9 Health Benefits of Fasting Your Dog

by Jim McBean on January 13, 2010

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This past Monday was the second time in as many weeks that Sweety and Zeus have gone sans food for the day. Actually that’s not entirely true because the first time Zeus decided to eat a whole cherry pie while I was out. @#&%!

For most of us the thought of not eating for a day is not a pleasant one, but fasting our dogs periodically mimics a carnivore’s natural eating habits in the wild, and has many health benefits backed by science.

“Occasional fasting by cats and dogs is a normal, natural phenomenon, especially when natural raw, fresh foods are fed. As long as your pet appears strong with good energy and clear responsiveness, self imposed fasting oftentimes ends by itself with a renewed gusto for life.” Dr. William Pollak DVM. (Note: animals often fast when they are ill.)

“No wild dog would be able to kill prey every day of every week. Appreciating this fact, most of the zoos of the world fast the carnivores – lions, tigers, wolves – one day each week.” - The Complete Herbal Book for the Dog A Handbook of Natural Care & Rearing. page 51

Unless you’re part of the raw feeding minority (albeit a growing minority), you’re feeding your dog commercial kibble. The fact that kibble is cooked, processed, includes carbohydrate (corn, wheat, sweet potato, peas), means that greater strain is put your dogs digestive system (pancreas) to process it, than a more natural diet consisting of raw meaty bones. Fasting your dog once a week or so, gives your dogs digestive system time to relax by not having to process food for the day. There are many more potential health benefits of fasting your dog periodically such as;

9 Health Benefits of Fasting Your Dog

  • Conserves energy
  • Revitalizes
  • Relaxes and energizes the body and mind
  • Rests the digestive organs
  • Improves the senses
  • Reduces allergies
  • Builds resistance to disease
  • Detoxifies
  • Optimizes health

Dogs on Calorie Restricted Diets Live Longer

The Purina Life Span Study followed 24 Labrador Retrievers over their, well, entire life span. Each dog was paired with another that was fed 25% fewer calories.  The dogs on the calorie restricted diets lived an average of 2 years longer, and suffered fewer age related health problems such as arthritis and diabetes, than those not on a calorie restricted diet.

Similar studies have also looked at the correlation between calorie restriction and longevity in humans and have drawn similar conclusions.

When to Fast Your Dog

In his book, Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones, Tom Lonsdale recommends fasting your dog one or two days per week, but recommends against fasting elderly dogs, puppies or lactating bitches, except under the supervision of a veterinarian.

I’m going to keep Zeus and Sweety on a one day per week fasting schedule for now and see how it goes. Hopefully I can keep Zeus away from the cherry pie!

What do you think of the idea of fasting your dog, and/or have you done so in the past?


Disclaimer: Seek the advice of a veterinarian before making any nutritional adjustments to your dog’s diet.

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Tagged as: benefits of fasting your dog, dog diet, dog health, dog nutrition, dogs and calorie restriction, fasting your dog, purina life study

  • jersey fasting? are you kidding me?!! she gets fed everyday at 5:30 and if i'm 5 minutes late in perparing her food, you'd think that the world was coming to an end! fasting is a great idea in theory, but if i want to get some work done, the dog NEEDS to be fed. i would have an extra clingy and underfoot vizsla if we did a fast!

    oh and BTW, that 25% less calorie thing from the purina lifespan study works for humans, too.
  • Given the fact that I like my 10 fingers and the 2 arms they're attached to, I have not thought about fasting our dogs. Seriously, the only time we have fasted our dogs has been for medical tests. While I can see the benefits of fasting, both of our dogs (a Shepherd and a Pei) will both throw up bile.
  • Rod,

    I wouldn't think that vomiting bile would be the result of fasting for one day.

    I found the following here. It doesn't sound like the vet community has a really good handle on why dogs vomit bile.

    "I have researched this question in the past without finding a really good answer for what causes vomiting in the morning (mostly) in some dogs or for what to do about it.

    The prevailing opinion is that many of the dogs that exhibit this clinical sign have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or some other condition that causes a decrease in gastric mobility. This may lead to gastric reflux when the dog first gets up or when there is excitement, as your vets have suggested. The gastric reflux causes some dogs to vomit. It is highly likely that there are a number of causes of this behavior but this theory does account for a big portion of the affected dogs, I suspect."
  • I'm trying to imagine being able to get through the day fasting my dog, Dash...meaning he would so be in my face for food. Did you experience this? Also, what about for small dogs who risk becoming hypoglycemic?
  • One other thing. I read somewhere that The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) says that carbohydrates are not essential for dogs and cats, and that no minimum level of carbohydrate is needed in their diets. Haven't been able to find that on their site yet though.
  • Hi Rebecca, thanks for stopping by. :)

    Sweety & Zeus were not happy about not eating for the day, of course they've been conditioned TO eat every day, and beyond that, most dogs I've ever knows would eat 24/7 if they could.

    It was worse for Zeus than Sweety. He sat there and burned holes in my head with his eyes for a bit, LOL, but after that they were good.

    The only way I could see a dog becoming hypo is if they suffered from diabetes. Adult dogs, with the exception of lactating bitches do not require the intake of carbohydrate, their liver's are able to synthesize glucose from fats and proteins which is how they derive energy from their food.

    Many people seem to be of the misconception that a dog's digestive system works in the same way a human's does, but this is flawed thinking.

    The preferred source of energy in humans is from carbohydrate. Our liver's convert carbohydrate into glucose and ultimately into ATP, the only usable form of energy in the body. As mentioned above, dogs synthesize energy from fats and protein. So, I think one of the biggest things we need to do, is to recognize the differences between canine and human biology and physiology. If we can do that, we'll have healthier dogs who will be with us longer.

    There is a good explanation of a dog's carbohydrate (or lack thereof), requirements here.
  • Interesting post. I've wondered about the fasting but have been concerned about starting it since my dogs if they wait too long in between meals have thrown up yellow bile (i.e. their tummy was ready to eat). Does your dogs get more rowdy or playful trying to get your attention to feed them? I found that if Angeles want's something to eat (his tummy is growling) he gets overly playful and keeps going to his bowl. Have you seen this with your dogs? Have they gone to bed earlier on those days? Thank you!
  • I think the reaction of every dog will be different. Dogs are great at telling time, and when they're schedules get messed up at eating or walk time, they take notice.

    As soon as I stir in bed in the morning, Sweety starts whining telling me it's time to eat. Then Zeus jumps off the bed and they both head out into the kitchen. It's the same every day. On fasting days, once they realized that it's "Food-less Friday" (#FF), they both usually just got back to sleep (after a bathroom break). After that it's business as usual.

    I would say that they seem more alert on fasting days, probably because they're waiting for that one morsel of food to fall on the floor. =/
  • diane
    I agree with the article. I also fast my dogs once a week. Since I only feed once a day, I simply skip a meal one day a week. I also don't give my dogs treats (any day of the week - although perhaps the odd dried liver bit), but do give chewing bones about once a week.

    It did take a bit for them to get used to it - for the first few times, my youngest dog (who was just over a year) would throw up yellow bile. But now they're fine. I don't fast the same day each week, but I also don't feed my dogs at the same time every day - I don't keep them on a schedule, so they don't start demanding when mealtime is!
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