To Elevate Food Bowl Or Not

[goldenluv]

I have an English setter and golden retriever

have always been told to get the bowl up off the floor for them, but now have found this advice on a web page about bloat

what do you think,

Prevention

Some of the advice in the links below for reducing the chances of bloat are:

Avoid highly stressful situations. If you can't avoid them, try to minimize the stress as much as possible. Be extra watchful.

Can be brought on by visits to the vet, dog shows, mating, whelping, boarding, new dog in household, change in routine, etc. Revised

Do not use an elevated food bowl

Do not exercise for at least an hour (longer if possible) before and especially after eating

Particularly avoid vigorous exercise and don't permit your dog to roll over, which could cause the stomach to twist

Do not permit rapid eating

Feed 2 or 3 meals daily, instead of just one

Do not give water one hour before or after a meal

It dilutes the gastric juices necessary for proper digestion, which leads to gas production.

Always keep a product with simethicone (e.g., Mylanta Gas (not regular Mylanta), Phazyme, Gas-X, etc.) on hand to treat gas symptoms.

Some recommend giving your dog simethicone immediately if your dog burps more than once or shows other signs of gas.

Some report relief of gas symptoms with 1/2 tsp of nutmeg or the homeopathic remedy Nux moschata 30

Allow access to fresh water at all times, except before and after meals

Make meals a peaceful, stress-free time

When switching dog food, do so gradually (allow several weeks)

Do not feed dry food exclusively

Feed a high-protein (>30%) diet, particularly of raw meat

If feeding dry food, avoid foods that contain fat as one of the first four ingredients

If feeding dry foods, avoid foods that contain citric acid

If you must use a dry food containing citric acid, do not pre-moisten the food

If feeding dry food, select one that includes rendered meat meal with bone product among the first four ingredients

Reduce carbohydrates as much as possible (e.g., typical in many commercial dog biscuits)

Feed a high-quality diet

Whole, unprocessed foods are especially beneficial

Feed adequate amount of fiber (for commercial dog food, at least 3.00% crude fiber)

Add an enzyme product to food (e.g., Prozyme)

Include herbs specially mixed for pets that reduce gas (e.g., N.R. Special Blend)

Avoid brewer's yeast, alfalfa, and soybean products

Promote an acidic environment in the intestine

Some recommend 1-2 Tbs of Aloe Vera Gel or 1 Tbs of apple cider vinegar given right after each meal

Promote "friendly" bacteria in the intestine, e.g. from supplemental acidophilus

Avoids fermentation of carbohydrates, which can cause gas quickly. This is especially a concern when antibiotics are given since they tend to reduce levels of "friendly" bacteria.

Don't permit excessive, rapid drinking

Especially a consideration on hot days

[Pug64]

I've never had a problem with bloat and I have a little stand that put down for one of my pugs who has arthritis in her neck, she has trouble eating otherwise.

[Golden Rules]

I have given my Goldie his water bowl while elevated - and he can't drink properly - he kind of chokes or coughs afterwards so now I always leave it on the ground.

They wouldn't have had elevated food bowls in the wild.

[CareyJ]

Leila burps all the time - little piggy! I have never really worried about it, maybe I should??

And between her and OH, gas has been known to be a big problem in our house Changing her from Advance to Nutro helped her stinky problem, but unfortunately it isnt that easy to fix him!

[Mystiqview]

I used to have dobes. Never elevated their food bowls. Never had bloat. Dobes are supposed to be known for the condition.

The water bowls have always been elevated - more due to cane toads in Qld than anything else. I also used small automatic water dishes (only hold about 5l water). Not good when you have a dog that want to constantly dig them out. Alleviated that by putting a brick in it.

[Liebhunde]

Ive always fed my deep chested Danes from an elevated bowl...never any trouble. But I do make sure theres no high activity..running etc... round feed time or after.

[Gilypoo]

I have a Dane and both her food bowl and water bowl are elevated becasue it is such a LONG way down...

My GSD on the other hand has her own food and water bowl and they are on the floor. When ever she gets the chance she will try and drink out of the elevated water bowl..(sharing is caring )

Maybe personal preference for the dog

[Diva]

A Purdue University Vet School study in 2000 found a significant correlation between elevated food bowls and the incidence of bloat. I posted the abstract in a thread on bloat a few weeks ago, you'll probably find it if you search.

[SwaY]

I feed elevated, for comfort.

Bloat is a mystery, some say this some say that - do what works for your dog.

[Bisart Dobes]

Our old boy (10 1/2) had bloat 2 weeks ago - surgery (40 staples down his belly) and we nearly lost him - but he pulled through with lots of tlc and now he's back to giving the young ones grief .

Our vet is fantastic but of course it happened the Sat morning of the long weekend and so he ended up in the Hallam Emergency Vet for the whole weekend - the vets there are great but we found that every vet we dealt with gave us different advice - different possible causes - different outcomes etc etc They cannot say it is one thing which caused it or that anything we could have done differently would have prevented it. Though they all said that it is always highly stressed dogs, dogs that gulp their food and water, deep chested dogs, high energy/nervous energy dogs that are more prone to getting bloat.

Well, this is the first case (and hopefully the last) of bloat we have had and Khann is basically a sloth - he is soooo not stressed, eats and drinks at his leisure, does have a deep chest, has no nervous energy ever and has never been a high energy dog - even when he was a baby when he came home with us at 8 weeks he was a sloth. So he is the total opposite of what they always quote.

My point being - if it is going to happen it will - there is nothing you can do to change that.

However - we always feed our dogs when they go to bed - so they are quiet and relaxed while eating and obviously no running around. This controls the situation and removes any feeding stress any of them may have. I now know there is nothing more we can do to prevent it happening. The one thing I am careful with is how much water they drink after a big run - I tend to limit it to what they really need until they cool down and relax - then let them drink at their own pace.

[Kelly_Louise]

Because of Chloe's arthritis, I bought her elevated food and water bowls - never had a problem and it takes the pressure off her front legs from bending down.

When I bought the elevated bowls, I had read on an internet website (unsure which one, was a few years ago now) that elevated bowls REDUCED the risk of bloat. But obviously that is wrong from what's been posted here today (more relevant, up to date info).

Anyway, Chloe's been eating from elevated bowls for 4 years now and no issues. Not sure I'd try Sasha with them though, unless for some reason she really needed them. But she's such a slow eater anyway. The only thing I make sure of is that OH doesn't rough her up and have her running around silly before or after her meals.

It's weird, when asked why - I tell people it's to avoid bloating etc, and they laugh at me and tell me I am obsessed... But, if it saves her from going through bloat, then I'll cop the ridicule It's just not worth the risk, so I always play it safe.

Edited March 23, 2010 by Kelly_Louise

[Shmurps]

We met a Dob breeder at a pet expo who made bowl stands. He was telling us that a dog would normally eat lying down, like if the dog bought down a prey or eating a bone. We have a large breed dog and we feed with the bowls raised. Mainly for compfort rather than bloat.

[Bindii]

We met a Dob breeder at a pet expo who made bowl stands. He was telling us that a dog would normally eat lying down, like if the dog bought down a prey or eating a bone. We have a large breed dog and we feed with the bowls raised. Mainly for compfort rather than bloat.

That's a very good point. No, there may not be elevated bowls in the wild -as someone stated earlier- but there wouldn't be bowls at all! If the dog is lying down, then its head is almost level with it's body, something that can only be created by elevating a bowl. *If* the act of having to lower the head below the body/stomach to eat has something to do with bloat (which no one knows, but it's certainly one of the many theories i've heard) then why not try elevating them if you have a deep chested breed prone to bloat can't hurt!

Edited March 23, 2010 by Bindii