Anyone else fast their dogs?

We are fans of fasting Betty after a particularly large meal (which, since she's 5lbs, is not a HUGE meal.. just big for her). Anyone else practice this? Thoughts? Opinions?

"Fasting" can be a misleading term in this case if people don't really know what it's meaning is. It's not witholding food from the dog, it is the dog resting after gorging the previous day or even 2 days in the cases of some larger dogs. The act of "fasting" a dog was first preached by early raw food feeders as a way to mimick the wolf's natural eating habits. Food is not available all the time so it was thought good for the dog to have a day when he's not fed. What wasn't taken into consideration is that wolves do not "fast" because it's healthy- it's when there is no food around to eat. The other way it was misconstrued is that when a wolf CHOOSES not to eat it is because he has gorged himself in days previous and simply isn't hungry. I'm not sure I would use a gorge and rest method for small dogs as their blood sugar tends to drop quickly due to their small size/higher metabolism. Amos does fine with this once a week and the next day he skips but after that he's back to a normal amount. What is called a BFFLO style (Big Food Fed Less Often) is how wolves eat in the wild and it is good for a dog to fill his or her stomach once a week or so. This link is great for explaining. http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/stomach.php

A very important point to remember though is to never, ever, ever rest a cat. Their metabolisms are not able to go without food for that long. If your cat gorges on a meal, feed lightly the next day but always feed SOMETHING. Overweight cats are especially at risk for hepatic lipidosis (another reason to never allow a cat to go without food for a day) and may need to be fed twice a day. Personally, I feed Waverli once a day because she likes to feel more full. I had her on twice a day until she was 8-9 mos old and she wouldn't stop crying after breakfast so I gave her dinner too. Ever since then she's been completely happy.

This is all very good information, thanks so much! Betty often get a larger meal, and refuses food the next day, so we (mistakenly!) called it fasting! As when we feed her those large meals, we know she won't be hungry for breakfast the next day.

Yep, I knew you were alright by your post but I see it alot when people just don't feed their dog and call it "fasting." My response is "why are you starving your poor dog for a day when he's hungry?" If Betty does well with eating a large portion and resting, go for it! It's all about Know Thy Dog. Some dogs do really well regardless of size and some (the tiny yorkies and chis 2-3 lbs) their blood sugar bottoms out if they don't have 2-3 meals a day or more. Anyone who has a tiny dog like that I would just caution to keep a close eye on feeding.

Yes, not feeding them for a day for no reason (a vet visit is a good excuse though!), is kinda mean.

I'm glad I was corrected though, I will now use the proper termonology!

I don't fast, but since I have big dogs they usually don't get huge meals . . . plus they're bulldogs they're always hungry so I know they'd never turn down a meal *eyeroll*

My moms dog is the same (altho a shep, no a bullybreed). She can feed her a whole rabbit, and she's still whining for breakfast! LOL

My dog is still a puppy, so I feed her twice a day, except for those days when she really gorges herself. She might go one or two meals without eating, I can tell by how she acts when we're in the kitchen. I plan on switching to once a day when she's fully grown, but that won't be till she's close to three. (Pointers mature really slowly)

Great link there, by the way, we'll have to come up with a links section, so that they'll be easy to find later for reference.