RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Once-daily feeding is associated with better health in companion dogs: Results from the Dog Aging Project
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.11.08.467616
DO 10.1101/2021.11.08.467616
A1 Emily E. Bray
A1 Zihan Zheng
A1 M. Katherine Tolbert
A1 Brianah M. McCoy
A1 Dog Aging Project Consortium
A1 Matt Kaeberlein
A1 Kathleen F. Kerr
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/22/2021.11.08.467616.abstract
AB A variety of diets have been studied for possible anti-aging effects. In particular, studies of intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding in laboratory rodents have found evidence of beneficial health outcomes. Companion dogs represent a unique opportunity to study diet in a large mammal that shares human environments. The Dog Aging Project has been collecting data on thousands of companion dogs of all different ages, sizes, and breeds since 2019. We leveraged this diverse cross-sectional dataset to investigate associations between feeding frequency and cognitive function (n = 10,474) as well as nine broad categories of health conditions (n = 24,238). Controlling for sex, age, breed, and other potential confounders, we found that dogs fed once daily rather than more frequently had lower mean scores on a cognitive dysfunction scale, and lower odds of having gastrointestinal, dental, orthopedic, kidney/urinary, and liver/pancreas disorders. Therefore, we find that once-daily feeding is associated with better health in multiple domains. Future research with longitudinal data can provide stronger evidence for a possible causal effect of feeding frequency on health in companion dogs.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.