Feeding with elevated bowls

[Dee]

Hi,

The more I'm learning about dogs, the more I want to do things "right", so my question is weather or not it's better to feed large dogs with elevated bowls.

Thanks in advance for your input!

Dee

[spidey]

As a general rule, it's not advisable. It was thought to help prevent bloat, but a study done at Purdue actually indicated the opposite, that dogs fed from elevated bowls had a statistically significant increased chance of bloat. See this thread for more info.

For certain conditions, like megaesophagus and hip dysplasia, elevated bowls can help, but for most healthy dogs, the actual research indicates that the bowls are better off on the floor.

[samanthac]

Hi Dee! You are not too far from my backyard...My husband and I are about 45 minutes from Bethlehem and up there frequently to work with our trainer.

Here are a few posts from the archives...interesting. I still use raised because back in the old days the theory was that raised feeders helped to prevent bloat. Who knows.

http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...sed+and+feeder

[Trinitii]

I feed my Rottie on the floor but my Mastiff gets fed on raised. I just watch both of them closely.

Trinitii

[danyp1]

Ok I`m not really qualified to give an opinion but in rottweilers "All about americas favorite Dogs Volume 2"
is an article on food and one of the paragraphs talks about bloating. It is written by Susan McCullough.
Page 98-99 quote:

In the meantime Dr. Glickman`s team has identified several non food risk factors for bloat. They include increased age, a relatively wide chest, a close relative who developed bloat, relatively fast eating and raising the food bowl off the floor. The last factor is surprising because owners of large and giant breed dogs are often advised to raise food bowls to prevent bloat.
"This(raised food bowls as a bloat risk factor) was a very striking and unexpected finding,"says Dr. Glickman."I do not have a good explanation as to why raising the feed bowl increases the risk of GDV, but it may cause these dogs to swallow more air when they eat."

He continues on several more risk factors. I got my magazine at petsmart and I think it has a lot of good info in it. On everything regarding rottweilers. Hope that helps.

[chivas]

I may be wrong and im sure if i am, someone will point it out! :)
But i THOUGHT that rotties have a LOW incidence of bloat and is not a big health concern in them. Out of 11 rotties, I know of personally, NONE ever bloated but 4 DID die of cancer (5 are still alive). I fed my Chivas on a raised dish the last 2-3 years of her life, she seems to enjoy it.
Kim

[danyp1]

Originally posted by chivas
I may be wrong and im sure if i am, someone will point it out! :)
But i THOUGHT that rotties have a LOW incidence of bloat and is not a big health concern in them. Out of 11 rotties, I know of personally, NONE ever bloated but 4 DID die of cancer (5 are still alive). I fed my Chivas on a raised dish the last 2-3 years of her life, she seems to enjoy it.
Kim

Ok here it goes another not so qualified post..

On the same page it says..
Quote:

According to Lawrence Glickman,VDM director of Prudue University`s Canine GDV Research Team, about one in 25 Rottweilers-four procent- develops bloat over a 10 year life span.
"For a large-breed dog,(Rottweilers) are not among those at the highest risk for GDV," Dr. Glickman says."(BUt) given that 25 to 30 percent of dogs developing GDV die, I think even a four-precent lifetime risk is something to be concerned about."

For the records.. My foodbowls have always been on the floor.
So I have not asked my vet on his opinion on raised food bowls... :D

[Judy Chrusch]

I don't know how I feel about the elevated dishes. I hear good and bad and I think it's a matter of preference bc I lost a GSD to bloat and he was fed the normal way, so go figure. I use to use the elevated dishes but decided to change back to the floor, don't ask me why.

I'd like to know how many have gotten bloat WITH the elevated bowls.

Judy

[spidey]

I'd like to know how many have gotten bloat WITH the elevated bowls.

Read the Purdue Study - raised bowls increased the chances of bloat of dogs in the study (giant and large breeds) by a significant percentage.

[LORHEL]

What I want to know is would it be beneficial to use an elevated bowl for my girl, who we are now treating for a cervical neck injury.

Would this lessen the pressure on her if the food is closer and she doesn't have to bend over. My vet asked if I did this, and I said well at first I started her out like that, then after reading the Purdue study, chose to discontinue.

I would like to find out if I should start back, with her neck being an issue.

[spidey]

Lorhel - if you and your vet feel that she'd be more comfortable eating from elevated bowls, then that's what I'd use. IMO, dogs without a reason to have their bowls elevated should eat with their bowls on the floor, but if there's a reason to elevate (megaesophagus, dysplasia, whatever), I see no reason not to do so. I'd talk to your vet and weigh the pros and cons. I think the main implication from the Purdue information is NOT that you should never elevate bowls, but that elevating bowls doesn't help prevent bloat (in fact, it does the reverse), and as such it shouldn't be routine to elevate in the hopes of preventing bloat (as had been frequently advised for larger breeds)

[tatanka rott]

i have had rotts for 10 yrs .all males and have fed them off the ground with no problems.

[LavenderRott]

As usual, I was a day late and a dollar short when I found out about the Purdue Study. I had just purchased the dog food storage with the dishes on top. Chase uses them with no problems.

[LORHEL]

Thank you Sp. I will do that, I see more benefits at this point for her than disadvantages. ;)

[Brooke&Ryan]

We've always fed Julius with his bowls on the ground. There is such a debate about whether or not to feed on the ground or elevated & we've just stuck with feeding on the ground. Julius gets his food in his crate.

:)
Brooke