Sadly I lost my old girl, to this horrid thing last night, she was a 9 year old english mastiff, and although I caught it early, I made the decision (due to her other conditions, not to have surgery, looked like spleen was going to have to be removed etc), like everyone else I did the all the preventative measures, although I had kept her bowls raised due to bad arthritis in her neck, should I have lowered them? God, hate how you torture yourself with this, having lost my boy to cancer last year(her cousin), this is a hard one, Beau was a grand old lady, god bless you xx

Bloody horrible illness that scares the heck out of anyone with dogs.  I'm so sorry you lost your lovely dog to it.   xxx

so sorry, it is a horible condition that can strike so fast. I lost my flatcoat to this a few years ago. Please dont blame yourself I too have been through all of that and it really is something that you try to do everything right and sometimes it still happens.
My josie had just returned from a serious op for cancer and was drinking copious amounts of water. I never though about bloat was just so pleased to have her back and thought she was thirsty after a long journey home and possibly had  not been drinking enough while at the vets. I now realise this and stress was probably the key factor in what happened and its hard not to think I could have prevented it 
YOu did everything you could and made the right choice for her thats whatmatters sending hugs

Regarding bowls I was under the impression raised bowls for big breeds is considered better. As mine are raw fed now they just put their food on the floor anyway

We too almost lost a dog to this after an op. She was on strict cage rest and had bloat within 4 days of the op. She had her spleen removed and luckily survived, however this is a terrible condition that I am paranoid about now because of the speed it all happens.
I am so sorry for your loss and think you made the right choice, so please don't feel guilty at all ( easier said than done ) You did your best for her and you showed your love by letting her leave with dignity.

I am so sorry to read this, Christine :(

So sorry you lost your girl to this horrible condition. Even if she had been a young fit girl you could still have lost her so don't torture yourself over not putting her through the trauma of surgery. I would have made the same decision as you did. You gave her a quick release to save her suffering and that is the sign of an owner that loves their dog enough to let go.

So sorry to hear you lost your old girl to bloat. It's a horrible thing. As for position of bowls, I don't think anyone really knows whether it makes any difference or not. Personally I raise bowls for my large breed puppies as I think it helps strengthen their pasterns. Then after they're grown I have the bowls on the floor. Except for if I have a stiff oldie, then I raise the bowl again.

I think we all have to be responsive to our dogs' particular needs. I'm sure you did nothing wrong xx

So sorry for your loss ((hugs))

When we had our wolf/rott huge dog I had dishes raised. I don't raise my dishes for the dogs now Bostons & a Dane cross
I think if they were wolves ect eating who know's what it is & off the ground anyhow so I to now feed this way except in bowl unless its bones.
I also look at livestock (not sure if they can get bloat) but they eat off the ground to. Actually I think they can come to think of it cause our palomino
just under 2-3 yrs old died from bloat due to the people who were looking after her let her out in a field.

Don't blame yourself- just remember all the good times & the good life you gave her.

I raised the bowls for the dogs when they got older and were troubled by arthritis, so they didn't have to stretch down. Mind you if anything dropped on the floor it didn't stop them hoovering it up. The stand I have can have the bowls raised or lowered to any height, so will probably still continue to use it with the next dog, which will be large breed, but down at its lowest level which will be an inch or two off the floor. I had understood that raising bowl height helped in the prevention of bloat, was this just a fallacy?

Unfortunately I don't think that it's clear whether the raised bowls help or not. 

Deep chested dogs are more prone to it - as is any dog that has had it before.   My understanding is that raw feeding MAY reduce the risk as dogs drink less (because they get the moisture from the food) and so there isn't a large amount of water sloshing around which can cause the stomach to twist (torsion) - plus raw clears the gut more quickly than kibble.  Then it gets more complicated as it seems that kibble feeders who feed more than 1 meal might be reducing the risk as there is then less kibble/water in the stomach at any one time - at the same time, some raw feeders claim that feeding raw just once a day (rather than twice) reduces the risks.  The problem is that it's obviously difficult to research - and the only bloating dogs that make it to the vet are ones which either have gone on to torsion, or have a serious bloat that hasn't self resolved and so are a biased sample.

As other posters have said speed is absolutely of the essence - once the dog is staggering or the gums look pale it is usually too late.  If you aren't sure what the symptoms are there are several films on YouTube, and somewhere is a really good poster which describes the stages.

If you do suspect bloat don't pussyfoot about & don't be reassured by a vet or a nurse on a phone - rush (and I really do mean rush) to the vets having informed them that you are bringing a bloated dog in so they are ready for you.

Very sorry for your loss.

Oh no, what horrible news. I'm so sorry.

My English mastiff has a raised bowl for food, he has elbow dysplasia so it's easier for him, he's also an utter pig when eating. When he was fed from the floor, he burped an awful lot after eating, after eating from a raised bowl, he only does one burp, so he definately takes in a lot less air with the raised bowl.

Please don't feel guilty about using raised bowls, you used them to help her.

Rest in peace Beau. xxx

Terrible news, so sorry for your loss. I think this is one of those conditions that we all fear and dread.

Thank you for all your kind wishes. To go from 5 to 3 dogs in less than a year is so sore as all of you know, just that bit of reassurance was needed, thank you x