Gastric Contortion (Bloat) in CsV?

TipTop · 19-03-2010, 04:54

Quote:

Royal Canin's German shepherd formula is also designed to help prevent bloat

How exactelly the shape ad formula of this dog food works preventing Gastric Contortion? I use this dog food, but I want to learn more about the subject.
Thanks!

soniakanavle · 19-03-2010, 08:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by TipTop

How exactelly the shape ad formula of this dog food works preventing Gastric Contortion? I use this dog food, but I want to learn more about the subject.
Thanks!

According to Royal Canin, the large size kibble and unique shape is supposed to slow down consumption rate which in turn can help prevent boat, but from my personal experience [my own GSD as well as my sisters] both tended to pick up a bite of kibble, walk across the room and drop it on the floor and pick it back up one kibble at a time to eat it lol. I've also read in books this is a common GSD trait [and why you're not supposed to feed them outside in a graveled kennel, they can accidentally eat rocks.] Does anyone else's German Shepherds do this??

As for my CsV, he 'wolfs' down his food but always rests afterwards so I think he's safe.

yukidomari · 19-03-2010, 13:48

Personally I doubt very much that any size of a dry dog food, unless it's as big as the dog's head, is going to encourage the dog to chew.. a dog's teeth are not made to chew, they are made to rip. Has anyone's dog ever thrown up after eating? The dried food is still whole usually..

I think that Royal Canin's claim and 'breed specific' food is just a marketing campaign, honestly. If you are afraid of your dog eating too fast and contributing to bloat, you can feed your dog off of, for example, a wide cookie sheet. Spreading the food out will slow consumption. If you are in the US, you can also try a BrakeFast bowl.

draggar · 19-03-2010, 17:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by TipTop

How exactelly the shape ad formula of this dog food works preventing Gastric Contortion? I use this dog food, but I want to learn more about the subject.
Thanks!

According to Royal Canin:

Quote:

Some large breeds are prone to bloat. GERMAN SHEPHERD 24™ is formulated to improve digestion, with a large, cross-shaped kibble that slows the rate of food ingestion.

Source: http://products.royalcanin.us/produc...epherd-24.aspx

(At the bottom)

Our dogs love the formula, regardless of breed.

Luna loves the puppy version (also designed as an "X", just a lot smaller than the adult kibble).

There are also food bowls you can get to help slow own their food intake:

http://www.strangenewproducts.com/20...ggie-bowl.html

It forces them to eat around the "pegs" thus slowing their intake down.

michaelundinaeichhorn · 19-03-2010, 18:15

As the reason seen to cause more problems with dry food feeding after the research I was talking about (Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association), is the fact that with this kind of feeding the time that you can still find food in the stomach after feeding is much longer than with other food and the stomach itself is larger in those dogs, I doubt very much that the shape of the kibbles does make much differences.
Another point is that a high amount of Carbo Hydrates also gives a higher risk, looking at the list of ingredients there are brown rice and oat meal as the second and third highest ingredients on the list.
That Royal Canin as a company that has dry food as its main product won´t tell you that isn´t astonishing.

Ina

TipTop · 20-03-2010, 05:27

Well, I guess I could only imagine how really fast my dogs would eat if they were not eating Royal Canin GS formula...
Cause even eating it they go like if there was a entire year without food!

Maybe I ve 2 eating machines here... LOL

Anyway, I dont know if I truly believe on Royal Canin explanation. I do believe that dogs dont use to chew food. No matter what I feed them they grab the food and it goes down to stomach without any chew, lol

soniakanavle · 20-03-2010, 05:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by TipTop

Well, I guess I could only imagine how really fast my dogs would eat if they were not eating Royal Canin GS formula...
Cause even eating it they go like if there was a entire year without food!

Maybe I ve 2 eating machines here... LOL

Anyway, I dont know if I truly believe on Royal Canin explanation. I do believe that dogs dont use to chew food. No matter what I feed them they grab the food and it goes down to stomach without any chew, lol

Hahahaa EXACTLY!! Mine too.

And it's even worse when I feed him a meat diet, he turns into a fuzzy vacuum cleaner so I guess the kibble helps slow him down a little bit.

yukidomari · 20-03-2010, 13:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by soniakanavle

Hahahaa EXACTLY!! Mine too.

And it's even worse when I feed him a meat diet, he turns into a fuzzy vacuum cleaner so I guess the kibble helps slow him down a little bit.

If you're ever interested in feeding a raw diet - and believe me, there is no vacuum cleaning with a correctly done one - you can always PM me.

I should post some pictures somewhere of our dogs working on things like whole feathered chicken bigger than their head, rack of lamb ribs, whole rabbit, etc. Believe me.. when Lantis, our Dobe was on kibble he'd vacuum that up, too. There's no quickly eating appropriate prey, though, or appropriate cuts of meat. A prey-model raw diet encourages a dog to rip and shred, making use of their teeth appropriately. He's going on 13 year old and has never had a dental and his teeth are as shiny as a dog more than half his age, too.

soniakanavle · 22-03-2010, 04:41

I would like to feed raw for health reasons but seeing as I live in the city in an apartment [not for long I hope!!!!!!] keeping large chunks of frozen/raw meat would be difficult, not to mention, messsy lol.

Also I don't like the [natural] aggression with most dogs that comes from protecting their meat.

19-03-2010, 13:48	#3
yukidomari Moderator Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Los Angeles CA Posts: 847	Personally I doubt very much that any size of a dry dog food, unless it's as big as the dog's head, is going to encourage the dog to chew.. a dog's teeth are not made to chew, they are made to rip. Has anyone's dog ever thrown up after eating? The dried food is still whole usually.. I think that Royal Canin's claim and 'breed specific' food is just a marketing campaign, honestly. If you are afraid of your dog eating too fast and contributing to bloat, you can feed your dog off of, for example, a wide cookie sheet. Spreading the food out will slow consumption. If you are in the US, you can also try a BrakeFast bowl. Last edited by yukidomari; 19-03-2010 at 13:49. Reason: Adding info

20-03-2010, 05:27	#6
TipTop Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Estoril, Portugal Posts: 37	Well, I guess I could only imagine how really fast my dogs would eat if they were not eating Royal Canin GS formula... Cause even eating it they go like if there was a entire year without food! Maybe I ve 2 eating machines here... LOL Anyway, I dont know if I truly believe on Royal Canin explanation. I do believe that dogs dont use to chew food. No matter what I feed them they grab the food and it goes down to stomach without any chew, lol __________________ I choose my friends by the way they treat animals.

19-03-2010, 18:15	#5
michaelundinaeichhorn Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Bad Dürkheim Posts: 2,249	As the reason seen to cause more problems with dry food feeding after the research I was talking about (Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association), is the fact that with this kind of feeding the time that you can still find food in the stomach after feeding is much longer than with other food and the stomach itself is larger in those dogs, I doubt very much that the shape of the kibbles does make much differences. Another point is that a high amount of Carbo Hydrates also gives a higher risk, looking at the list of ingredients there are brown rice and oat meal as the second and third highest ingredients on the list. That Royal Canin as a company that has dry food as its main product won´t tell you that isn´t astonishing. Ina

22-03-2010, 04:41	#9
soniakanavle Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Blanco, Texas Posts: 81	I would like to feed raw for health reasons but seeing as I live in the city in an apartment [not for long I hope!!!!!!] keeping large chunks of frozen/raw meat would be difficult, not to mention, messsy lol. Also I don't like the [natural] aggression with most dogs that comes from protecting their meat.