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Have you ever used this type of bowl? And if so, did really help prevent bloat?
I bought one for my younger pup. Normally, she would eat her meals very quickly. The thought never crossed my mind that it may be bad for her as she never throw up but she farts a lot after a meal (I assumed it was the food and the lenght of her snout). She has a shorter than average snout but I was always told bloat mostly affects dogs with deep chest, which she does not have. Watching her eat, or trying to get the food with her tongue, I am little unsure if I'm doing the right thing for her or I worry too much.
She is 2 years old, an American bulldog/Lab/Beagle mix.
My other dog takes her time when she eats. She has a longer snout and is not deep chested, but she is a predominantly Lab mix, and some people say Labs have a tendency to develop bloat. Should I change her bowl too just in case?
I have Great Danes, and one of the few diseases they are prone to is bloat. They are more prone to bloat than any other breed save Dachshunds. The only thing I have done to help prevent it, and it's debatable on whether it actually does, is to elevate their food dishes. I put their dish on a Tractor Supply bucket so they don't have to stoop. Even if it doesn't help prevent bloat, it makes it more comfortable for them to eat because they are so tall. Many people don't know that bloat is at least partially inherited. Certain genetic lines are more prone to the disease than others and scientists haven't figured out why as yet. Controlling certain doggie behaviors may or may not help prevent it. If you purchase a puppy from a genetic line that has bloat running though it, the puppy may bloat no matter what you do. I have owned seven Danes and none of them have bloated.
On to the gastropexy (also known as stomach tacking) craze. I haven't done that to my dogs either. Why? Because it doesn't actually prevent bloat; it only prevents the stomach twisting that occurs after they bloat, thus giving you more time to rush them to the bet after bloat occurs and reducing the chance of death. Tacking is very expensive, and of course it carries the risk that comes with surgery, so I opted to not do that. And it may be a completely unnecessary surgery because if the dog never bloats, you got it done for nothing.
If you want a slow feed bowl, you can go the cheap route and put big rocks in it, thus forcing the dog to eat around the rocks and making them eat more slowly. Alternatively, you can serve the dog in two or three servings so they will eat their whole meal over a longer period. I think they are too expensive personally and they have not been shown to reduce the dog's chances of bloating.
Yes, I had one for my dog. I bought a Brake-Fast bowl for Izzy when he was young...he would eat his food whole without chewing, scarfing it all down as fast as he could, as he had/has food guarding issues. (Izzy, btw, is a border collie, long snout w/narrow chest.) The bowl taught him to slow down and chew his food, and after several months he no longer needed it. The reason I used it for him was not so much a fear of bloat; it was to help train him to not obsess over the food in his dish. And in that respect, it did help a lot. Still has some issues, and I would never trust him fully if another animal, or a person, were to approach him whilst eating, but he's improved vastly...he no longer curls his lip and growls if anyone is in the room when he's eating, he lets me approach him when he's eating and will move away from the dish, and he now takes his time when he eats and actually enjoys his dinner. (I did have one episode with Izzy when he was several months old, when he discovered a full bag of dog food in my sister's basement...long story short, when I discovered him he looked like he'd swallowed a basketball, so the evening turned into a long visit at the emergency vet, x-rays (which portrayed his stomach as though it was a giant gum ball machine...every single bit of kibble swallowed whole), and many $$$$ for peace of mind.)
My vote would be to incorporate such a dish for your younger pup, if only to slow down her eating so quickly. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about your lab mix, but I do like the idea that Scooby Snacks brought up about the elevated dishes. I did have one of those for my last dog when she got older, and whether it made a difference to her or not I can't be entirely sure, but she seemed more comfortable using it.
You can just put a medium/large Kong (or even a can of some sort) in the bowl so dog has to eat around it...save yourself some $$ just to see if it makes a difference!
You can just put a medium/large Kong (or even a can of some sort) in the bowl so dog has to eat around it...save yourself some $$ just to see if it makes a difference!
All the dogs we have had we were self feeding, as pups they seemed to eat a lot briefly but that passed. Once they realize it's there all the time that urge to eat everything goes away. I should note they get fed table scraps which probably makes up half their diet. Lots of exercise, they have all lived long healthy lives.
I bought this for my dog soon after I adopted her about 1.5 yrs ago. She gulped her food so quickly and then almost always, puked. I think over time she learned that I would always feed her & she didn't need to gulp her food down, but the bowl has helped. I also feed her smaller portions, more often. Her weight has been maintained & her vet said she is healthy. She is about 3 years old now & weighs just over 12 pounds. Now there are days when her breakfast is still in her bowl when I go home for lunch to feed her.
With my Mountain Cur for 11 years. She pretty much inhaled her food and would make herself sick. This really worked well to slow her down. Now she is 13 years old, she can finally eat from a normal dish.
Another good choice is a large treat ball or buster cube. They have to roll it around to get the food to fall out. My dog had the tiung figured out and could empty it in seconds though so I went with the bowl.
When I first adopted my dog, I thought that she would eventually get to realise that there would always be enough food. Even tried letting her eat until she felt satisfied, hoping she would realise that the food supply was not going to go away, but that left me with one very sick dog. It took her 10 years to get the message that she was never going to go hungry again.
Yes, they work. Our dachshund is such a fast piggy eater that she does not even chew and swallows the kibbles whole. Then she inevitably get an air bubble in her tummy and pukes it all up a few minutes later. This bowl helps immensely with forcing her to eat slower.
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