[Rhythmic patterns of food and water intake in the dog: preliminary study (author's transl)]

The spontaneous rhythmic patterns of food and water intake in the dog during periods of 24 hr have been studied under three experimental conditions: natural light, continuous light and artificial light with day and night sequences. Under natural light there is a rhythmic pattern in the frequency of food intake and the amount of food consumed. During the night, periods of food consumption are numerous and the amount of food ingested is significant. During the day both the number of periods of food intake and the amount of food consumed is less. Similar results were obtained under continuous light. Under artificial light, with day and night sequences, there is a tendency to equalize the amount of food consumed through the 24 hr. This produced a displacement of frequency curves. In these three situations there seems to be an important relationship between the amount of food consumed and the time intervals following periods of food intake. Generally, similar results were obtained for water intake.