Does anyone know where i could get good raised bowls for my mastiff? He is only 11 weeks old at the minute but we have already had to raise his bowl! (currently on an empty biscuit box) As he grows so quickly we will keep having to change the height. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you :-)

Check out http://www.luxwaycanine.com They do raised bowl stands that can be adjusted as the dog grows. The height adjusts from 14" up to 24". They also come suitable for different size bowls, 8"-10" or 11".

HTH :-)

thank you. this really helped! :-)

I used to have a great dane so know that these stands are available in most good large pet shops. 

Are you using raised bowls to prevent bloat? As studies are now proving that raised bowls actually contribute to bloat :(

I really wish they would make their minds up :rolleyes:  They are talking about this at the moment at another site i belong to,so there are a few links flying around there,i'll post them here if you want??

If your doing this for other reason,then completely ignore this post :p

i am using raised bowls because of the advise of my vet and breeder. i have also read that it may contribute to bloat if they do not use them in a few books that i have. but i hadnt heard that it may actually cause this. i will look into it further. thank you for letting me know. i would be grateful if u could post again if u find out more! :-)

I was told to use elevated feeding bowls for the giant breeds, so they did not have to bend so far down, putting extra strain on their leg/hip joints.

My Dane died of bloat anyway at 9 years old.....sleep well, Suki my old gal....

Cheers

I got them for my Irish Setters because it looks so uncomfortable for them to bend right down to eat, they both much prefer eating from the raised ones :)

thanks vicky, thats what i was thinking. it looks so uncomfortable having to strain ur neck like that! and my mastiff puppy is growing FAST!! :-)

BTW sorry for your loss :-(

This is an extremely interesting article for anyone with a dog prone to bloat.

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=TUFTSBG2003&PID=5091&Category=824&O=Generic

Here is a snippet:

 
"One traditional preventative has been to raise the height of food and water bowls, but this was found to actually increase risk by 110 percent. This correlation of risk was verifiable; the dogs of the breeders in this study did not have close relatives that had experienced bloat."

I know what you mean by looking uncomfortable when theyre bending down to eat,it's hard to know what to do!

PS i dont know why the flippin' link didnt work,sorry :o youre going to have to copy and paste.

The raised feeding bowls issue is a real dilemma.  I have a large, deep chested breed that has a tendency to bloat and torsion and have had one mad dash to the vets with a bloating dog.  No lasting harm; the dog managed to vomit on the way there and all was well after a check over by the vet.  This incident wasn't related to feeding the dog as it happened before he was due to be fed.  However, we are very conscious of trying to follow all the guidance on avoiding bloat, but find that it can change, as is the case on the raised bowls.

However, we also think that our boys are more comfortable feeding from raised bowls, having observed them eating with and without.  We came to the conclusion that we would stick with the stands as the whole issue of bloat seems to be a weighing of perceived risks and a bit of a balancing act.  To be frank, owning a breed that has a tendency to bloat and torsion could be a way to madness if you were to really sit down and think about it and all the risk factors.  In the wake of our boy's episode I became quite paranoid and worried constantly and watched him constantly until I came to my senses and told myself to stop it.  Thought about rationally, the episode, terrifying as it was, was reassuring in a way as it showed us that when it happens you know that it's happening (my previous greatest worry, would we know) and that the vet responded quickly and efficiently even though it was out of hours. 

I would say in terms of avoiding bloat, do what you feel comfortable with in terms of minimising the risks, memorise the symptoms, but don't get into a tizzy about what you can and can't do to the point that you are paranoid and fretting about every contributary factor that has been identified/discredited/identified again :) 

Lesley

 

thanks, good advise. i will try not to worry too much! although its not easy! :-)

A galvanised bucket works just fine for raising a feed bowl :)

My dogs eat from them because I can't stand the noise and hassle of them chasing the bowls around the room! :p As others have said, it also looks more comfortable and in multi dog households, can avoid fights and stress at mealtimes as they can see better so aren't fired up by the sudden appearence of another dog standing over them. ;-)

I've been worrying about bloat again. Having just got 2nd GSD pup from my breeder, and reading the article on bloat included in the pack, I started worrying again. My biggest fear is what if it happens when I'm not there - or say overnight (a rescue OES in kennels died of bloat overnight). As you say..........this way lies madness! I am careful about exercise & feeding, strictly obeying at least one hour after exercise rule. My older GSD girl has a raised feeding bowl (from when it was thought to prevent bloat) and now I can't decide whether to change this - she does certainly look more comforable with a raised bowl. Often GSD's aren't mentioned when talking about deep chested dogs and bloat, but they are in danger too, and are deep chested - so I don't know why they're often not mentioned.
Kat

They are Kat - my GSD had bloat and survived a torsion operation.  I've mentioned it so many times on here over the years that I feel like I'm repeating myself but that's why I feed from a raised bowl :)
Lara x

The fear of leaving them is certainly a big one   We had to kennel our boy that bloated not long after if happened and the way we coped with it was to find a kennels that we felt we could really trust.  The owner owns a breed that can have a tendency to bloat and had had experience of one of her own dogs bloating in the past.  We knew therefore that they were fully aware of the symptoms and preventative measures and that they would know what to do if it happened.  I honestly think that unless you want to give up life and be with the dog 24/7 then the bullet has to be bitten :)  You just do what you can to minimise the risks and then hope that the gods of the dogs watch over them when there isn't a human around to do it :)

Lesley

What are your thoughts on the website i posted?? :)

Buy a 99p orange bucket from B&Q turn it upside down and cut a hole out and slot the bowl in works well for our danes.
(I raise their bowls for comfort not for bloat).

:)

sorry frodo, i havent had a chance to read it all yet. but i will post you my thoughts on it as soon as i do. (probably over the weekend) thanks again for the info :-)

Hi Frodo,
That's a very interesting article.  I've been using raised bowls for both food and water for the past couple of years, but I also feed 3 small meals a day, on of which is tinned and mixer.  Hopefully this will help them not to bloat, but who can tell.  You read so many mixed views about this subject!

Sarah.

There are lots of theories of bloat and its causes but the fact is that no one KNOWS for definate.  You have to do what you think is right for your dog.
In the case of my dog who bloated and twisted I am convinced it happened because of his eating action.  I fed him on the floor and his style was to take a mouthful of food in the front of his mouth and snatch his head back throwing the food to the back of his throat before swallowing.  This was ingesting lots of air as well.  He bloated.
Post surgery I raised his feed bowl to chest height.  No more gulping air with food, more comfortable for him and I had him for several more years before he died of something completely unrelated.  No further incidences of bloat.  He did have his stomach stapled to the wall of his abdomen at the time of his torsion op but I know from a biopsy that was taken of something else about 18 months later that it had broken free and was never stapled back at this time.
One of the dogs I have now dips his tongue into his food bowl.  Sticks food to it and chews for ages before swallowing gently.  I'd have no worries about feeding him from the floor but I raise my feed bowls as a matter of habit now.  I firmly believe that if I'd always fed from a raised bowl then my dog wouldn't have bloated at the time that he did.

Hi again Frodo. I have read the article about bloat and i thought it was very interesting. Although i am unsure of its current reliability because it was taken from a magazine published in April 2003. This subject is so confusing as there are so much conflicting advise out there! I think that i will keep my bowls raised for comfort if nothing else, and memorise the symptoms of bloat so that i am as prepared as i could possibly be if anything should ever happen! This is so worrying! But hopefully i will never have to deal with it! (fingers crossed!) :-)

Hello I am new to the board.

I nearly lost my Dobe to bloat last month and would not recommend feeding from raised bowls.

I have never fed from a raised bowl.  My bitch got into the food bin - which was full and helped herself to dry food, so technically this was feeding from a raised level.  I also soak the food so her guzzling dry food did not help either.

Anyway the food bin is now kept in the shed!

Thanks

I have fed my Danes from raised bowls since 1988 and never had a problem. I have always told anyone buying puppies from me to do the same, all my Dane friends feed their dogs from raised bowls and so far I have never heard of anyone blaming bloat on feeding from raised bowls.

thay have some pretty nice looking double ones in Argos at the momnet,which you can adjust the height on,and comes with two bowls,I think they are about fifteen pounds,am about to buy two for my tow Mastiff pups,have always fed with raised bowls,
except one of my Mastiffs whose scared of bowl stands so would not eat if her foods in one,twit
Wendy

Thanks Wendy. I will look at those. :-)

I just checked argos for those bowls. But they are out of stock!! :-( Do you think the bowls that come with it look big enough?? Or can it fit bigger ones in?

Hi again Wendy. Just looking on-line and found a couple of other sites with similar raised bowls. woofwhiskers.com and all4pets.co.uk
They come in a few different sizes and i was wondering which size do you think is best to buy? I thought you may have a better idea because you have a lot of Mastiffs and my puppy is growing at a steady rate, so the bowls will need raised quite often!
I was hoping to buy one that will do him now and still be used when he gets bigger. Which size would you advise??
Thanks again Wendy! :-)