Health and diet

Fasting once a week: Truth or myth?

Allegedly, fast is instinctively practised by both wolfs and wild dogs. This has led many people to that assumption, that our dog on the couch should, once in a while, be fasting as well. A wild animal surely knows what it is doing, nature is wise, you would think. But is it true? Will it benefit the health of your dog, or rather harm it?

That wolfs and wild dogs don’t eat for a day or two is determined by the fact, that they are not successful in catching something every day. And not that it is necessary. Since when they get to their prey, they stuff their belly full and it takes them even several days to get hungry. Fort this time, they don’t feel the need to eat. People often mistake the process of digesting for a fast. But our dog at home gets a regular and adequate dose of food. So there’s no reason to deny it to them for one day.

Nobody is hungry voluntarily, an animal is refraining from food only due to a compulsion in case the hunt hasn’t been successful or when it’s ill. Such situation can therefore arise on one hand due to the inability to procure food, on the other because of lack of appetite caused by a disease.

Wild animal needs plenty of energy for the preservation of its kind, so it isn’t logical for it to fast on purpose. On the contrary, in the period from summer to autumn, it stuffs itself with anything it can find, so that it has enough subcutaneous fat reserve to weather the winter. Moreover, a predator weakened by hunger will not hunt much. If you start with a fast, for example, with a puppy, you will deprive it of the much needed energy for a healthy growth and for the growth of new teeth. In older dogs, diabetics, lactating or gravid female dogs, this for sure won’t help with their fitness.

And you say that the dog will not gain weight, if they fast one day a week? Well, whether you feed it with granules, BARF or you cook for it, you will modify the dose in such way, so that it is proportionate to its size, activity and form. The necessity of one day a week without food is not based on any veterinary or nutritional research. To the contrary: from health point of view, dog should get food every day at regular times and not even the content of it should change radically. Therefore, if you, for example, feed your dog with a single type of granules, it is not suitable to exchange them for a different type from day to day.

Therefore, if you’re thinking about starting a fast with your dog, first consult your veterinary and take a listen to an expert opinion on this issue.

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