B is for Bowls

Home and kit

15 Jan

To raise or not to raise? The great bowl debate, with less shouting than the internet.

Watch a greyhound eat from a bowl on the floor and it looks faintly ridiculous. The front legs splay. The neck goes down and down and down. It's a giraffe at a watering hole, if the giraffe had skipped breakfast and was worried someone might steal its dinner.

No wonder so many of us reach for a raised stand. It looks kinder, it looks tidier and it stops the bowl skating across the kitchen like a curling stone. Where it gets complicated is bloat. We've been round this loop ourselves more than once, so here's what we've found, laid out as plainly as we can manage.

The comfort case

The argument for raising the bowl is easy to see. A tall, deep-chested hound eating at ground level looks awkward, and plenty of owners feel their hounds eat more comfortably from a stand. Owners who use one usually set it so the top of the bowl sits around the lower chest, with no reaching up and no craning down.

Some stiff older hounds in particular seem to find it easier, and anyone who's watched a senior greyhound lower themselves to the floor in stages will understand the appeal.

That's a comfort argument, and it's a fair one. It just isn't the whole story.

Then there's bloat

Bloat, or gastric dilatation volvulus if you'd like to impress the vet, is an emergency where the stomach fills with gas and can twist. Deep-chested dogs, sighthounds included, are considered among those more at risk.

What the research actually says

For years, raised bowls were recommended on the theory that they reduced gulping and so reduced bloat. The research hasn't backed that up.

A large US study of large and giant breed dogs, published in 2000, found raised feeders were linked with a higher risk of bloat, not a lower one. A later evidence review looked at everything published on the question and found no study showing that raised bowls reduce the risk. Its conclusion was that, until better evidence comes along, the safest option for owners of at-risk dogs is to feed from the floor.

In plain terms: There's no good evidence that a raised bowl protects against bloat, and some suggesting it may do the opposite. Which is not quite what the pet shop shelves would have you believe.

So, floor or stand?

Posture and bloat risk are two different questions, and it's easy to blur them. We're owners, not vets, so we're not going to tell you which to pick. Every hound is different, and the right answer for a stiff 12-year-old may not be the right answer for a bouncy youngster.

This is a conversation for your own vet, who knows your hound's build and history. Useful things to ask:

Floor or standWould they suggest one or the other for your hound, and why?
Health historyIs there anything in your hound's health that makes bloat more of a worry?
Out of hoursWhere would you go if you ever needed help in the middle of the night?

Mealtime habits we swear by

Whatever height the bowl ends up at, a few habits come up again and again among hound owners:

Slow the gulpersA slow-feeder bowl with ridges, or kibble scattered on a mat, turns a three-second hoover job into a bit of a puzzle. Most hounds crack it eventually. Enjoy the peace while it lasts.
Calm before and afterKeep mealtimes quiet and leave a good gap before any running about. Zoomies can wait.
Water always thereFresh, topped up and in a bowl heavy enough not to skid across the kitchen when an enthusiastic eater arrives.

Be warned that sighthounds have views about water. One of ours walks past two perfectly clean bowls to drink from a mug left on the coffee table. Another prefers the dripping tap in the garden, served at exactly the wrong moment. We've stopped fighting it.

The bottom line

A raised bowl might look more comfortable, but it isn't a proven way to prevent bloat, and the best evidence we've found leans towards the floor for at-risk dogs. Know the signs. Save the number. Have the bowl chat with your vet rather than the internet (including us).

And whatever you choose, you'll still be standing there watching them inhale dinner in four seconds flat, wondering where it all went and why they're now looking at you like they've never been fed in their life.