Older female slow with eating in the morning

boxer bill · #1 09-29-2009, 07:04 AM

I ahve an 8 year old Female. She is in good health other than some Arthiritis. She has always been a little slow eating in the morning but I think with her descreasing her activity level it is like pulling teeth to get her to eat in the am when she gets up. She devours it in the PM. Should I just leave some down in the morning or just feed her in the evening. She eats Innova and have for about 5 years with GREAT success. Thanks. BILL

LILYLARUE · #2 09-29-2009, 07:48 AM

I had the same problem with one of my pups. So I just fed him once a day and he seems very happy with that now. Lily would eat all day if I let her!

sandy's mom · #3 09-29-2009, 11:14 AM

My Sandy is also 8 and she eats good one time per day.
I feed first thing in the morning and in the evening.
She usually will only eat well one time.
Occasionally she will eat two good meals, but they are far and few between...

My vet says as long as she is eating don't worry about her...
So.. that is what I TRY to do...

**gmacleod** · #4 09-29-2009, 11:30 AM

Two things you could think about before going to once a day feeding:

First, are you sure you're not overfeeding her? As dogs age and their activity levels and metabolisms decrease, they just don't need as much food as they did when they were younger. One possibility, thus, is that she's being offered more than she has a need for. So you might try decreasing the overall amount, and see if that makes a difference.

Second, a lot of boxers suffer from what we call "empty tummy syndrome", which generally means that it is breakfast they refuse to eat, due to feeling a bit nauseous following having their tummies empty for too long overnight. Ways to address this include feeding 3 meals a day, instead of 2 (the last one late at night, of course), giving a snack last thing at night (that's enough for some), or - if it happens that dinner is at a very early time - shifting that to later at night, so that there is no more (and preferably less) than 12 hours between feeds.

I think both are worth some investigation before giving up and just feeding her once. If neither makes any difference though, then possibly once a day is just right for this dog.