Eating the same meal every day can get boring, even for your pup. Rotating your dog’s food can make mealtime enjoyable again! Not only will your dog appreciate the change, but rotational feeding has overall benefits for the health of your pup.
This week on Q&A with Dr. Quest, we go over the benefits of rotational feeding and how to start your pup on this routine!
What are some of the benefits of rotational feeding?
By changing up the different types of proteins in your pet’s diet with a systematic approach, you can actually help improve your pet’s overall health. This is because different proteins can offer different amino acid profiles. Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein and varying amino acid profiles (varying high-quality proteins) can decrease the chance for long term diet inadequacies, which may result from feeding the same diet all the time.
Does rotational feeding help with food allergies?
Many food allergies and intolerances can be attributed to repeated and continued exposure to a certain protein source. Over time the pet’s body can have a negative immune reaction to a single protein. By rotating protein sources, we may reduce the frequency of food allergies and intolerances in our pets.
Does rotational feeding help with picky eaters?
Pets generally love the variety of proteins and food types in their diet. With rotation feeding, pets can enjoy the freshness in their ever-changing diet, which will decrease the chances of them becoming picky.
Will rotational feeding affect my dog’s digestive system?
By varying diet through rotation, we can help promote digestive health. A pet’s GI tract health has a lot to do with the good bacteria needed to aid in our pets’ digestion. When we feed one diet continuously, we can limit the types of these beneficial micro-organisms.
How do I start my dog on rotational feeding?
First, pick a particular type of food, such as a grain-free kibble and rotate the protein sources within that type. For example, switch from Zignature Turkey, to Zignature Lamb, to Zignature Pork and so on. By rotating protein source(s), it is also less likely your pet will develop an allergy or intolerance to a certain protein. You can also rotate different types of food, such as varying from kibble, to canned, to raw food. This type of rotation enables the pet to receive the benefits of each variety of food. It is always important to feed a high-quality nutritionally complete and balanced diet when rotating different types of food.
