Elevate bowl?

[ccioffi]

Hey all...a quick question. I have a 9 month old boxer that is about 60 pounds. How high should I elevate his bowl while he's eating? I bought a tray that lifts about 10 inches...is this enough?

 

[Goodgirl]

There is no reason to elevate his bowl. Boxers are not a very tall breed anyway, but eating from ground level is how they were "designed" to eat.
Having said that I have read that elevated bowls help prevent bloat, and also the opposite, that they may lead to bloat. Who to believe? I'm not sure...
IMO I do not think boxers are tall enough to need an elevated bowl at all.

 

[kayboxer]

I used to use elevated bowls for Roxy, until they decided that they actually contribute to bloat instead of helping to prevent it. I would pass on the elevated bowls.

 

[gmacleod]

The idea that elevated feeders might decrease the risk of dogs suffering bloat was never anything more than a popular theory - which, once finally tested by veterinary research in the late 1990s, was found to be false. Not just false in terms that raising feeding bowls fail to reduce the risk, but that it actually increases the risk by over 100% (and that finding has been re-confirmed by successive studies). Since bloat is fatal for nearly half of all sufferers, and boxers are reasonably high on the risk list in the first place - it really doesn't make a lot of sense to use them. The dog is perfectly well capable of reaching his bowl unaided, and need do so only for a matter of minutes, if not seconds, daily.

There is a sticky thread at the top of the health forum with information and links to bloat research.

 

[argosrocks]

im in the camp of the "natural"way to let them eat and drink,elevating probably wouldnt hurt,but i wouldnt do it unless your lil boy or girl is getting on in age and has some joint or hip problems,i had a lab before my lil boxer buddy that couldnt bend down very far ,so it helped her later in her years

 

[SH&CH]

I built a food/water bowl holder that lifts them about 10" off the floor. Darby seems to like it much better at that height then when they were on the floor.

Steve

 

[TossBranAbi]

I look at as though in nature, they wouldn't be eating out of elevated bowls. Their food would be on the ground. The study shows that elevated feeders increase the risk of bloat therefore you won't find an elevated feeder in my house. In fact, Brady eats off the bare floor because he gulps food and it slows him down.

 

[JulieJay]

Eating to fast

I have gone back and forth about the elevated bowls and after hearing everything that gmcleod says and everyone else i have declined to do that.
I was in a pet store the other day and someone was looking at it for his boxer and i told him all the information that i knew and even directed him to this web-community as i thought it was the best. I hope he joins and gets all the info. he needs.

But what does everyone do for their boxer pups who are gulping down their food?? is there anything we can do to help that???

 

[gmacleod]

But what does everyone do for their boxer pups who are gulping down their food?? is there anything we can do to help that???

It's certainly a good idea to try to stop gulping - since speed of eating is another factor associated with an increased risk of bloat (increases the risk by about 38% - which is well below the 103% increased risk associated with raised feeders, but still a significantly increased risk).

Things you can try include:
- special food bowls, such as the brake-fast, that make it more difficult for the dog to get the food
- put one or two large rocks in the dog's bowl that he has to get around to get the kibble (these need to be heavy items - not silly things like tennis balls that the dog will quickly learn to toss out the bowl)
- ditch the food bowl altogether and instead feed the dog his kibble spread out on a cookie sheet or towel. He'll still hoover it up, but it he's got to pick it up bit by bit, it's going to take rather longer than if he can gulp whole mouthfuls from his bowl.

 

[JulieJay]

Thanks gmacleod

I always look forward to hearing your responses to people.. Your amazingly knowledgeable and have saved me lots of money in vets bills .. thanks