Is it better to feed dogs once a day
Dogs Fed Once Per Day Appear to Have Better Health and Cognitive Function, Study Finds
Dogs that are fed one meal per day appear to have better cognitive function and health than those fed multiple times.
By examining data from 47,000 pet dogs, researchers have discovered a link between health and meal consumption, indicating that calorie restriction can slow or reverse aspects of aging.
Emily Bray, from the University of Arizona's Canine Cognition Center, and her team were looking to see if a diet restricted to one meal per day had any influence on canine health.
Previous research in rodents has shown intermittent fasting results in better memory and spatial learning.
"Our initial hypothesis was that going a longer time between meals would be similarly associated with preservation of cognitive function in older dogs, and we could look at this by capitalizing on the fact that some dogs are fed once per day while others are fed more frequently," she told Newsweek.
Bray and her colleagues used data from The Dog Aging Project, which aims to better understand how genes, lifestyle and environment impact canine aging. The goal is to help dogs live healthier lives for longer.
The latest research appears on the pre-print website bioRxiv. The article has not yet been peer reviewed or published in a journal, so the findings should be taken with a level of caution.
In the paper, the team looked at associations between feeding frequency, cognitive function and nine categories of health. Owners were asked to fill out a survey of their dog's cognitive health.
After controlling for age, sex and breed, the team found dogs that were only fed once per day, rather than multiple times, appeared to have lower scores of cognitive disfunction, equivalent to the difference between a 7-year-old and 11-year-old dog.
They were also less likely to have a range of health problems, including gastrointestinal, dental, bone, kidney and liver disorders.
"While the results were in the direction that we would predict based on studies in rodents, it was still surprising because this is the first study that has asked this question for thousands of dogs living in the natural environment, and we saw the effects on multiple health systems," Bray said.
In lab experiments on rodents, she said, intermittent fasting appears to provide benefits on a cellular level by modulating the biology of aging. The research on dogs was purely observational, so why fasting appears to provide health benefits is unknown.
"We have found strong evidence of an association between feeding frequency and health, but we have not shown that less frequent feeding causes better health outcomes," Bray said.
"There are various reasons why dogs with worse health might be fed more frequently. For example, dogs on prescription medication might need to be fed more frequently in order to get their medication in their food."
The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) recommends feeding all dogs twice per day. Owners are advised to divide the amount of food their dogs require into two. Each meal should be between eight and 12 hours apart.
The American Kennel Club also says dogs should be fed two meals per day, as does the animal hospital chain VCA.
Bray also said owners should not start feeding their dogs once per day: "This paper is not meant to be treated as veterinary advice. We think this study is an intriguing first step to studying aspects of diet in dogs, who are our beloved companions and who share our environments, but it's just the tip of the iceberg ... Even if we do eventually find that eating once per day as opposed to more frequently is playing a causal role in these beneficial health outcomes, there are obviously other considerations that might come into play for any individual dog, including their preference, expectations, and quality of life."
Rosalind Arden, who studies canine intelligence at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and was not involved in Bray's study, told Newsweek it was "really interesting, well executed study."
"They found an association between once a day feeding and lower scores on a test that captures some features of a canine dementia, where high scores mean more impairment. The authors don't assert that feeding style causes impairment, but I would consider trying that feeding style on a dogwhile keeping an eye out for how it seems to be going.
"As with any new results, confidence in the findings will grow if other studies find similar results. [It is] important to note that the dog dementia scale is owner-report, not a psychometric testwhich would have been hard to achieve in such a large dataset.
"Considering benefits from caloric restriction or interval feeding is an intriguing context for the work."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
The Pros And Cons Of Feeding Your Dog Once A Day
The most common feeding schedule for adult dogs is one or two meals daily. I recommend that most people feed their dogs twice a day. But feeding your dog once a day can work well in some circumstances.
The best feeding schedule for your individual dog will depend partly on the type of food you give them. And my advice is based on my own forty years experience of feeding both kibble and raw, to dozens of different dogs.You can check out what I feed my own dogs each day in this article
Considerations
Is it cruel to feed a dog once a day?
The short answer is no. Traditionally almost all adult dogs were fed once a day. This was the norm when I was a kid. The rationale behind this schedule is that dogs are carnivores, and it is natural for them to eat a large amount of food in one go, and then fast for many hours, before eating again.
In those days most dogs were fed on a mixture of canned (wet) dog food, and dog biscuits together with scraps leftover from human meals.
However, most modern dogs are fed on kibble. And with dry food, feeding once a day has some disadvantages. Lets dig into those, and help you decide how often to feed your dog.
Natural feeding patterns
Its true that your dog is genetically almost identical to the wolves from which they descend. Wild wolves or other dog species hunting in groups may bring down a large prey animal, and feast on it. Then not eat for a day or two.
Its also true that dogs have been catching much smaller prey and scavenging from humans for thousands of years, and have adapted well to eating smaller and more frequent meals.
Pros and cons large vs smaller meals
Feeding once a day is convenient. And with a raw diet, it can be safe and satisfactory for most medium to large dogs
The natural diet of a dog, raw meaty bones, organs, eggs, and even invertebrates such as worms and beetles, are all processed very quickly by a dogs digestive system. Its designed perfectly for the job. And because there are no fillers or carbs in this food, it isnt very bulky. Everything is digested with little waste.
With kibble, feeding once a day only, can be problematic for some dogs. Its all to do with the portion size. And of course once daily meals are twice as big as twice daily meals.
Big dogs
It can be risky to feed a large or deep chested dog their whole days ration of kibble in one hit. Thats because these types of dog are more prone to suffering from bloat.
When we feed our dogs on kibble, we are asking the dogs digestion to take on a task that it isnt quite designed for. Along with the protein, fat and minerals that your dog needs, are a lot of bulky fillers.
While the food looks and feels light and compact when you pour it into the bowl, at that point it is completely dehydrated. It starts to swell up inside your dog as soon as they start to drink.
Its worth thinking about what happens to the bowl of kibble your dog just ate, when they head over to their water dish. Try dropping a few pieces into a glass of water to see how much they expand!
Your dog needs that water so dont ration it. But be aware that they can end up with a lot of heavy food sitting in their stomach, and this may increase their risk of suffering from bloat.
Little dogs
Small dogs often need a minimum of two meals per day, in order to feel well. My own Jack Russell terrier will often vomit if she misses her breakfast, and this is quite common in little dogs.
Some small dogs also find it hard to consume enough in one sitting to keep their weight up. So feeding twice a day may be necessary for many dogs weighing much less than around 20lbs.
This rule applies with both raw food and kibble.
Puppies
All puppies need feeding more frequently than adult dogs.
Most kibble fed puppies need at least four meals a day until they are three months old, then three meals a day until six months.
Some raw fed puppies can drop a portion a bit sooner.
Food should be fun
Aside from the health and safety issues around eating kibble, food is a source of great pleasure in our lives, and dogs feel the same way. They enjoy their meals. And look forward to the next one.
Most dogs eat kibble quite fast. Its unusual for a dog to take more than five minutes over their meal. And twenty four hours is a long time for a kibble fed dog to go between meals, especially when the last meal was over so quickly!
Raw meaty bones take a lot of time to consume, and can keep a dog occupied happily for half an hour or more. But even so I think there is a lot of pleasure to be gained if this experience happens twice in each day rather than once.
Which is best? One meal or two?
Your adult dog will most likely thrive whether you divide their daily ration into one meal or two. However, if your dog is large or deep chested, and fed on kibble, I recommend you feed twice daily, dividing that ration into a morning and evening feed.
Obviously, twice daily meals doesnt mean twice the quantity. You feed the same daily ration but divide it into smaller portions
I do think it means twice the fun though!
And while once daily feeding is suitable for all but the smallest raw fed dogs, I feed all my dogs raw, and, twice daily
Let me know what you decide to do!
Im always interested to hear from readers about how they feed their dogs, so do drop a comment in the box below!
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Once-daily feeding is associated with better health in companion dogs: results from the Dog Aging Project
The Dog Aging Project thanks study participants, their dogs, and community veterinarians for their important contributions.
Dog Aging Project Consortium Authors
Joshua M. Akey1, Brooke Benton2, Elhanan Borenstein3,4,5, Marta G. Castelhano6, Amanda E. Coleman7, Kate E. Creevy8, Kyle Crowder9,10, Matthew D. Dunbar10, Virginia R. Fajt11, Annette L. Fitzpatrick12,13,14, Unity Jeffrey15, Erica C. Jonlin2,16, Elinor K. Karlsson17,18, Jonathan M. Levine8, Jing Ma19, RobynL. McClelland20, Daniel E.L. Promislow2,21, Audrey Ruple22, Stephen M. Schwartz13,23, Sandi Shrager24, Noah Snyder-Mackler25,26,27, Silvan R. Urfer2, Benjamin S. Wilfond28,29
1Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
2Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
3Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
4Blavatnik School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
5Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
6Cornell Veterinary Biobank, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
7Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
8Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, College Station, TX, USA
9Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
10Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
11Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, College Station, TX, USA
12Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
13Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
14Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
15Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, College Station, TX, USA
16Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
17Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
18Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
19Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
20Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
21Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
22Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
23Epidemiology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
24Department of Biostatistics, Collaborative Health Studies Coordinating Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
25School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
26Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
27School for Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
28Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
29Department of Pediatrics, Division of Bioethics and Palliative Care, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
