My senior dog only eats one meal a day. Is this healthy or a concern?

What a great question. It’s the age old debate about whether we should feed dogs once a day, twice a day, or three times a day. Honestly, it depends on the dog. if the dog is healthy and happy, and he is keeping his weight at a healthy amount that is not too heavy or too light, I see no reason with feeding him only once a day. One recommendation I would also add to you if you do intend to only feed him once is to keep his food elevated and use a special type of feeding bowl that forces him to eat slowly. There are certain bowls with prongs in them that force your pet to eat slowly. The reasoning is that large breed dogs like yours can sometimes have gastrointestinal problems like bloat, etc. if they inhale their food without chewing. Feeding only once a day can sometimes cause a dog to ravenously eat so you have to be careful. But again it depends on the dog and most that I have come into contact with that are only fed one meal a day still do fairly well. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I hope I have helped. Have a nice day.

Hello. If Emma seems to do well with a once-daily feeding, then this may be all that she needs. Not all dogs eat twice a day, so as long as she does not seem to be losing weight, once a day is fine. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor Lily. She must be happy to be in a well taken care of home. Honestly, I would not be concerned about her eating only once a day. Some dogs will only want to eat once a day and that is fine. It is important that she eats enough o maintain her body weight. I would take her to the vet for a good exam and ask the doctor if she is at a good weight. If so I would not change anything with her eating, If she is a little skinny I would recommend checking a fecal and making sure she does not have parasites. I hope this helps

I would check to see if Bongo has lost weight or not. If he's not lost weight and/or has maintained his weight, then it would be fine to keep him on one meal a day. If you are concerned he isn't getting enough food, you can give him the daily recommended allotment of food during this one meal. Some dogs can eat one meal a day and be just fine. If that's the way you can keep him eating, then you can do it. I hope this helps!

Sometimes dogs can be upset by a change in schedule. Dogs don't necessarily need to be fed twice a day. I would continue to offer Lucky two strict meals a day for a week. If he still refuses to eat the second meal, then you can combine the two amounts into one bowl and just feed one meal. It does not concern me that he is refusing 1 meal as long as he still eats the other!

As long as Rosie is acting normal and is not losing weight this might be normal behavior for her. However if she has any drooling, odor from her mouth, vomiting or is losing weight I would be concerned about something else going on such as an infection in her mouth, inflammation of her stomach, or even kidney issues. If you notice any of those signs she needs to be checked out by her veterinarian.

While young small breed dogs can develop toy breed hypoglycemia, it would be rare for an adult dog to have this problem and require frequent meals. I think twice a day is probably just fine for both dogs as long as they don’t have any other medical problems.