are easily digestible for your pet, others might not be as beneficial. Here’s a list of foods you’ll want to avoid:

• Dense or tough food with bones might cause a choking hazard.

• Garlic, onions, grapes, raisins, sweets, or dairy products could be hard to digest.

• Completely raw food elevates the risk of contamination or infection.

• Fatty and calorie-dense foods may worsen digestive issues.

Conclusion 

Overall, finding the right mix of foods to feed your pet after a surgery or illness is not easy. The point is to get them back on track with their regular diet by adding some easily digestible, yet highly nutritious meals.

It’s also better to diversify their diet and feed them smaller meals multiple times per day, rather than focusing on two or three larger meals. Hydration is also critical, so you should add extra water around the house to increase their fluid intake. 

You may need to resort to syringe feeding if your pet refuses to eat entirely. Or, refer to your vet to prescribe appetite stimulants. The bottom line is that it all depends on your pet, and Pawy is here to bring you handcrafted recipes that are perfect for recovery after surgery or disease.