One Meal-A-Day,Twice-A-Day or Free Feed ?

Once-a-day? Twice-a-day? Free-feed? Ask around and you’ll hear lots of different opinions on what is the optimal feeding schedule for your cat or dog food. So what is the correct answer? Well first off, rest easy as there is no hard and fast correct answer. That said, however, it’s our opinion that free-feeding is the worst way to go.

The best comparison we can make  is   that free-feeding would be like a  person  having a full buffet in your  house,  stocked with food 24  hours-a-day.   When you think of it this  way, it’s not  hard to understand why  pets that are  free-fed tend to be  sluggish, lethargic,  and passionless  about their pet food --in  addition to  having a variety of dog health  problems. After all, how excited would

you be about that lasagna if you had a big bowl of it sitting in the corner all day long. In a dog or cat’s life food is the #1 motivation they have. Sure, they love rides in the car, going for a walk, or getting a visit from the neighbor’s pet. But nothing beats a great natural dog food. 

However, once-a-day feeding has proven difficult. Many dogs and cats drive their owners crazy begging for food throughout the day when on a once-a-day diet.Usually this type of behavior can be trained out of the pet instead you stick with it for a couple of weeks. But it does take a lot of patience in

those cases. That said, twice-a-day does work for many people and they still have very good results -- along with a dog that’s not quite so obsessive about food throughout the day. 

If you’re going to do snacks during the day, we recommend feeding them as rewards only, and to use healthy foods like raw carrots or apples. Also, the more you stick to a routine of specific times and events for reward snacks, the less your dog or cat will beg between meals.

If you’re doing twice-per-day feeding we suggest one meal in the morning and one at night. If you’re feeding once-per-day, either morning or night will work. Also, keep in mind that these rules do not apply to puppies and kittens, which do need 2-3 smaller meals throughout the day as opposed to once-a-day feeding.