Raising Food / Water Dishes

[SPARKP]

I have always heard that it is a good thing to raise your dog's food / water dish. I read on this website the other day that doing that can cause bloating in Boxers. Can anyone please tell me why that is and what your thoughts are on this? Rosco is only 3 months old but seems to look more comfortable eating from a raised dish.

Thanks and look forward to your reply,
Steve

 

[gmacleod]

Bloat is gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV). This is essentially a condition where the animal's stomach swells with air and the stomach ends by twisting upon iteslf. It is often fatal - and almost always fatal if torsion occurs. It also happens very quickly.

There used to be a theory that raised dishes might decrease the risk of bloat. But that was only ever an untested theory. There have been two or three decent veterinary studies over the past five years or so that have confirmed raising feeding dishes as a factor that increases the risk of bloat - by over 100%.

Here is a link to a thread that reiterates the results of two of those studies: http://boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67610

 

[SPARKP]

Thanks for the quick reply and the link, it was very helpful. Although I still don't understand why the raised dish's cause bloat I am going to put Rosco's back to ground level.



Thanks again,
Steve

 

[trishamo3]

Hi, I thought I would weigh in on this issue.I haven't done any studies on this but we have a 3 yr old boxer.His name is Caesar and now we also have a 16 wk old boxer named Hunter.We purchased two adjustable feeder that has two different height choices.It comes with two stainless steel bowls.There is storage inside it,under the bowls.We use the lower way for Hunter the puppy and the higher setting for Caesar.I don't know about any studies, but Caesar has been eating and drinking from this for years.All I know for sure is he has less gas, less swallowing air gulping up his food,and he hasn't ever had bloat,thank God.I hope this helps.

 

[SOBE]

I'll have to go onto the link with the literature above to read the study info.
I have a semi raised bowl for my dogs. Not on floor level, but not at shoulder level either. Just slightly elevated. I thought of higher bowls, but why change what works? I guess you could say that my neutral bowls are a good
height, and I am actually afraid to move them either way!!!

 

[gmacleod]

Although I still don't understand why the raised dish's cause bloat I am going to put Rosco's back to ground level.

Very wise, I think After all, dogs typically spend only a minute or so eating and having to bend down (which is natural, btw) for that length of time isn't going to hurt them. Bloat, on the other hand, frequently kills.

I don't think either of those studies examines why raised feeders increase the risk of bloat - that wasn't their purpose. The studies were aimed at identifying what increases or decreases the risk, and by how much. And raising feeders increases the risk by over 100%. There were several other risk factors identified (and other myths debunked) too.

 

[BigBo]

The study only refers to feeding. I guess it's safe to say this should apply to drinking water too?

 

[BigBo]

I found this interesting too. We just switched from Timberwolf Organics to Back to Basics. Here is a quote from Back to Basics feeding directions:

"Please serve BACK TO BASICS® moistened with water, this activates the digestive enzymes for maximum digestibility and we feel it is healthier way to feed any dry dog food."

According to the Purdue study: "The risk of GDV was increased 4.2-fold (or 320%) in dogs that consumed dry foods containing citric acid that were also moistened prior to feeding by owners."

Back to Basics has citric acid in both of it's canine formulas. (Timberwolf has none) I have never added water to kibble and just started to after seeing Back to Basics suggestions.

 

[gmacleod]

Well, the study didn't identify height of drinking bowls as a factor either way. Not sure if that was even examined. But I'd put the drinking bowls on the ground anyway. Really, how long does a dog spend hunched over it's drinking bowl? 30 seconds, a minute? That's no hardship, and for the possibility that's it could be a risk factor, I'd just play safe and keep all consumables at ground level - the way nature intended.

As for the citric acid - yep, it's best to check for that as a preservative and don't pre-moisten those foods. Not all food manufacturers will admit that it's a problem (have known one to deny it flatly, but then state that they were removing citric acid from their food for entirely unrelated reasons LOL), and continue to recommend that their foods be pre-moistened.

We shouldn't think that citric acid is "bad" though - it's not. It's a perfectly good, naturally occuring preservative that I'd far rather see in a food than the nasty chemical preservatives like BHA, BHT or ethoxyquin. But you just don't pre-moisten those foods that use it as a preservative, that's all.

 

[Maddie's dad]

Here's a variation on that. Maddie normally lays down with the bowl between her front legs and her head in the bowl when she eats. How does that apply and does anyone else have a dog that eats that way? She's healthy, active, and of normal or bigger size at almost 10 months. Is she just lazy or protecting her food from the other dogs? She will normally share her food, they all do.