Once a day feeding - Question never got answered..

[AdrianVall]

Hey guys,

There's a thread going on about once a day feeding, but my question never got answered, so I figured I'd start a new thread to generate more response.

I switched over my 2 dogs to once a day feedings at night. My question is, is it alright??

I have a 17 month old boxer (70 lbs.) and a 7 month old english mastiff (110 lbs.).

I'm super worried about bloat with my mastiff. Is it alright to feed him once a day in the normal feeding portions?

The mastiff gets 3-4 lbs. of meat a day, and the boxer gets about 2 lbs. When I feed them at night, I feel like they get super fat. LOL.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Adrian

[RachelsaurusRexU]

Many of us feed once a day, including Nat and Jon with their Danes. I'm sure they wouldn't if they were concerned about it causing bloat.

[jdatwood]

We don't worry about bloat in our house because we'll ALWAYS have a Gastropexy done on all of our dogs that are prone to bloat.

That aside I think once a day feeding is better because you can feed larger meals that require more chewing. Some days we'll feed an even larger meal and then fast the next day.

From what we've seen bloat is more related to stress

[RachelsaurusRexU]

Can't a dog bloat even with a pexy?

[bully4life]

Can't a dog bloat even with a pexy?

They can, but the rate is something like 5-8%, whereas with no surgery its something like 55-60%.

[bully4life]

As for the once a day feeding..i normally do twice a day. But if i do a once a day, its usually in the morning and then 35-50 minutes in the crate after that.

[Tracmec]

We feed once a day in the evening. My Mastiff eats up to 5 pounds depending on what the meal is. We have never had any problem with bloat, but if I remember right we didn't switch her to once a day until she was 9 months old. She is two now. We had been feeding them all twice a day up till then though, and just decided to switch them to once a day all at the same time. I think you will be fine.

[DaneMama]

I just wanted to add that bloat in the general sense is not deadly. The bloat that Adrian is talking about is gastric volvulus and dilation (GVD) which is deadly. A gastropexy is done to prevent GVD not general bloat. So a pexied dog can still bloat but the stomach cannot torsion which is what makes GVD deadly.

Adrian, if you're truly worried about GVD then I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend getting a gastropexy done. The peace of mind you'll get from knowing your dogs stomach won't flip (99% effective) is worth it, not to mention it may save your dogs life. I will do it with every giant breed dog I own.