F1B....When did you switch to one meal a day? Or have you?

[Donna Vee]

Ginger is almost 8 months old.  She was sick with diarrhea a couple of weeks ago.  She was given medication and has been all well and good since...EXEPT....she hasn't been eating as well as usual at dinner time.  At first I thought maybe her stomach still wasn't settled, but now I'm beginning to think she's just not hungry because she still eats well in the morning.  How 'bout you?  She's going to be a big girl.  She's already over 40 lbs so I just assumed she still needed two meals a day.

 

Any thoughts?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack is 6 years old and i still feed two meals per day. I have no plans or reasons to change this.

For larger breed dogs who are susceptible to bloat, including standard doodles, feeding two smaller meals per day VS one large one can help prevent bloat. Maybe you decrease the amount of food she gets at one or the other meal. I wouldn't cut out the evening meal completely, as some dogs seem to vomit bile in the a.m. if they don't have at least a small amount of food in the evening.

[Kyoko]

I agree. Mine eats twice a day as well.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I feed my dogs twice a day, however Ned, who is a smaller doodle, rarely eats twice a day.  At home we just let it sit and when in the RV we pick it up and present it at the next feeding.

[Donna Vee]

Thanks for the feedback and forgive the typo <blush>, I was in a hurry.  I totally agree, and feel that two meals a day are important at her age.  A friend said that after the one year mark, they graduated to one meal a day....I just didn't think that would be the case for a 7.5 month old GD. 

 

Karen, you know the story with the girls and the Giardia scare. Do you think she could still have issues? Or should I just decrease her portion size?  Penny (who is totally food motivated and two months younger than Ginger) could easily eat twice what Ginger eats.  I just worry about Ginger because she was the runt of the litter and has never been motivated by food but she's always eaten her portion. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It can take a long time for their digestive systems to return to normal after a bout of giardia and/or a course of antibiotics. Jack still isn't 100% back to where he was before he was on megadoses of antibiotics back in early December.

I think decreasing her portion sizes is a good idea. She will not starve herself. If you cut back the amount you give her at each meal, and she starts cleaning her bowl and looking for more food, you can always increase it again.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I feed two meals a day too. Usually I give the dogs food at breakfast time but they often don't eat it til lunchtime or later. Then they get fed again at dinner time. Sometimes Luca doesn't at all his food or he may finish it later.

[ej]

Z is 5 yrs old this April, and K is 2 1/2 yrs old.  They get 3 X half cup every day (total 1.5 cups per dog per day).  They are always hungry and eager for their meals (they eat Acana Pacifica).

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I feed Cooper 2 meals - i feel its better for digestion and to help prevent bloat. Sometimes she doesnt eat all of it but that does not worry me.

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

I probably always will feed 2 meals a day.  Remi is 82 lbs and I worry about bloat a lot!

[Nina, Phil, Harlow &amp; Lacey]

I feed twice a day.  I have a 10 year old beagle; feeding him twice a day has helped keep his middle age spread from spreading too much.  The morning meal is bigger than the evening meal.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I feed two meals, although the boys are less hungry and get a smaller portion in the morning.  Because Murphy has some GI issues, I've been reading a lot over the past two days.  One thing I read is that for dogs with GI problems it's actually better to feed smaller amounts a few times a day.  I need to talk to my Vet, but I may actually move Murph back to three smaller feedings.

[Camilla and Darwin]

Darwin is fed twice a day...