Elevated Food Bowl
 I was just curious if getting one of those stands that lifts the bowls off the ground would be better than plopping it on the floor...Does anyone else use these things?? |
|
|
I used to use one with my old dog, but the puppy wouldnt reach 
They are supposed to be good as the dog gets older, cant remember why. If you have a metal feeding bowl try fitting it in a small bucket and see what the dog thinks before you lash out on an expensive one! |
| Great idea. Thanks. |
| Obe has had one since he was puppy. If we go some where and there is no elevated feeder/water he lays on the floor to drink. I also put water in the kitchen on a plastic crate works great. |
There have been recent posts about this and some studies have shown that elevated food dishes can be a contributing factor to bloat, which was surprising to many (if not most), so I'm afraid they aren't a good idea.  |
| No there not a good idea due to the proven higher risk factor of dogs bloating that use one.
Link for bloat and way to help prevent it occuring. OES are on the list of higher risk breeds for this to happen. http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm Although I say your choice, but be aware of the higher risk associated with the elevated feeders.  |
| Thank you for the Link! I appreciate it!!! |
| yes thank you Lisa for the link and now eats and drinks off the ground |
| Barkley has an elevated food/water dish. He's much more comfortable eating from it, than eating from the floor. If his dishes are on the floor, he lays down to eat.
I looked through some of the studies. The ones I read indicate a correlation (not necessarily causation) between elevated food dishes and bloat. Can asomeone point me to a study that tells how an elevated food dish versus laying on the ground to eat/drink increases the chance of bloat, given that the overall body positions are nearly identical? If there is no such study, perhaps one that indicates a mechanism for elevated feeding dishes to cause/contbute to bloat? I'm reluctant to change something that is working well because some people believe it has a small chance of increasing the likelihood of occurrance of a rare condition (similar to neutering for the sole purpose of preventing testicular cancer). When reading these studies, it seems that the researchers have followed the following logic: some large dogs get bloat; and many large dogs eat/drink from elevated dishes; therefore elevated dishes contribute to bloat in large dogs. If most large dogs in the study ate/drank from bowls on the floor, they may have come to the conclusion that eating/drinking from the floor was a cause... With no mechanism for an elevated bowl to cause bloat, there's no telling what the exact thought process was in coming to this conclusion. I think it is likely that other factors (age, heredity, speed of eating) contribute more to the incidence of bloat than the use of elevated feeding bowls. |
| Here is more information, read this link, Also if you look at the difference in the way a dog eats/drinks & the position of the head, neck and mouth when elevated to feeding/drinking at the floor level, raised they are not in a natural position, head higher more level, neck more upright, throat more open in that position when feeding & drinking allows gulping more air when elevated. Floor level, head right down, neck down and leaning over to eat/drink, not so much air going down the throat as they feed and drink. Your choice, but yes other factors such as age, rapid eating etc etc also contributes to it as well as large deep chested breeds being at the higher end of the spectrum for risk.. A lot of studies say all this as well as now adding that the elevated feeders can be part of the contributing risk factors for bloating.
Sadies mom posted this link below in another post. "You might be interested in this study. http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/update2.htm This is a 5-yr study with large dogs done by Purdue University. " In this study I am sure the controll group over the 5 year period would of been divided into floor feeders and elevated feeders for them to state these clinical results. Clinical/research studies would not just have all feeding the same way, they would have to have the two controll groups for a comparison to be able to give statistics/results of their findings . |
| Thanks Lisa. I'd missed that particular link.
These are only the abstracts to the actual studies, so there's no telling what the actual research or findings are (I no longer have a PubMed account, and I don't particularly want to buy the full text, so I'll have to remain in the dark). Still, in that study, only approximately 3% (about 100) of the dogs studied had an episode of GDV. This seems like a small number from which to determine the cause. I still don't understand how an elevated feeder would cause bloat - unless the dog has an internal complication, wouldn't he/she simply burp out any additional air swallowed? If so, isn't the problem internal and not directly related to the elevated bowl? I guess my definition of elevated might be different from the working definition. Basically, I have his dishes high enough that he doesn't have to lay down in order to eat/drink - they're about 6 to 8 inches off the ground. He still has to dip his head quite a bit to get the food out, and his body position (other than standing versus laying down) seems to be similar. I do understand how raising the bowls up to head height and altering the way the dog is positioned could cause additional air to enter the stomach. I just don't see how an otherwise healthy dog would develop bloat just from elevated feeders. Contributing factor, quite possibly. The only one we should be concentrating on, probably not. Smaller meals, less overly stressful situations and regulating strenuous activity around meal times are probably areas we should focus on. I'm glad that I now know about these other potential causes and can also ensure that I control Barkley's exposure to them. Thanks to all those who posted information/provided links about bloat and some of the causes. I feel more able to make an informed decision now that I know some of the facts. |
| Dixie lays down and inhales her food. She actually gulps her kibble down so fast, I am sure she is getting loads of air in that chubby body of hers......
She positions herself so she and is practically "inside" her food bowl. If she could fit, I am sure she would sleep in it... 
Now I am worried that it might create problems....And she is so active, that running and jumping occurs both right before and right after her meals....I think I will start putting something in her bowl to slow her eating down...Silly girl...  |
| Tasker does much better with a raised food dish. Despite what the studies show, if his food is not elevated he will vomit. We've done it that way for 12 years and it works for us. |
| I thought it was more about putting too much strain on their joints if the food bowl is too low, so mine have elevated food bowls and so far so good. |
This is Sami's favorite eating position
 |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|