[lesleyjane]

Hey I'm new here and I posted this question in pet health also so please forgive me if this is a repeat... anyway here goes...

Are elevated pet feeders really better for your dog? How elevated do they need to be and does anyone know of a good one? Thank you!

 

[BigBlackDogGal]

While there are different schools of thought, it is generally believed that elevated food bowls put large or deep chested dogs at risk for bloat and stomach torsion.

http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/clbr.htm

 

[animalcraker]

While there are different schools of thought, it is generally believed that elevated food bowls put large or deep chested dogs at risk for bloat and stomach torsion.

http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/clbr.htm

Funny I always heard it the other way around. That elevated food bowls prevent bloat.

 

[melgrj7]

Funny I always heard it the other way around. That elevated food bowls prevent bloat.

That used to be the thinking until purdue did their study.

 

[ownedbypups2010]

a few months after we got Thunder we bought an elevated feeder and water, and he did wonderful on it, never had a problem. then of course the legs broke on it.. well, that is what happens when you have a 13 yr old and his dog rough housing in the house ..

i also read the whole purdue study and totally disagree with the findings.

 

[semper83]

Thanks for posting that article. I'd always heard raising the food helped protect against bloat. Always good to learn something new.

 

[Nargle]

I've heard both sides of the bloat story, but common sense tells me that we should try to simulate a wolf's life in the wild as closely as possible with the lives of our dogs. Why should a dog's food be elevated while wolves do, and dogs have for thousands of years, eaten off of ground level??

 

[Keechak]

I've heard both sides of the bloat story, but common sense tells me that we should try to simulate a wolf's life in the wild as closely as possible with the lives of our dogs. Why should a dog's food be elevated while wolves do, and dogs have for thousands of years, eaten off of ground level??

last time I saw a video of wolves feeding on a carcas most of the wolves had their head stuck in the abdomen of the animal so that would be about 10 inches off the ground. I guess a slightly raised dish would be best. maybe just enough so that the dog doesn't have to stretch it's neck to get the food

 

[britishbandit]

I use elevated feeders, and they certainly help out my dogs.

If their food dishes were on the ground, they'd hack and splutter their food/water trying to get it down. The option of lifting their heads before they tried to swallow their food/water just didn't enter their minds. LOL Very hard to get food up instead of down.

As far as bloat goes, I think that has more to do with dogs eating and drinking too fast, and/or being exercised moderately or extensively immediately after eating/drinking. But it's not hard to prevent them eating/drinking too fast or too much at once. Even something as simple as placing an ball or something into the food dish can slow things down, or just putting out a little water at a time, not allowing them to guzzle too much in one go.

And the same as us humans, didn't your mother ever tell you to let your food settle before you exercise? Same concept, I tell my dogs to "take it easy" for a bit after they've eaten.