worried about bloat...

mylittlezoo

I have a 2 year old golden named Camden. He is just about 70 lbs. He has always been a very fast eater. I got him at 8 weeks from a breeder, he was the only puppy left and lived with 4 adult goldens. At 8 weeks he had some food aggression problems. I dealt with that by handling him when I fed him, putting my hand around his bowl and face, now he seems fine with the aggression part. He eats his food so fast though, and I am worried about bloat happening since he has a very deep chest.

I got him a Brake-Fast bowl which does help slow him down, but he still finishes in record time. I even mix wet food with dry or let the dry soak in water to try and make it more challenging. My vet said to raise his dish. Any other ideas or tips that may help slow him down?

He also gets very tense whenever you are around him while eating. My bernese will wag her tail and chomp away happily if you are near her or touching while eating, but he will tense right up, get as close to his bowl as possible and wait until you stop touching him or leave to continue eating. Like I mentioned above, I got him at 8 weeks, he has never been abused by me but if I approach him too quickly or even raise my leg in a walking motion at him while he is eating he cowers and cries like I am going to hit him. I worry that something happened in his first 8 weeks but then I would think that this behavior would have minimized in the last 2 years since nothing in that sort has ever been done to him while with me.

I know this sort of thing takes time and consistent training, but any ideas would be great.

Thank you all very much, Jen

Shalva

It sounds like while you may have "solved" the food aggression he is still quite stressed about it.....

as far as the bloat is concerned, I understand your concern..... I would NOT raise the dishes as that hasn't been proven to help and tere has been some discussion that it could hurt.... instead I would soak the food in warm water and let the food expand prior to eating that way it does not expand in the stomach itself.... this will help with the potential of bloating.


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Ginny01OT

I agree with Shalva, do not raise the bowl as it has been contributed to bloat in some studies--also, do not exercise him for at least an hour before he eats and after--lastly, I would not soak the kibble IF it has CITRIC ACID in the first five ingredients listed on the package as that has also been linked to bloat. I also worry about it with my dog all the time as well--you can also have some Gas-X on hand in case you think the dog is beginning to bloat--it will not stop the bloat but it could buy you enough time to get to an emergency animal hospital where it can be arrested. Also, if you feed raw your chances of bloat should decrease as their is also a direct link to kibble and bloat as well

Dogmom07

I have a large chested dog and often worry about bloat as well. I feed twice a day instead of one big meal and I do not exercise him for one hour before or one hour after eating. This also means no playing rough. Mel lays down and relaxes after eating, I got him in this habit since he was very young.

tcasby

A friend of mine had her Dane's stomach tacked to it's abdomen wall while getting neutered. This procedure is apparently recommended for dogs at high risk of bloat. Not sure if this is a reasonable option as a standalone procedure.

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Dog5

Ditto what everyone else said. My Anatolian Shepherd had the gastropexy surgery that tcasby mentioned. It's done laparoscopically so it is minimally invasive. My vet highly recommended it for Dominic because he has a deep chest.

luvsdobes

I know this doesn't work for everyone, but since I got my Dobe when he was 4 mos. old, I have always made sure there is some food in his dish. That way he never feels like he has to wolf it down. Its always there for him to eat as he feels hungry. He only eats as much as needs and doesn't over eat. Just a thought.. Good luck

Toshi22

A year ago our Akita (11 at the time) was being boarded, got out of his area, and supposedly wolfed down a bag of food. This always seemed strange to us in that Toshi is not a big eater. But anyway, this happened during the night. At 830am, when they open, I was waiting to get him. When they brought him out, I could see right away something was wrong. And, knowing that Akitas are prone to bloat, I knew what it was. They boarder called the vet right away and Toshi was in surgery within the hour. They saved him.

During the procedure the doctor tacked his stomach to the surrounding wall - to keep this from happening again. I'm happy to hear this can be done during neutering. I will remember that in future.

I'm concerned, though, about the raised food. That's NOT good?? Toshi has HD, is on Rimadyl, and still having trouble. Just last week I got him a raised feeder because he looked so uncomfortable trying to eat and drink... Can raised feeders also cause bloat? (of course if my guy's stomach is tacked, maybe I don't need to worry about this anymore...)

tsjd7155

Hi all, Just joined but pelase rad the Purdue Bloat Study it is on line..... great article , great infomraiton.

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