What is the best time of day to feed a dog.

[sallybb]

We have a very old dog, that sadly will not be with us for much longer. He is arthritic, and is at the stage where he isn't in full control of his bowels. For the last few months, we have had to most nights get up and completly scrub the kitchen floor and bedding is washed daily. If he wasn't eating well and playing occasionally. We would have taken him to the vets some time back. He has always been a anxiuos dog , and we have only been able to keep him at a decent weight by feeding him twice a day. Have tried experimenting to once a day but he becomes anxiuos and wont settle. Often collapsing. I think the only solution is to still feed him twice but one meal to be only a small token. To avoid the mess during the early morning, what time of day should he been given his large meal. Would like to make his little remaining time with us as pleasant as possible. Many thanks in advance for any info.

[leelapops]

Hi sally, I really admire your commitment to making your dog as happy as possible for the last part of his life.

If he is having trouble very early in the morning, might it be best to give him a small breakfast, and then the main part of his dinner around early teatime (4-5ish)? Or even vice-versa, although we feed ours 1/3 of his dinner in the morning, and the remaining 2/3 in the evening. He is on a dry complete food.
What do you feed yours? Is there anything else you could try? Dry food is, erm, "good" for poos, firms them up. If he is pooing through the night, this at least might make it easier to clean up.
Give his ears a scratch from me...
x

[leelapops]

Could you go to three times a day? A light breakfast, light lunch and early, light tea? Just so any business he needed to get rid of could be done before bedtime?

x

[sallybb]

Thanx leelapops, we have to be careful what we feed him due to bad Pancreatitis, four years ago. He was then put on Hills and as he is large dog it cost an arm and leg. The nearest I could find to him in the ingredients was Chappie rice and chicken , less than 3% fat which he seem to digest well, also has low fat complete food. I am a bit reluctant to mess about changing his diet but will certainly follow your advice on the larger feed being later in the day.
He is fast asleep at the moment, after having us out of bed several times last night. Bless him! Still loves his ears scratched, so will give him an extra one from you.

[leelapops]

Oh sally, he sounds so lovely. You must be breaking your heart. My boy is only 3, so hopefully he's got a long way to go. He's my first too, so I can't even think about..well..yes.

I can see from what you've said it maybe would be best to stick with the same food then. Jack can't eat wheat products, so he is on a dry complete gluten free food which is great, and not as dear as we first expected.

You must be exhausted! Like having a pup all over again! I hope you find something that's best for you all soon.

x