I have wondered this same question, myself, what others did. I'm still mostly on kibble, but feed twice/day generally. I also thought most would feed once/day, for some reason.

As I start to gradually switch over towards raw, I do the kibble in the morning, "real food" raw or cooked in the evening. I'm transitioning slowly due to my past food aggression problems (no longer an issue) and the fact he tends to gobble out of nervousness we'll mess with him (we no longer do). I fear him gobbling raw chicken bones and such too fast, causing a problem. So as we work on building trust it's a slow, gradual transition. Thanks my story!

I'm one of those that feeds kibble and raw, so I feed twice a day. But regardless of what I feed, I think that feeding 2 meals will significantly decrease the risk of torsion that may accompany bloat. (this is JMO, but is backed up by at least one study)

In torsion the stomach twists, and blood supply is cut off to the stomach itself. A study has found that there is a correlation between torsion and a stretching of the ligaments that hold the stomach in place. It's theorized that the ligaments stretch from the weight of the stomach; once they have stretched it makes it easier for the stomach to flip around on itself.

So, 2 smaller meals would not result in as much stretching as 1 large meal.

That's an interesting theory...

But in the wild, wolves commonly will eat a huge gorge meal when they make a kill, then will not eat for days. If this was true, wouldn't the wolves have had a lot more issues? Unless natural selection killed off the ones prone to bloat, and mordern breeding and care practices have let the tendency come back into the gene pool...

I just like the once a day feeding because it allows me to give my huge boy (120+ lbs) a bigger piece of meat to work on.

 Quote: Shody Lytle

That's an interesting theory...

But in the wild, wolves commonly will eat a huge gorge meal when they make a kill, then will not eat for days. If this was true, wouldn't the wolves have had a lot more issues? Unless natural selection killed off the ones prone to bloat, and mordern breeding and care practices have let the tendency come back into the gene pool...

Well, the most bloat-prone breeds are long-bred, with a whole pile of human intervention.

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bloat.html#Prevent

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bloat.html#Physi

Ed, Cindy, how do y'all feed all of the dogs at leerburg?

Anybody here lost a dog to bloat? It'd be interesting to hear y'all's take.

Mike Armstrong is the only one that pops into my head. Mike, do you feel meal frequency contributed to your dog's case? There are so many factors, that might be a moot question.

Can't speak to other cases, but for my dog, no aspect of feeding had anything to do with it. Afterward, some of the material I read said that stress can be a factor. You rarely see that mentioned in any articles. I think that was the major contributor in this case.

I had a 9 yr old GSD that I got when he was 9 mos.; he was raw fed for about 5 yrs., one main meal in evening and possibly light morning snack - egg, cottage cheese, etc (not the way I feed any more ) Several days before he died, he had 3 or 4 pretty bad nose bleeds. A couple were in the house, so I was freaking out trying to lead him outside to somewhat limit the mess. The vet didn't find any cause during our first visit to him, nothing showed up on an x-ray. He scheduled Rocco to come in for some more tests and biopsy several days later, but we didn't make it. He had some hip problems and had been relatively inactive for a few months, so there's no exercise/feeding connection. His last night, he ate a normal meal and he appeared to be fine the last time I saw him about midnight. He died between then and when I checked on him about 6am, pretty bloated up.

Later, the vet told me had scheduled the tests as he suspected some kind of nasal cancer or tumor. I think the stress of having the nose bleeds plus picking up on my anxiety about it was the cause. I can't say if heredity was a factor either. I had no history on him, he was a rescue.

Mike

What Mike said about stress fits in with that Tufts study that has been quoted here.

Two factors that seemed to be common were body type and (not to quite the same degree) an anxious personality. "Anxious" wasn't the word; I forget it. It was like the Type A human characteristic that used to be thought of as a precursor to cardiac disease..... un-relaxed.

This was also when the raised bowls that used to be advised were shown to be an actual contributing factor to pre-disposed dogs.

There were a couple of other common (maybe causative) factors.

Here is some discussion of the one-large-meal thing:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/sur/bloat.html
(Scroll to "prevention.")

QUOTE: The best suggestions are to feed the dog two small meals a day instead of one large meal. Do not allow the dog to drink large quantities of water at one time... have water available at all times. Do not allow exercise or other vigorous activity for at least two hours after a full meal. Feed a diet composed of more meats and less grain. END

Also, scroll to "Factors Increasing the Risk of Bloating"
at http://www.marvistavet.com/html/bloat.html

and at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=672
Factors Increasing Risk
Feeding only one meal a day
Having closely related family members with a history of bloat
Eating rapidly
Being thin or underweight
Moistening dry foods (particularly if citric acid is listed as a preservative)
Feeding from an elevated bowl
Restricting water before and after meals
Feeding a dry diet with animal fat listed in the first four ingredients
Fearful or anxious temperament
History of aggression towards people or other dogs
Male dogs are more likely to bloat than females
Older dogs (7 - 12 years) were the highest risk group

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

. . . Do not allow the dog to drink large quantities of water at one time... have water available at all times. . .

and then. . .

 Quote:

Factors Increasing Risk
. . . Restricting water before and after meals. . .

I'm finding that a little unclear. I guess that means don't withhold water before/after meals, but also don't allow large quantities at one time?

Mike

Connie -- what an interesting and informative post.

Thanks!

Katie