Can I feed my 4 y/o gshep mix 3 meals a day instead of 2?

[glaucus]

Without changing the total amount of food he eats a day, can I split it into 3 meals? I ask because he vomits stomach acid if I'm late giving him breakfast, which the vet says is normal because he's hungry (I gathered he's anticipating the food and then needs to vacate the excess acid when I sleep in by accident)

Can I just give him 3 meals, one late night so he stays more full til the morning? Why is 2 the tradition?

Thanks!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@glaucus I see no reason why not as long as the dog isn’t getting extra calories.

 

[issac27]

@glaucus My dog has an autoimmune disease. Her medication makes her extremely hungry. The vet recommended I split her daily food amount into 5 small meals given throughout the day. My dog is now very happy and doesn’t go berserk anymore. She used to tear into the rubbish, lick the walls, escape to the Neighbours’ bins and hoover the ground.

 

[edmomillig]

@glaucus An automatic feeder might fix your issue better. You can schedule it for certain times. 3 meals a day should be just fine but could cause issues down the road if you’re not home in the middle of the day for that feeding.

 

[stacieleigh]

@glaucus We feed the dog (80+ lbs) and cat 3 smaller meals a day, plus occasional little treats. For us the trick is to keep the total amount of food to a healthful amount.

 

[michiqan]

@glaucus We free feed our dog. That’s how the breeder did it so we just kept to that. She’s a medium sized goldendoodle with a big chest so we have a slow feeder propped up on a shoe rack like a table so it prevents her from gulping her food and getting bloated but since there is food in her bowl all day, she is not a greedy eater. Sometimes she eats in the morning, sometimes we hear her crunching late at night, but mostly in the evening. At her 1 year check up, the vet said keep doing what we are doing cause she’s perfect!

 

[adamricks]

@glaucus I feed my dog three meals a day and it’s been working for us.

 

[stephaniel988]

@glaucus i feed my girl once a day. as long as your dog is getting the right amount of calories for their size/activity level, it really doesn’t matter how often during the day they’re eating. what works for you might be 3 meals/day and that’s perfectly okay!

 

[baylorfan1999]

@glaucus I had to put a ball in my dogs food bowl so he wouldn’t eat so fast because he golfs down he is a five month rat terrier pit mix. I feed him twice a day I’ll fall. I also feed my corgi twice a day but she’s very slow decent lady like eater so I don’t worry about her. Problem is if I feed them too early in the evening the corgi will throw up bile because she’s got an empty stomach in the middle of the night so I try to keep food in their tummies

 

[knowledgeseeker313]

@glaucus 3 meals sounds like a great idea! My pup had what we thought was bilious vomiting (the vomiting stomach acid if they haven’t eaten/drank in awhile), it ended up being IBD, but when I started feeding her 3 times a day, even with her food that wasn’t tummy sensitive, she completely stopped! It’s definitely something you should try good luck

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@glaucus I give mine 3 a day because she also has a problem with throwing up if she eats too much too quickly. I weigh out her daily kibbles every morning and the wet food and I split it into breakfast lunch and dinner + two to three treat toys throughout the day to chill her out or reward her for good behaviors and ir works

H