Feeding Raised or Flat ?

There are varying opinions on the use of raised feeding bowls to prevent bloat in giant breeds. I am interested to know how forum members feed their Saints.

mine are fed from the floor however this is there choice as they just find a way of either tipping there bowls over or fflicking the food everywhere

the water is in buckets so is quite high when full and they only drink out of it once as when its dirty its changed !

cheri

Ours drinks and eats from a raised bowl. It is about a 18inches of the ground with holes cut into the top that the bowls sit in to so they he doesn't knock it over. Our youngest will be getting one made for him in the next few months. I think it has slowed down his eating a lot!

Mine eat off of the floor. I tend to believe the genetics are mostly everything and if your dog is going to bloat, he's going to bloat. A study came out within the last year by Princeton or Yale, I can't remember unfortunately, and they found that certain things people have been doing to prevent bloat actually increased the incidence of bloat. Things such as elevated feeding and soaked kibble. Mine usually lay down to eat anyways, so they probably aren't doing much air-gulping.

Nothing could ever persuade me not to feed and water from raised bowls for all the reasons mentioned in my comments on raised feeding bowls!!! I think its absolutely essential for Bernards.

BeBe

I found the footnotes from that study I mentioned, here they are for your perusal.


Dr. Larry Glickman, an epidemiologist at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, conducted a study on canine bloat. His study followed more than 1,900 dogs to help identify risk factors for this disease. Here's what the study showed.

• Dogs with the greatest risk of developing bloat have deep, narrow chests.
• The risk of bloat is slightly higher in males than in females.
• Lean dogs were found to be at higher risk for developing bloat than overweight dogs.
• Older dogs are at a higher risk than younger dogs.
• Heredity is also an issue. If your dog's relatives have developed bloat, he also has a higher risk of developing the disease.
• Fast eaters are at higher risk for developing bloat. Many believe this is because the dog swallows more air when eating fast.
• Elevated food bowls have been shown to increase the risk of bloat.
• Dogs with nervous, fearful or aggressive personalities have a higher incidence of bloat.
• Stress, such as that which occurs during kenneling, is an important precipitating factor.
• Dogs who were fed only dry food and dogs who ate only one large daily meal were at a higher risk for bloat.
• Dogs who ate foods high in oil or fat (such as sunflower oil or animal fat) have a higher risk of developing the disease. (If the oil or fat is listed as one of the top four ingredients in the food, it is considered a high-fat food.)
• Most cases of bloat have been found to occur after 6 PM.

We feed our saints with raised bowls and always have done, more importantly we rest our boys for a while before and after meals (usually 3hrs minimum).

Our only experience of bloat has been with Monty and it occurred after a long day at a show, even with a lot of rest before his meal, he was fed late(ish.

It horrifies me to think of a saint (or any deep chested breed) running around and playing after a meal so we are very strict with them to settle down and not over drink.

People think we are OTT but believe me if they went through a GDV they would be too

55% of us dont feed from raised bowls and i thought it would be alot less
i think its one topic that we will never agree on however i do also rest the dogs before and after feeding and take extra care to get breackfast early before shows etc
cheri