Minimum time between feedings to avoid bloat - Page 1

My Female GSD is having unusually good appetite lately, during and now after her heat. She was bred about a week ago.

She had been too thin reproductively (too athletically finished) until the past few months so she is not overweight. Medium bone, well structured, 24-24.5 inches at the shoulder. I think she should be close to 70 pounds as ideal reproductive weight before breeding, she is now about 67-68 pounds. I want to see her slowly gain about two pounds in the next two to three weeks.

I am always fearful of her eating too much, she has a rather deep chest for a female.

How does the GSD digestive system work? How much time does it take for the stomach to empty or mostly empty? I want to be able to feed for at about 7pm and then 10 pm. Is three hours generally enough time for a majority of the food to leave the stomach?

Can one suggest any articles on the subject? More on the amount of time for food to leave the stomach?

Her food is likely about 28% protein, 22 percent fat. It is always quite moist, not dried. She almost never eats any food dried.

Thanks

Time between feedings does not seem to be as great of a factor in bloat as activity after feedings. Dogs should rest and avoid heavy excercise imediately after eating; think of wild animals; they feast then they rest.  This alone won't prevent bloat. Some studies suggest elevating the food dish, others say soak dry kibble to expand prior to eating. There is a structural and genetic factor but unclear findings on how much is environmental, genetic, or unfortunately left to bad luck.

Right - the main thing is crating her or making sure she is not active after eating, for at least one hour, better two hours after each meal.  If necessary walk on leash, no play, no running.  If she needs to gain weight you could add a 3rd feeding per day - just space the 3 meals apart according to the day's schedule at hand (am, mid-day, pm).  Personally if I have an underweight dog I like to feed meat rather than kibble as the extra to help them gain weight - canned food which is high in fat - not good for them for "regular feeding" but very good for weight gain without giving much extra bulk/volume.  Add a can of food as the mid-day meal, or split a can and add it to the am/pm meals per day.  Or, give some raw food for one meal.

molly

If she is bred she will eat good at first but about a month in she may slack off a bit for a couple of week's.

Mine do.

I only feed once a day in the evening after excercise, she get's all she will eat then I remove the rest if there is any left over.

She will have her movement around ten or eleven the next morning when I let her out for the day.

I let her decide how much she want's.

Thanks.

My girl never eats anything dry. She eats slowly, even now, in an unhurried way.

This dog is strange, she almost never eats anything in the day time.

I always soak her kibble, premium meat-based type. I have to add some meat, always either chicken or beef liver, about 3-4 ounces fresh basis, about one ounce dry basis, every day. Otherwise it is not palatable enough for her.

I think that may be for years I had used too rich a food to start, 30% protein and 22% fat. After supplment with fresh meat, I calculated it to be about 33-25.  About half a year ago I  switched to a food that is less rich, 24-18 to start, so that after supplment with fresh meat her food is now about 28-22. Her stool is much softer now, well-formed but not loose.

This newer food has some corn ( that is way I once shunned it), as the fourth ingredient, but she seems to do better with a small amount of corn as a source of fiber, which I think  softens the stool with the retention of water.

In sum, she does better with less expensive food and has slowly gained weight, from only 60-62 pounds to 66 pounds and now 67-68 pounds.