How many times a day do you feed your dog? that’s what the vets say

How many times do we feed our dogs It is important. This largely depends on the age of the dog and its physical activity. Overall, however, the new study suggests that the key may lie in feed them once a day.

The study in question was published in GeroSciencehandwritten by scientists from several US universities and with data extracted from dog aging project. It concludes that dogs that eat only one meal a day appear to have better results in cognitive tests and less likely to develop gastrointestinal disorders. As for other diseases such as cancer and vascular, neurological and skin diseases, there were no significant differences.

This is the largest study to date involving over 10,000 dogs. But it must be admitted that it has certain restrictions. On the one hand, data were reported the owners themselves, so they may have collection or interpretation errors. On the other hand, it was not taken into account if, for example, calorie restriction. Also, not all veterinarians agree with his findings. Therefore, before you run to remove the bowl from the dog, read this.

Dog feeding is difficult

In fact, in recent years, fasting has been widely studied both as a weight loss method and for health reasons. It has been observed that if the body is deprived of food for many hours alternative metabolic pathways are activated it can be beneficial if done in a controlled way. This has been proven in both humans and rodents. However, nothing like this had ever been observed in dogs prior to the start of this study. But in reality it was not observed, because many veterinarians observe the opposite effect in their clinics.

“Much depends on each animal. and you have to see the case many times individually to set the guidelines,” he points to hypertext Lucy, veterinarian at Tomelloso Veterinary Clinic. “It’s not the same Sheepdog who works in the field with livestock and needs a lot of nutrients that Yorkshire for example, that he lies on the couch all day.” In addition, the veterinarian explains that it also depends on other factors, such as whether the dogs have any diseases. disease.

Another important parameter is age. “AT puppies I usually recommend giving 3-4 shots per day, with a small amount,” says the veterinarian. “Their stomachs are still very immature and they have to get used to eating, especially to avoid problems with the gastrointestinal tract.”

When they become adults, they no longer need to eat so many times a day. However, she recommends that they be at least two. “I have seen many cases of dogs coming to the emergency room with hypoglycemia for this occasion,” recalls Lucia. “In the clinic, I see dogs that come in very hungry and when we give them food after 24 hours, they are not chewing, they are eating. Then it generates vomiting, diarrhea and even in more severe cases and large breeds, this usually occurs volvulus of the stomach“.

This is an acute distension of the stomach, in which said organ can twist on its own. In this case, the stomach can create pressure on the blood vessels, changing normal blood supply. This can cause damage to other organs and, if not corrected in time, the death of the dog. There are many risk factors, from very sudden movements to the accumulation of gases due to the fermentation of certain foods. In addition, according to Lucia, this can happen precisely because the dogs are fed only once a day.

“I have seen many cases where dogs have not eaten for 24 hours and have been development“, for example. “They come home tired and hungry and suddenly they put all the food on them and, eating so quickly and chewing food badly, they suffer from stomach torsion.

For this reason, the veterinarian states that she will continue to recommend at least two doses per day until she sees a history of other cases. clinical practice. And the truth is that this is also the recommendation of the authors of the study that has just been published. Yes, they have noticed some benefits of feeding dogs every 24 hours, but so far their results are very preliminary. They hope to confirm them with further studies in the future. If so, perhaps the protocols can be changed. In the meantime, if you have a dog, listen to your veterinarian. There is nothing like experience to know when it is best to feed them.