How Many Feedings Per Day?

[LaFlaca]

For the past 9 years, I've fed Wendy twice a day, 1 1/2 cups of food at each meal. My son and I were just discussing Wendy's quirk of occasionally leaving her breakfast uneaten. He says that when he dog-sits her, he feeds her the 3 cups of food, once a day, in the evening and she scarfs the whole meal down. Feeding her one big meal a day scares me because our Ridgeback barely survived bloat (with surgery) and I have PTSD from that; he was fed once a day and I've always blamed the heavy meal for the bloat. Intellectually, I realize that it could have happened regardless, but.....Anyway, how many times a day do you feed your Greys? And, is it okay to switch an 11 year old dog from two meals a day to one?

 

 

[Time4ANap]

Rocket actually gets 3 meals a day of 1 cup each. We went to smaller meals due to his tummy issues. He was waking up almost every morning at 5 AM or so with tummy squeals and often had bile coming up from an empty stomach. Since switching to 3 meals a day, we rarely have any stomach issues with him. He eats breakfast at 7 AM, dinner sometime between 4-5 PM and his bedtime meal at 9 PM.

 

He also gets a little bit of kibble (1/4 cup) and his Springtime Supplements in a dispenser toy mid-day.

[rsieg]

I do the twice/day, 1 1/2 cups each like you do. But note that I have male dogs, about 75 lb each. I'm pretty sure they get treats from the dog sitter too :-)

 

My guys sometimes skip the morning meal as well. I don't worry about it - they always eat the evening meal if they miss the morning one. Missing an occasional meal should not hurt anything as long as they are holding weight. Mine are, so if they don't eat reasonably promptly I pick up the dish and go to work. I do make an effort to make sure they eat the evening meal, if they initially do not I pick it up and later in the evening put something in it and put it back down, they almost always eat then.

[GreytHoundPoet]

We feed twice a day. Sometimes they skip meals. It isn't a big deal if they skip a meal here and there but still maintain good weight and condition. In fact, three of my hounds will skip a meal if they don't get enough exercise in a day.

Edited May 28, 2017 by GreytHoundPoet

[cleptogrey]

annie eats 2xs a day, she's a chow hound

 

felix started around 1.5 years ago eating 3 meals a day. for him it works, the second meal- he too doesn't finish in the a.m. can be at 3 and then dinner at 6 or 7.

 

what ever works...and makes them happy.

[ramonaghan]

Twice a day here, 1 cup at each feeding. Plus plenty of treats throughout the day.

[LaFlaca]

Thanks for the feedback. Maybe skipping that morning meal is a Greyhound quirk. One large meal a day still scares me, especially with a geriatric hound.

We feed twice a day. Sometimes they skip meals. It isn't a big deal if they skip a meal here and there but still maintain good weight and condition. In fact, three of my hounds will skip a meal if they don't get enough exercise in a day.

My thoughts, exactly. She keeps her weight even when she skips the occasional breakfast.

[XTRAWLD]

2x here. Have you tried free feeding though? Sounds like breakfast would be a good time to start right now - load up the bowl at breakfast since she sometimes skips at that time, and then she can pick at it when she's hungry?

Edited May 29, 2017 by XTRAWLD

[Scoutsmom]

At her age I would not consider reducing the number of times she is fed. Increase if needed, decrease no. If she is not hungry one morning, don't worry unless it continues. After all some mornings, I'm not hungry for breakfast. I've also heard, but don't know if it is true, that giving a large meal once a day can lead to bloat.

[smurfette]

I free feed kibble in the morning. When they skip breakfast they can munch on it during the day. Dinner is raw which they never skip.

[GreyTzu]

My dogs eat about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of kibble once a day.

[LaFlaca]

At her age I would not consider reducing the number of times she is fed. Increase if needed, decrease no. If she is not hungry one morning, don't worry unless it continues. After all some mornings, I'm not hungry for breakfast. I've also heard, but don't know if it is true, that giving a large meal once a day can lead to bloat.

I agree. Bloat is my fear as is her advanced age. I feel better offering food twice a day and let her decide if she wants it or not.

[GeorgeofNE]

Sounds like your son was just trying to save time feeding her twice.

 

How would you like to go 23 3/4 hours between meals? I wouldn't like it much.

 

I'm sorry you lost a dog to bloat, but spending too much time worrying about it isn't helpful to you or the dogs. We also lost a dog to bloat, and we did NOTHING WRONG. It happened, we had him put to sleep because of his age and the severity of the torsion (the vet said IF he survived the surgery it might very well kill him later), but since we did nothing to cause it, we never worried about it happening again.

 

Stick to what you've always done and try to relax!

[LaFlaca]

Sounds like your son was just trying to save time feeding her twice.

 

How would you like to go 23 3/4 hours between meals? I wouldn't like it much.

 

I'm sorry you lost a dog to bloat, but spending too much time worrying about it isn't helpful to you or the dogs. We also lost a dog to bloat, and we did NOTHING WRONG. It happened, we had him put to sleep because of his age and the severity of the torsion (the vet said IF he survived the surgery it might very well kill him later), but since we did nothing to cause it, we never worried about it happening again.

 

Stick to what you've always done and try to relax!

Susan, you are so wise and sensible and a natural at reading people! I had the same thought ("Sounds like your son was just trying to save time feeding her twice."). And, yes, I am over-thinking things (I always do!). I will definitely take your good advice and not fix what isn't broken.

[JAJ2010]

We feed once a day (raw not kibble.) They get a breakfast milk bone and we all go back to bed! Cookies throughout the day ensure the bellies aren't empy

[MSTmom]

A few months ago our boy (who is 6) started skipping breakfast, all he would want was to go outside in the morning. I'd let him out, and then he'd immediately eat grass and do the whole, eat grass, choke on it, vomit, eat more. He eats 5 cups a day (he's a big boy!) and we were doing 2.5 in the am and 2.5 in the pm around 8 am and then 8 pm. For a week he'd refuse breakfast and just want to go for grass. I read on here somewhere about the "snack" meal, so we changed his schedule to 2 cups at 8am one cup at 5pm and then dinner at 9pm. He immediately stopped the grass morning snacks. I read somewhere in older dogs it helps with the digestion to break the meal up and keep them full through the night.

[racindog]

Absolutely TWICE a day. I lost my soul mate Slim to bloat and he was already being fed twice a day. Most experienced dog people shoot for twice a day in my experience.

[LaFlaca]

Absolutely TWICE a day. I lost my soul mate Slim to bloat and he was already being fed twice a day. Most experienced dog people shoot for twice a day in my experience.

I must agree. 2-3 feedings a day is so much healthier.

[Sundrop]

We do twice per day, as well. Our boy sometimes turns his nose up at breakfast, so he gets a cup of dry w/ warm water, mixed with maybe a 1/3 cup of wet and in the evenings he gets a little more - 1.5 cups dry w/ warm water and another 1/3 cup of wet.

 

They also get a decent sized lunch snack and a bedtime snack to supplement. We've had issues with two (out of the six we've had) who would throw up bile early in the AM (including our current boy), before we were up, and when I started doing a bedtime snack, that disappeared.

 

They basically get food every 4-5 waking hours. I would never go to one big meal per day, personally.

Edited June 29, 2017 by Sundrop

[Hubcitypam]

Twice a day here. - inspired by P1s insulin shots a decade ago. Believe me P2 has an 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. internal clock totally accurate within 10 minutes.

[LaFlaca]

It seems that skipping breakfast, which is what make me ask the question in the first place, is a common occurrence. I'm going to stick with offering 2 meals a day (plus "cookies") If she skips breakfast, so be it, as long a she maintains her weight and is otherwise healthy.

[Guest TomOfGreyhounds]

I do once a day with my dog «Friday»

I found it was easier to manage as my work schedule can fluctuate, having one scheduled feeding was very convenient and one that i could work around. It also helps me with his pottu schedule