Elevated dog feeding bowls are designed to elevate food and water for your pup at an appropriate height for them. They’re especially useful if your canine has orthopedic medical conditions that make eating or drinking hard or difficult, as elevated bowls allow your food to reach them more quickly.
Elevated bowls can also help dogs who tend to consume their food quickly or who suffer from issues like bloat. Each elevated bowl comes equipped with a stand that prevents it from being knocked over or moved around the home by your pet.
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Less Painful for Arthritic Dogs
Elevated dog bowls can help ease pain and stress during feeding time for dogs with arthritis. By raising food and water dishes off of the floor, elevated bowls allow arthritic dogs to reach them more easily using only their paws instead of needing to bend over or strain their necks to get them.
As in the case of spinal conditions or megaesophagus – where food cannot enter their stomachs easily – elevated feeding stations may help dogs with spinal or megaesophagus difficulties eat more easily, since an elevated position allows a neutral spine position and reduced neck flexion during eating, helping reduce possessive food aggression that sometimes arises during meals.
Elevated dog feeders were once touted as a potential way to prevent bloat (gastric dilatation volvulus), a potentially lethal condition wherein the stomach twists closed, cutting off both its source of food and air intake and output. Unfortunately, research has yet to substantiate this claim.
Easier to Clean
An elevated feeding bowl makes it easier for you to keep your dog’s feeding area tidy, as food crumbs tend to gather under floor-level dishes and are harder to keep clean. Elevated bowls are more likely to keep his or her food and water off of the floor and away from pests like ants or fleas that might invade their food source.
Elevated dog feeders come in all sorts of varieties. The best are made from tough and easy-to-clean materials such as stainless steel. Their frames can accommodate multiple bowls at the same time; some feature drain holes at their bases that drain back into a reservoir, keeping your floors dry.
Before purchasing an elevated feeder for your dog, make sure it is suitable in terms of height. Use a tape measure and measure from the floor up to your pet’s chest; subtract between 3 and 6 inches for larger breeds. This will prevent excessive eating which could result in health issues such as bloat (also known as gastric dilation volvulus). Also ensure its frame remains stable as this will stop your pup from knocking it over while eating or drinking from it.
Less Messy
Dogs that eat from elevated bowls usually create less of a mess around their food and water sources, since these bowls sit higher off the ground, enabling the pet to more easily see and clean its surroundings.
Most elevated feeders feature a stand that prevents dogs from tipping the bowls off, which may become an issue for eager eaters or mischievous puppies. Some elevated feeders come equipped with weighted bowls to keep bowls from tipping over, as well as additional features such as slow feeding puzzle bowls to slow down eating too quickly.
Some raised feeders come equipped with mats designed to help keep surfaces cleaner, especially beneficial for sloppy drinkers who would otherwise spill water and drool onto the floor. This feature can also help contain spilled liquid and prevent it from running off of their bowl and onto the floor.
Less Discomfort for Older Dogs
Elevated bowls make life easier for older dogs by providing them with more comfortable eating positions – this is particularly helpful for dogs with arthritis or joint conditions that make bending down to reach food difficult or painful.
Elevated dog dishes may help reduce gulping from fast-eating dogs. Gulping can cause many health issues, including vomiting and hiccups; additionally, it causes food to remain in the oesophagus rather than descend to the stomach, potentially leading to megaesophagus.
Elevated dog dishes help prevent spilled water and food from reaching the floor, which could provide the ideal environment for bacteria growth. Therefore, it’s advisable to search for bowls with sturdy stands that won’t easily tip over, such as one which comes equipped with a stand that is attached firmly to its base so it cannot be moved around by your dog.
