Like Shanna, Cherry was fed from an elevated bowl from extremely early in her life.  Miss Cherry was 23 inches at the shoulder and her bowl is 11.5 inches off the floor.  There wasn't a consious decision to the height, rather it was sold as a set – two stainless steel bowls and a stainless steel frame.  When we traveled in the RV, I just put her bowl on the first step going up to the sleeping area.  I am sure that this is not as tall, but every bit helps.

Spirit Cherry's Dad

We researched the food bowl issue and we think that raised feeders may be a contributing factor for bloat.  We do not elevate food bowls.  We do use the Brake-fast bowls. For a large-breed front leg tripawd you might consider an elevated Brake-fast bowl as an alternative. I can see how a front leg tripawd can have a hard time balancing while eating off the floor.  You want them to slow down while eating, and the Brake-fast bowl does that.  The dawgs do eventually learn to eat fairly quickly with the bumps in the way, but it is still slower than a regular bowl.  The first time you feed them in a Brake-fast it makes the dawg stop and look for a second about how to approach things.

Our non-tripawd, Smokey, has a history of bloat.  He is a 58 pound mutt with a very deep chest, and apparently significant amount of boxer in his gene pool.  He bloated nine times over an eight month period, and we then had his stomach tacked to prevent torsion.  After much research I can say the most imortant thing for a large-breed dog owner to do is learn the symptoms of bloat, and be ready to deal with it when it happens.  In the two years since his surgery, Smokey has bloated a few times. but we have only needed to visit the vet once, as compared to seven or eight visits prior to surgery.  The big difference has been learning the symptoms, learning effective treatments, and beginning treatment immediately. As the Dolittler piece says "it’s a highly treatable disease."

Besides learning the symptoms and using the Brake-fast bowl we have also modified the diet we feed, now using a combination of high quality kibble and a home made diet. The answer to your question is not simple, and raises some other issues you might want to consider in coming to a decision about what is best for Mika.

Ralph

Interesting … as you can see, Sid is a greyhound, one of the deep-chested breeds.  They do have a reputation for being prone to bloat, and indeed, I've seen stories about bloat on Greytalk (some have had the stomach 'tacking' op too) but in reality, considering the number of members GT has, there are very few cases.

Pretty much everyone on Greytalk feeds from raised dishes because ex-racers do often seem to have problems eating from the floor.  However, people whose hounds eat too fast do take steps to slow them down, including feeding from a bundt pan, adding a length of heavy chain to the dish, or adding a 'tennis' sized ball or a rock to the dish so that the dogs have to take their time and eat around something.   Not sure I think the chain is a good idea, and obviously, you'd have to take care with a ball if your dog plays with them.

The main thing we are told about greyhounds and bloat is not to let them exercise hard either just before, or just after eating.  Personally I've never seen a case, but I do (along with most other GTers) know the symptoms of bloat and I'm always watchful.

I do know that trainers here feed directly off the floor, in ordinary stainless steel dishes.  Perhaps it's all the muscle strains and injuries that ex-athletes have suffered, perhaps it's that some are asked to stand on slippery floors to eat.  Perhaps we, as owners, are too sensitive?  But though Sid is quite capable of bending to the ground to sniff, or snatching up a toy, for preference will always lie down to eat anything more than one biscuit or a dropped piece of cheese, so I'm fairly sure he finds the raised feeder useful. 

Thanks all, for your replies! Luckily, Mika was never been one to gobble her food and sometimes even has her breakfast for lunch. I think with her front leg gone, she would definitely benefit from a raised bowl. :)

Thanks again,
Mari (Mika's mom)