My 3yr old 70lb GSD gets fed 2x's a day (EVO dry kibble), as do my 2.5yr old 80lb Lab and my 115lb 9mo old St. Bernard--once in the morning while I'm making coffee and getting my daughters cereal ready and once in the evening an hour or so after I've had dinner.
Even when I fed raw to my dogs, I fed them 2x's a day, the same way. What I've learned is that big breed dogs that are prone to bloat should be fed at least 2x's a day to prevent bloating and digestion problems--in my case my GSD was puking up bile and my Saint was eating not just her poop but all the dogs poop...gross yes, but feeding 2x's a day has helped my giant to stop her poo craving and my lightweight to stop barfing, so I'm happy.
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005
Posts: 31571
Loc: North-Central coast of California
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Quote: Alyssa Myracle
There is anecdotal, statistical evidence to support the theory that large meals once a day increases the liklihood of bloat vs small meals, more than once a day.
Without a long-term, double-blind study being conducted, there is no way to really analyze the apparent trends in bloat.
We have no way of knowing if the feeding-style is just a coincidental (and unrelated) aspect of the bloat-striken dog's life, or if it was actually a causal factor.
I can say that dogs fed more often, have less foamy vomit incidents.
That should be indicative of something.
What Connie said.
(Somehow I missed this study... off to read!)
No, it still leaves the jury kind of out. They (and so we) still don't have a way to know whether the common factor of having recently eaten a large meal is causal.
Thanks for your comments. FYI, my GSD pup is 5 1/2 months old and already 53 pounds. She is not overweight at all. She looks great for her frame, but she has huge feet to grow in to. My husband keeps asking her is she got her feet at Walmart.
She eats 3 1/2 cups of Honest Kitchen Thrive split into two meals during the day. She gets training treats on top of that. She gets a lot of outside time most days. I guess I am going to err on the side of caution and continue feeding her twice daily, but I think I will feed her 2/3rds of the food in the morning and the remaining 1/3 in the afternoon.
Do you disagree with feeding 2 or more times for dogs under a year old?
I don't know if my answer means anything since I'm not feeding a GSD or another breed on the "more common bloaters" list, but here it is anyway.
No, I don't disagree.
There are a few reasons why I like once a day.
I like feeding my dog's raw meals in as big of a piece as possible. Since he only eats 8-12 ounces a day, that doesn't leave much to split between 2 meals.
My pup gets diarrhea during exercise if our feeding "timing" is off. Once a day fixes this for us.
He is also prone to sudden, severe bouts of colitis. Since feeding once a day the occurrences have been less frequent, and the ones that did happen were less severe and disappeared faster.
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Re: When to switch to one feeding a day
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