Do you have a particular feeding schedule for your pets?
I never have, until recently. In the past if their food bowls were empty I filled them. They had access to all the food and water they wanted, 24/7. I have never had an overweight pet.
However, Dakota has taken to pooping in the kitchen on this long runner we put down for her so she wouldn’t slip on the linoleum. So…now we provide food all day long, and water, but around 6 p.m. I’ll put a spoonful of canned dog food on their food to encourage them to eat, and when they’re done I put the bowls up on the washing machine until the next morning. Seems to be working like a charm.
I was trying to put myself in their shoes to figure out whether it would be a bad thing…but then I thought, “Hell, Dutchess. You don’t eat after 6 pm and you’re fine. The dogs should be fine!”
And they are. It’s been about a week now and no more accidents.
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Most of my dogs have been free-feeders, which was really convenient, but the rescue dogs and this one I have now have been on schedules. The free feeding has been better, IMO, because they regulated themselves by need. They never were overweight, and didn’t get weird during the switches from Daylight Savings to Satndard time.
And remember, Dakota is an old girl, it gets a little harder to regulate. Give her a pat from me, I have a special fondness for the old ones!
7:30 for breakfast and 6 PM, they’ll remind you if you’re late.
Oh, I know @canidmajor. She doesn’t get in any kind of trouble for it. She doesn’t get in any kind of trouble for anything any more. In fact, all the rules are out the window. In the last month I’ve given them bites of my food right from my hand. That is something I never did in the past because it makes them beggers. Well, they’re beggers now! I have to get a little extra sompen sompen just for them when I go to McDs. Trust me, you don’t want Dakota staring at you in sad disappointment.
Rick hauls Dutchess up on the couch in the evenings to lay by him. The first time she kept staring at me in confused terror because she knows she’s not supposed to be on the couch! I used to walk in the back door yelling “Get off the couch Dutchess!” before I even saw her. But I put a sheet down because I knew she was going to jump up there when we’re gone anyway.
@Tropical_Willie Dutchess lets me know when they’re hungry and out of food. She has what we call a rabies attack. She’s such a hyperactive, goofy dog. She’ll stand in front of you shaking and whining, staring at you intently with big ol’ eyes.
My pets get food every 12 hours. Roughly twice a day.
Yes, they do. They even have automatic feeders that reveal their meals on schedule.
Both the schedule and the automatic feeders have greatly reduced their asking for food and waking up humans in the morning, etc.
My cats always had a full bowl. Mittens is a bit chubby but she can still fly 30 feet up a tree and rip a squirrel apart. Her mother, Dobby (peep show) has always been slender.
My sister has a brute of an Australian Shepherd. Leo is built like a tank. And I think if he could he would eat himself to death.
I have three goldfish right now. And they will actually eat themselves to death. They do not have stomachs and will eat until they die. Feeding them is a bit of a challenge.
The timer kicks on at 9am to turn on the light. I feed at 10AM. Then they get another feeding at 6PM and the light turns of at 8PM.
And when I first got them I bought the cheapest food I could. One would always be swimming around with a log hanging out. Since I switched to better food I never see the poop. It just slides right out.
I always kept the bowls with dry food so they could eat what they wanted, when they wanted.
@Dutchess_III It depends on the pet(s). With the cats I have now, there are several behavior issues that are solved by a regular schedule and a non-human automatic feeder, including:
* waking up humans very very early for food
* waking up humans in the middle of the night for food
* asking humans for food at random times during the day
* manipulating humans (well, me, I’m the softy) into giving them more and different food, and then not eating it all before it goes bad
* eating more food than they need
* eating more food at once than they need, and throwing up because of that
* envying the other cat if not fed at the same time, and annoying humans about it
* eating the other cat’s food
* humans not having as clear an idea about how much food each cat is eating and which food may be becoming some sort of problem
* cats getting nervous about their food and other random behaviors seemingly because of that, including acting out and damaging things
But especially the first three. The automatic feeder changed the experience of living with those cats a lot.
I’ve lived with other cats though where it was fine to just keep putting food in the bowl and not pay a lot of attention to it.
I feed them whenever I notice they don’t have food. Mostly they don’t care and only go after it once they are hungry.
@Dutchess_III . Dog’s can develop a condition called a GDV, or commonly referred to as “bloat.” A condition that requires immediate surgery, or painful death is imminent. It can be caused by overeating, or circumstances related to eating too fast.
When I worked in emergency veterinary medicine, we got about one case every other night. Sometimes several a night. Deep chested dogs were most susceptible. Horses can develop a similar condition. Other mammals too…
Ensuring no possibility of overeating, elevating the bowls, and having water available reduce the chances of dogs developing the condition.
Some owners never have problems with leaving food out all of the time, as the dogs will “graze.” As long as the dog has some level of self control, it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Or sometimes, it’s just luck. My dog will scarf her food down as fast as she can. She would be a poor candidate for leaving food readily available. Having been a part in hundreds of those surgeries, I am paranoid about it.
I wouldn’t recommend the food always available strategy. But I wasn’t asked directly about that, and I am not one to try to tell people how to raise their kids, or pets. Except when I was being paid to give advice. I have not worked in the medical field, in about six years…
@MrGrimm888 We add water to the dry food, we have German Shepard & Black Lab crosses.
Feeding your pets dry food helps keep their teeth clean.
Willie. Yeah. Those breeds are prime candidates. There’s probably no way to eliminate the risk, but we can try.
I feed dogs throughout the day, mostly on walks and for training, with very small meals for breakfast and dinner. Right now, my Lab gets fed mostly for ignoring food he finds outside and for coming back on cue during play.
I used to have a lab who just bolted her food. You give her a hot dog and it just disappeared into her gullet like someone sucking on a strand of spaghetti. I wonder why some dogs do that?
Well. My dog was the runt, and was highly malnourished when I got her. I think that’s why she eats like a pig…
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