Dogs and automatic pet feeders

You won't be back until late in the evening and neither will the trusted neighbor who usually pops in to feed your dog...

The second the food dish hits the floor, your perpetually hungry dog inhales his dinner, causing it to, er, come up as quickly as it went down...

Do either of these scenarios sound familiar? If so, you and your dog may benefit from the use of an automatic pet feeder. If you're going to be away overnight, you'll have piece of mind, and your dogs won't go hungry. And depending on your needs, models are available that can dispense both dry and canned food, or can be programmed via a timer to dispense exact amounts of food at pre-set times of the day. While an automatic pet feeder is a marvelous time saver for busy households and can make daily chores easier for elderly and handicapped dog owners, they can also help in other situations:

Obesity

Is your dog overweight? Carrying extra poundage is hard on pets, and excess flesh can cause a variety of health problems. In addition to consulting with your pet's vet for a custom-made diet and exercise regimen, you may want to consider an automatic pet feeder. Depending on your pet's individual preferences, it can help to divide his daily allowance into multiple portions, particularly if he's a "free choice" eater used to having a bowl of food available at all times. Even if you're not home during the day, you can easily offer your pet multiple meals with an automatic pet feeder.

Diabetes

If your animal companion is diabetic, there are several things that you can try to help keep the disease under control. For one, giving him his medication at the same time every day will help keep his blood sugar levels at a more constant level. Same goes for meals, and many vets recommend the use of an automatic pet feeder to ensure that their diabetic patients eat at the same time every day. And you also may want to ask your vet if feeding several smaller meals (two for dogs, for example) can help your pet's sugar levels from swinging too high or low. If it's a go, you can program your automatic pet feeder to take care of this for you.

Rapid eating

Got a chow hound who chows down at mealtime like he hasn't eaten in days? Unfortunately, his excited gulping may trigger a stomach upset, vomiting or diarrhea. It may help to program your automatic pet feeder to dispense his meals in a couple of courses, affording him (and his tummy) some time to relax between gulps. If your pet has more than an occasional bout, however, please schedule an appointment with your vet to determine if there is an underlying medical condition.