Rice

Rice Glossary: Rice is a cereal widely used as a carbohydrate source in dog and cat foods, providing energy as easily digestible starch once cooked. White rice is often recommended during mild digestive upset, since it is gentle on the gut and low in fermentable residue, while brown rice keeps its bran and supplies more fibre and micronutrients at the cost of slightly lower digestibility (NRC, 2006). A reassuring point: unlike some legumes, rice is not involved in the FDA investigation into [dilated cardiomyopathy](/glossary/dcm-dilated-cardiomyopathy-grain-free-debate), and it remains a conventional starch source that most animals tolerate well (FDA CVM, Dec 2022 update). Rice contains little protein, and what it supplies does not cover amino acid needs, so its role is energetic and functional; it sometimes appears in veterinary diets, for example gastrointestinal ones, for its digestibility, and sensitivity to rice exists in some animals but stays rare (FEDIAF). The marker: in an [elimination diet](/glossary/elimination-diet), rice can serve as a simple carbohydrate paired with a novel protein, because it is easy to isolate as an ingredient. It is the classic partner to plain [chicken breast](/glossary/chicken-breast) during a passing upset, and it sits among the cereal carbohydrates such as [oats](/glossary/oats) and [barley](/glossary/barley) in the [Petipedia glossary](/glossary).

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