Which vegetables and grains are best?

My epileptic dog is on Pb which makes her excessively hungry, so in order to fill her up nutritiously with her gaining weight, which vegetables and grains will be best to give her? Not raw, but lightly steamed as I believe that raw vegetables are not so easily digested by a dog and can cause diarrhoea.

Thank you

Malka

my dogs get veg as a filler with their food. i buy the £1 value frozen veg from tescos which has carrots, green beans, sweetcorn and peas in. i just slightly stem it and then mash it in with their food.

Green beans are meant to be quite filling, I add veg to the raw I prepare for my mum's pup as she has a serious appetite on her (going through that lanky growth spurt stage) - green beans, some mixed veg like mentioned above, I personally blend them and they're fed raw. Not heard of raw veg causing diarrhoea, but you could use the lack of digestability in your favour if it agrees with your dog - although it won't be of any nutritional value, it will just act as a filler to make her feel full without gaining weight (unless the medication alters the metabolism or similar and actually makes her need more food)
Not sure I'd add grains, I don't have much personal experience in epileptic dogs but in passing I have heard things about grains not helping the issue.

Green beans are the most digestible for dogs, but brocolli is good and carrots, swede, cabbage, mine get the lot most days. they don't like sprouts or cauli I've never fed it. Mine are cooked though I've never fed raw veg.

The problem with grains is that they affect some epi dogs and not others, and until trying it is impossible to know whether they will or not. Rice is a grain and that is used quite a bit for bulk but it has the disadvantage of too high in carbs with not enough nutritional value, so I have been giving Pereg brown rice cooked with lentils, although just a heaped teaspoonful with each meal and she tolerates those with no problem.

I have also tried the same amount of quinoa, buckwheat and also barley, just a heaped teaspoonful at a time, the grains being added to the vegetables. I would say she is only having about 2/3 of her regular dry dog food each day now, split between the three meals [before she just had one large meal of dry dog food only a day], as I believe there is protein in the rice/lentil mix, as there is with quinoa.

I was not sure whether peas are OK for a dog. I cannot get frozen vegetables that cheaply though.

Unfortunately the only broccoli I can get is frozen and it is extremely expensive. I have been giving Pereg carrots, not swede as it is not available but turnips and kohlrabi. The only cabbage I can get is white cabbage - would that be suitable to give her if lightly steamed? She loves sweet potato but I know that I have to limit the amount of that as it is also too calorific.

Thank you all for your advice.

I have never given a dog "human" food before so this is all very new to me, so the more food advice I get the more it helps me know what is and is not good for dogs.

Malka

Regardless of nutritional value sweet potato is a good satisfying root veg. and unlike other root veggies is low on the G.I. index. which should help with staving off hunger. Mixing white cabbage with sweet potato can help to keep the calories down.

Thank you reuben, as sweet potato steams very quickly I can cook it together with the cabbage. I do not want soft, soggy vegetables so only lightly steam them.

Now I am wondering about pulses as I buy various dried ones and soak and cook them for myself. As I do them in bulk and open freeze to keep them separate [as I do with all diced vegetables] it is easy to take out a handful at a time.

Are pulses any good for dogs or should they be avoided?

Pulses are fine, as long as they are properly cooked, but they do contain starch which might be fattening.

I do confess to having given my dog a can of kidney beans or chickpeas for his dinner in an emergency, when I've run out of dog food! Useful to have in the cupboard as a standby.

what supermarkets do you have near you? as i know farmfoods and iceland also do £1 a bag frozen veg.

Not keen on pulses myself to much starch which isn't the easiest thing for a dog to digest it puts a strain on the pancreas and dogs can get diabetes .There's no real need to give lots of different veggies.