Bloat prevention and proper weight are two great reasons to consider getting a slow feed bowl for your dog. This is especially true if you have a large breed dog. Bloat prevention is the name of the game in large breed dogs, and all dogs can benefit from slow feed bowls to promote a longer feed time to help with digestion.
Slow feed bowls work by impeding your dog’s ability to snarf down his food. Rather than inhaling the food, your dog is forced to work his way around some sort of obstacle or partitioned bowl to slow his eating rate.
Bloat Prevention is a Big Plus for Slow Feed Bowls
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Bloat prevention is key in large dog breeds. Large and giant breeds are prone to this painful, deadly condition. Bloating occurs when a dog’s stomach gets excess air in it, and can be cause by a dog eats or drinks rapidly, does too much physical activity after eating, or a combination of those. The excess air distends the stomach and can cause it to “flip” or fold over on itself. This leads to blood loss to the stomach, extreme pain, and in some cases, death.
Slow feed bowls force your dog to take his time eating. This prevents the suction action eating he’d do if left to his own devices and greatly decreases the likely hood that he’ll suck a ton of air down along with his food. That in turn greatly reduces his chance of developing bloat. You wouldn’t think it, but a slow feed bowl is actually a proactive way to prevent a terrible condition. For this reason, slow feed bowls are a necessity for any large or giant breed dog.
Slow Feed Bowls and Proper Weight
Another plus of slow feed bowls is promoting proper weight. If you’ve ever seen a dog eat, you know that they pretty much swallow their kibble whole or take huge, chunky bites of their wet food and hork it down. This is not conducive to making them feel full. Just like people, if a dog eats more slowly it will have time to feel full. A slow feed bowl promotes this feeling of fullness by preventing your dog from inhaling his food. Rather, he has to work for it, which makes him take longer to eat, which, in turn, allows his body to recognize that he’s had enough.
Slow Feed Bowls Help Ensure a Healthy Belly
I’m a big fan of slow feed bowls. After being in the vet field for 7 years, I can say without question that bloat and excess weight are two real killers for dogs – literally. Bloat is incredibly painful and deadly, and it generally requires fast surgical repair after the stomach has flipped. Excess weight is a slower killer, but it does kill. A tubby dog is more prone to cancer, diabetes, and join and tendon problems.
I recommend getting a slow feed bowl to decrease the risk of bloat and promote a healthy weight in dogs. It’s a small change that can make a big difference.
