Help your pet adjust to Daylight Savings feeding schedule

Daylight savings can be difficult to adjust to, particularly when it comes to getting up in the morning, but did you know it can also be hard for your animal to adjust, too? If your furry friend has a strict and reliable feeding schedule,  moving their meal time by one hour when the clocks go ahead can make a big difference. Here are some tips from our Shelter Health and Wellness team to help!

Adjusting to the Daylight Savings time difference

Our team says when helping your animal adjust to the time difference, it’s useful to look to the example of dairy farmers. When the time shifts, not only does the feeding schedule for cows change, but also their milking schedule.

To help deal with this problem, farmers will start adjusting their milking time by small increments over the course of a full week ahead of the time change.

With companion animals, you can make the change over a shorter period of time. They suggest starting on the Wednesday or Thursday before the time change. This way you can change the feeding time by 15 minutes each day, creating a gradual change that will make it easier for your companion animal to adjust.

What if you don’t prepare in advance?

If you realize late Saturday afternoon that Daylight Savings starts tomorrow, consider splitting the difference.

On the day of the time change, if you haven’t made gradual changes, you can at least split the time in half, and feed your animal 30 minutes earlier than normal.

You can also do this process backwards. This would mean ignoring the clocks Sunday morning and feeding your companion animal at their regular time, and then changing their feeding time by 15 minute intervals over the following four days.

With these tips, you should be ready for the Daylight Savings time change with your furry friends!