Seeing as raised feeding and bloat has been mentioned in another thread and I have permission to repost this mail I thought it might be appropriate.

Christine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What We're Learning About Bloat
Kathryn Foran

For over 30 years, breeders and owners of Standard Poodles have been
concerned about reducing their dogs' risk of bloat. Many measures have been
recommended and tried, but-until recently-there has been little scientific
evidence that any of these measures actually work. Now, thanks to the
Purdue University bloat study, that picture is starting to change.
Supported by grants from AKC's Canine Health Foundation, Morris Animal
Foundation, and 11 parent breed clubs, including the Poodle Club of America,
this five-year prospective study is the first of its kind. And it is
yielding information on what breeders and owners should-and shouldn't-do to
reduce their SPs' risk of bloat.

The Purdue researchers, led by veterinarian and epidemiologist Dr. Lawrence
T. Glickman, have thus far issued two reports of their findings, both
published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Veterinary Medical
Association (JAVMA). The more recent of the two, which appeared in the
November 15, 2000, issue of JAVMA, contains findings that should cause SP
breeders and owners to step back and re-think what they "know" about
bloat.

One of the more important findings was that there are significant
differences between the "large breeds" studied (Akita, Bloodhound, Collie,
Irish Setter, Rottweiler, Standard Poodle, Weimaraner) and the "giant
breeds" studied (Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Newfoundland, Saint Bernard).
The results reported here apply to the "large breeds" only.

What We Used to Know About Bloat
Over the years, breeders, owners, and veterinarians have developed a body of
lore about what causes bloat and how it can be prevented. Here are some of
the things we used to "know" about bloat:
--Bloat is caused by too much exercise on a full stomach. We can reduce the
risk of bloat by restricting exercise before and after eating.
--Bloat is caused by over-loading the stomach. We can reduce the risk of
bloat by restricting water intake; feeding smaller meals two or more times
per day, instead of a single, large meal; and wetting dry food before
feeding it, so that it won't "swell" in the stomach.
--Bloat is caused by swallowing air when eating. We can reduce
air-swallowing by raising the food dish above the floor. In addition, some
people thought bloat risk was related to weight, to breed size, to the ratio
of the depth of the thorax to its width, to stress, and to heredity.

But, perhaps surprisingly, the research findings on these factors suggest
that it's time we update our "knowledge" about the causes and prevention of
bloat.

Factors That Make No Difference:
Weight, breed size, the ratio of the depth of the thorax to its width, and
stress were not significantly associated with the risk of bloat in large
breed dogs. In addition, several measures that have long been recommended
to reduce the risk of bloat were found to have no effect. Among these were:
- Restricting exercise: The study found that restricting exercise before
and/or after meals did not reduce the risk of bloat.
- Restricting water: The study found that limiting water intake before
and/or after meals did not reduce the risk of bloat.
- Feeding multiple meals: The study found that feeding two or more per day
did not reduce the risk of bloat.
- Moistening dry food: The study found that feeding two or more meals per
day did not reduce the risk of bloat.

Factors That Are Associated With Increased Bloat Risk:
Four factors were found to be significantly associated with an increased
risk of bloat. The first two of these are under the control of SP owners:

- Raising the food dish: The study found that a raised food dish is
strongly associated with an increased risk of bloat. A raised food dish
more than doubled the risk for bloat.

- Speed of eating: The study found that dogs rated by their owners as very
fast eaters had a 38% increased risk of bloat.

- Age was the third factor associated with a significantly increased risk
of bloat. The study found that the risk of bloat increased by 20% with each
year of age. Although aging is not a factor that can be controlled, owners
should be more alert to early signs of bloat as their dogs grow older.

- Family history was the fourth factor associated with a significantly
increased risk of bloat. The study found that having a first-degree
relative (i.e., parent, sibling, or offspring) that had bloated increased a
dog's bloat risk by 63%.

Conclusions
The Purdue research team concluded:
". . . the strongest recommendation to prevent GDV [bloat] should be to
not breed a dog that has a first-degree relative that has had GDV."1

"Raising the dog's feed bowl should not be done for either large or giant
breed dogs."2

"Slowing a dog's speed of eating should be effective in preventing GDV in
large breed dogs," including SPs.3

". . . there seems to be no advantage to restricting water intake or
exercise before or after eating."4

A future report from the research team will provide data on dietary factors
and how they may or may not be associated with bloat risk.

A Special Note for Breeders

The current report gives breeders, in particular, good reason to follow up
on the health of the first-degree relatives of the dogs in their breeding
program, to the extent possible. The Purdue researchers recognize that
their admonition against breeding from a dog with a first-degree relative
that has bloated may be difficult to heed. As they point out, "owners may
not be familiar with the medical history of the relatives of their dog.
Also, because the incidence of GDV increases with age and the typical age at
the time of the first episode of GDV is 10 to 12 years, some first-degree
relatives may appear healthy at the time a breeding decision is required but
still develop GDV later in life. Nonetheless, not breeding dogs with
first-degree relatives that have had GDV should reduce the prevalence of
this disease within a breed."5

This places a special responsibility upon an owner to inform the breeder of
their dog promptly, should that dog bloat. And both breeders and stud dog
owners have a responsibility to each other and to the owners of their
puppies to share such information freely and without criticism, for the good
of their Poodles and of the breed as a whole.

_____
References
1. Glickman LT, Glickman NW, Schellenberg, DB, et al. Non-dietary risk
factors for gastric dilatation-volvulus in large and giant breed dogs. JAm
Vet Med Assoc 2000; 217: 1499.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid

© 2001 Kathryn Foran

Thanks for the post, it was interesting to read, I have suffered a bloat in one of my shepherds I lost her.the only significant thing that I can think of that contributed to her torsion was that she was a very fast eater, has anyone out there got any ideas on how to slow a dog down whilst eating, I have 2 sheps and a rott that gulp their food down , as if there is no tomorrow, I am terrified of it happening again
Thanks
Tracy

I found this very interesting Christine.
One thing I did wonder though. How many people who raised their dog’s food dish have already experienced bloat with the dog or maybe an ancestor? In which case, is that more to blame for the higher incident in Bloat when using raised dishes! (Remember the old saying! "There are lies, damn lies and statistics!" ;) )

As for the hereditary nature of it, I well remember the late great Pat Chapman saying this to me 15 or so years ago!

Thanks for putting it here Christine.

Best wishes, John

John, I'd say that at the very least three-quartes of the deerhounds/IWs I know of that have bloated were fed from raised bowls. But then most of the owners I know are breeders or people who were told to feed raised by the breeder. One deerhounder who has been in the breed 30 years plus has never fed raised and has never had a bloat in her own dogs. But I don't know if any of her pups that were fed raised by others have bloated. I'm scared to say this, but I've never fed raised either and I've not had GDV.

So far the only bloat in a pup I've bred was one that was fed raised. She went on to have a second GDV and died. Her father was used at stud before that happened but was withdrawn after and I haven't breed from her sister partly because of the GDV. Unfortunately another sister has just lost a leg to osteo, again the first pup of mine to have it. I'm very concerned, but wold like to use a half-brother over Mel who is loosely bred from the ancestor I've line bred to.

I can give good reasons - or maybe justifications? - for that proposed mating. The line has been very long-lived for the most part and so far it is free from cardiomyopathy. The litter with the GDV and osteo was from a close mating while the co-efficient of in-breeding for Mel and the stud is reasonably low. Neither Mel nor the stud has a dog in their pedigree that is almost impossible to get away from, though many would like to. But I'm still not 100% comfortable. What do you and others think?

Thanks for the report Christine...even though I have small dogs, I am very interested in the subject of bloat.
I thought it was interesting discussing the increased factor in speedy eating.. Something that I've always been concerned about (mainly because my father, brother, and I have problems with digestion when we eat too fast).

Samma's a gulper who used to swallow her dog food almost whole. I slowed her down by playing the lift-the-bowl away game when she ate too fast or pulled her back to a 'sit' when she was speeding too fast. I'd also tell her to "ease-up". I found that she would start chewing the food in her mouth than just swallowing it during these enforced breaks. I don't know how anyone else would do this, but it worked for us.
Thanks again, Christine :)

hth a bit. you can put small rocks (but not small enough to be swallowed in the dogs food bowl, )so the dog has to pick its food from around the rocks. Really helps to slow them down

Phil, I know that trick, but have never been happy about it. I can't but think picking around stones will lead to more aerophagy. We don't know if aerophagy plays a part in GDV but we do know that the gas in the stomach is room air, so it seems logical guess that it might be.

Lewis and Brett are my gulpers and I did try the big stone trick with both of them. Brett solved the problem by upending the bowl and snarfed the food off the floor faster than ever. Lew was tidier. He simply lifted the stone out, then gobbled :)

I don't know the answer to gulpers. I'm going to try Sara's method, but it isn't going to be easy with that pair.

Sharon,
I also did it with her and the water bowl, especially when we had just come in from walks or rides. She'd swallow so fast that within 5 minutes, all of the water would come right back up.
Since she knows the command, "Ease up", she now drinks slower or she knows I"ll pull her away. Smart lil bitch, eh? :D :D
As I said, I have no idea if it would work for anyone else, but good luck with your two :) That pulling the stone out is sounds like something mine would have worked out too :D :D

Another trick I've heard of is to place a length of large linked chain in the food bowl so the dog has to move it round to get the food.
I've never fed from raised bowls, srangely I was told it wasn't advised for GSDs many years ago, I've also been lucky not to have dogs the gulp their food. There seems to be so much conflicting advise on the subject.
Ingrid

Thanks for that Christine it`s really interesting.
Christine, Spain.

I have read the article with great interest bescause as some of you know, I lost an Irish Setter to bloat only 4 weeks ago. The article goes nowhere to helping me feel better. It only advises me that I did everything wrong.

Thanks for the thread christine, i have been feeding my saluki raised, but after this thread i will no longer do this. thanks again.

kelly and malki x

Nursey
Please don't feel like that !!! I think sometimes as with humans there's only so much you can be SURE that is factual and therefore you are doing right - sometimes, it wouldn't matter what you did but when your numbers up it's up ! :( There is so much conflicting advice on this that it's hard to establish what exactly is right or wrong. Just don't feel guilty about it , there's no point and maybe your situation was just a tragic accident that would've happened regardless of what you did.

Here's hoping you feel better soon. :)

Beth

What The Great Dame Adoption Society have found to really help avoid bloat is to feed the correct type of food for Giant Breeds. These very large kibble need to be chewed! For really gready eaters, like my Dane. I add half a brick to his bowl so that he has to slowly work around it and I do feed from a raised bowl. I believe that there is more than one contributary factor with bloat - stress being an important one as well as feeding, exercise etc Thanks for posting the report for large breeds - it made interesting reading. We all need to be vigilant and learn to recognise the first stage of bloat so that we can try to prevent a trajedy. I know every Dane homed by the G.D.A.S. is sent home with a laminated A4 notice detailing the condition, what to look for and what to do. Sadly, it seems it is not always possible to prevent bloat but knowing how to react, and how quickly might be enough to save a life!
Jackie
Jackie

Hi, Jackie, that's an excellent idea from the G.D.A.S. I wish breed clubs etc would send out something similar with memberships.

I'm sure you've seen the sites on the internet that give step by step instructions for emergency treatment of GDV. One not only gives instructions on how to pass a tube into the stomach, it also tells you how to make a suitable tube at home. Another explains passing the tube rather better and also gives clear instructions for decompressing the stomach surgically. It also offers to sell the items required for both procedures.

I'm in two minds about this. I'm comfortable with the idea of passing a stomach tube, but don't much like the idea of using a home-made one. I'd be very worried that someone with insufficient knowledge of bloat, never mind the anatomy and the dangers, would try the surgical decompression. And although both sites clearly warn against it, any such home treatments may delay getting the dog to the vet.

I'm uneasy enough that I've not given links and have even tried to avoid words that would help a complete tyro in a search. On the other hand decompression can be a life saver for someone who lives a distance from their vet or if the vet isn't immediately available and if the dog is in extremis there isn't a lot to be lost. I do keep all the items to carry out either procedure but I'm in the happy position of knowing that I could do either procedures competently and fast. I'm quite sure that others - Sam springs to mind - would be equally competent. But none of have the experience to know when to risk surgical decompression.

What do you think?

I for one agree with you Sharon, sometimes knowledge like this can be dangerous, A friend of mine has an 8yo GD and twice now we have had to rush her to the vet with suspected bloat, I have to say that the vet is always there to meet us and wastes no time in checking the dog over, alrteady has the records to hand when we arrive. Both tiimes, luckily the emergency has subsided by the time we get there, she belches in the car and starts to deflate, but they always give precautionary treatment to make sure. Now if this knowledge was available to the wrong person could they start trying to treat it before getting a vet ? Ingrid

Thank you for posting the article Christine it made very interesting reading.I have had 2 cases of Bloat/Torsion in the past 20 years. The first a 9 year old male Spinone and the second a 12 year old female Irish Setter.
Boy the Spinone died on the vets table,he bloated 6 hours after eating,he had not been exercised as it was high summer so exercise was done in the cool of the evening,he was neither a slow or greedy eater just average,his dish was not raised although he did have access to water at all times.
Now Lucy the setter was different she had always been a faddy slow feeder.her nick-name was Peter Pan as she never really matured in body put down to the fact she did not eat properly as a puppy.I was always on the look out for things to tempt her to eat,both dogs were fed on raw tripe and semi soaked whole meal biscuit.I had been given a small sample
125mg of Lamb & Rice which I fully soaked
before I gave it to her,2 hours later we were at the vets telling a young vet that Lucy was going to bloat as she had all the classic symptoms.
Reluctantly she kept her in (I think she thought I was a wanna be vet) consent forms duly signed.An hour later she phoned to say Lucy had been operated on and it would be a few days before we would know if she would pull through.
I did hear of an Irish Setter owner who lost 3 setters to bloat in quite quick succession each time changing her feeding regime after each loss to no avail.
It is a problem that owners of large breeds I`m afraid have to live with for the time being anyway
Regards Carole

I know in the US that they have "bloat kits" but I would not have thought that they should be necessary in the UK - how many of us are really more than 30-40 minutes from a vet.

I would feel quite confident about passing a tube down my dogs (provided they stood still long enough) as I passed enough NG tubes into my daughter and later, tubes directly into/though her stomach wall but it is not a pleasant procedure and easy to get wrong if the dog struggled thus potentially causing damage elsewhere.

Also if a dog deflated after passing tube how many people would then not go to the vet and risk it happening again a few hours later when they were not present.

Christine

Christine,
Here's a crazy thought (and brought on by my own stomach troubles :rolleyes: ) Everyone 'knows' it's the excess air in the stomach that's causing the inflation of the stomach which then can twist dangerously to cause this.
How about controlling the diet by adding a mild something along the line of tagamet or other 'acid/air reducers' that us humans recieve? (this after the dog has been first diagnosed with troubles --not everyone)
Seriously, I've been in so much hurt that I couldn't sit or bend over, so I do sympathize with these poor dogs. I've actually passed out one time. All due to too much air in the stomach. In NM, before meds were given, I was walking at 3 in the morning to just get some relief. Sure it's best not to exercise just after eating, but I found that a walk 1-2 hours after eating would prevent me waking in the night in terrible pain. I'm just relieved that my stomach was in no danger of twisting unlike a canids. :(
It's a thought definitely from left field :)
toodles