Feeding pet dogs just once a day might keep them healthier as they age

By Michael Le Page

A puppy waiting to beryllium fed

Shutterstock / Gladskikh Tatiana

Dogs fed erstwhile a time are little apt to beryllium diagnosed with age-related conditions than dogs fed much often, according to an investigation of surveys completed by 24,000 owners of favored dogs.

For now, canine owners should instrumentality with their existent regime, says Matt Kaeberlein astatine the University of Washington successful Seattle. “Based connected this study, we are not recommending that radical marque a alteration successful the mode they are feeding their dogs.”

In 2019, Kaeberlein helped found the Dog Aging Project to survey the familial and biology causes of ageing successful dogs and different animals, including people. Any dog owner successful the US tin instrumentality portion by filling successful a survey erstwhile a year.

There is immoderate grounds that intermittent fasting tin dilatory ageing successful immoderate animals, specified arsenic mice. Kaeberlein analysed the task information to spot if dogs fed erstwhile a time were much oregon little apt to beryllium diagnosed with assorted categories of age-related conditions, from cancers to the canine equivalent of dementia, than those fed much often.

In astir cases, dogs fed erstwhile per time were importantly little apt to person had specified a diagnosis. “In my view, it’s beauteous compelling correlative evidence,” says Kaeberlein.

However, the survey hasn’t established causation, helium says. The full magnitude that a dog eats, alternatively than however often it eats, mightiness explicate the correlation. Dogs fed doubly a time oregon much mightiness beryllium much apt to beryllium obese, for instance.

The task squad plans to inquire owners however overmuch their dogs eat and whether they are obese. But measuring caloric intake accurately is hard to bash successful surveys, says Kaeberlein. Ideally, the squad would similar to transportation retired a proceedings involving switching immoderate dogs to once-a-day-feeding to spot if it affects their health.

“The spot of the survey is that numbers are ample and the statistical methods are sound,” says Alex German astatine the University of Liverpool successful the UK. But it besides has galore weaknesses, helium says, and helium “strongly agrees that radical shouldn’t alteration the mode they provender their dogs until further studies are done.”

The proposal presently fixed by galore organisations is to provender dogs doubly a day. If further studies corroborate that once-a-day feeding is healthier careless of however overmuch dogs devour overall, it mightiness pb to a alteration successful this advice, says Kaeberlein.

Once-a-day-feeding mightiness beryllium beneficial lone for dogs fixed their evolutionary past arsenic hunters, says Kaeberlein – their wolf ancestors often went for days without eating. But time-restricted feeding mightiness besides beryllium to beryllium beneficial for different animals, including people, helium says.

The Dog Aging Project is seeking much participants and hopes to spell planetary successful 2022, says Kaeberlein.

Journal reference: bioRxiv, DOI: 10.1101/2021.11.08.467616

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