How Fasting Your Dog Can Benefit Their Overall Health
How Fasting Your Dog Can Benefit Their Overall Health
Dog Mama, I know that keeping your furry friend healthy is always your top priority. But did you know that one of the best things you can do for your dog’s health is to fast them once in a while?
Fasting has a number of benefits for dogs, including improved digestion, weight management, and increased energy levels.
Fasting also helps to cleanse the body of toxins and can even help to prevent diseases.
If you are thinking about fasting your dog, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. This article will give you all the information you need to know about fasting your dog, including how to do it and what the benefits are.
What is Fasting?
What is Fasting? Fasting is the act of refraining from food for a period of time. Dogs can fast for anywhere from 12 to 24 hours, and sometimes even longer.
Even on days when we do not withhold food, my dogs eat twice per day, but the meals are fed in an 8 hour window of time. Usually around 8:30 am and 4 pm. This means they generally do intermittent fasting every day for around 16 hours.
Some of you who have hectic schedules may no be at some to feed both meals within an 8 hour window — so you actually may wish to consider feeding your dog only one meal per day. A transition period may be required for this, but it’s possible.
We never withhold access to fresh water.
The benefits of fasting
Fasting has a number of benefits for dogs, including
Cleanse the body of toxins. When we have a dog that is not feeling well, it’s a good idea to let the belly rest. Most people will rush to try and get the dog to eat anything, including chicken and rice which simply introduces more inflammation and makes the digestive system work harder! Let it rest and eliminate whatever was causing the upset. A little bone broth may be considered an alternative to food.
Feeding dogs only one meal per day has been shown to reduce disease
Improved digestion — it gives the digestive system time off the clock! You don’t have foods entering the digestive system while the other systems haven’t finished their processing cycle. The dog’s gut is meant to have down time.
Weight management
increased energy levels.
How Often Should You Fast Your Dog
Generally, speaking for the average pet, daily intermittent fasting is recommended. This means they eat one meal per day, or two meals within 8 hours.
To have a full fasting day, is recommended a couple of times per month.
Fasting Puppies
I do not recommend fasting your puppy until they are at least 6-8 months old.
Fasting Seniors
We often worry about our seniors getting enough food & calories to keep their energy up. We want to keep them eating. I tend NOT to do full-day fasting and stick to the intermittent fasting schedule.
If the senior dog self-fasts (meaning they refuse to eat what I have offered), I explore a variety of reasons. Are they feeling unwell? Has the temperature changed such that they need more warming proteins and lightly cooked foods? is the cooler weather, and early time of day a factor? Will they eat around lunchtime instead? Did I add some supplement that is creating the refusal? I will offer them bone broth if they refused breakfast and of course, I get out my essential oils for digestion support.
Many of you may have medical scenarios in which multiple small meals are fed each day, or you feel (have been told) that to get more calories you need more frequency — that’s not always the case — for either scenario. I’m happy to chat with you about options to address your dog’s needs. But you will always need to trust your instincts and listen to your dog.
Things to keep in mind when fasting
The first few times you try to not give your dog any food, they may rebel! If your dogs are anything like mine, they are like little alarm clocks and will come to get me at dinner time. And they can be relentless. So, I may fast their morning meal and give them a raw meaty bone a little later in the morning, and then give them dinner on time. This means our intermittent fast has been extended.
Just experiment a bit with what works best for your dog.
Be sure to monitor your dog closely during the fast to make sure they are not showing any signs of distress. Finally, make sure you consult with your veterinarian before starting any fasting plan.