Cleo (Presa Canario) is now 8 months old and weighs in at 90 lbs. As many of you know, I have been feeding her an all raw diet. I have been following the recommendations here and feeding her about 5% or so of her body weight. Lately, that translates to about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs in the morning and the same quantity in the evening. I'm trying to keep her lean, while still giving her enough food to grow healthy and strong.

I just learned that her paternal grandfather recently died of bloat. Now I'm worried about her bloating later in life. I have read quite a bit here and on other sites about bloat prevention. It is universally recommended that, inter alia, one feed two smaller meals rather than a single large meal. The reasoning is that large meals, over time, stretch the stomach, eventually allowing it to "flip."

A 2 lbs half chicken seems like a pretty big meal. My question is: Should I continue to feed that quantity or cut it back a bit? Bloat scares me to death I want to do all I can now to prevent it from happening later. (I have already got her to slow down while eating, and will continue to work with her on that front).

Lynne, Carol and Connie seem very knowledgeable about bloat. How can I balance Cleo's caloric requirements with my need to reduce the risk of her bloating later in life? At what age should I start feeding her "adult" rations of 2-3% of ideal weight?

Any other suggestions on reducing the bloat risk would be greatly appreciated as well. I know about not exercising 1 hr before or 2 hrs after meals, not elevating the food dish, and limiting water close to meals.

Thanks for reading

Really? No one has any input on this? I will start another thread re: feeding quantities. I think I'm going to limit her food intake to be safe, but want to make sure she's properly nourished.

Hopefully there will be some comments on feeding quantities.

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/bloat.html

Quantities of food really must be dictated by the dog's requirements.

Is the dog overweight? Lean is definitely my goal, always.

And I agree with smaller multiple meals.

This site has many links, including predisposing factors, such as a first-degree relative who bloated. http://www.mirage-samoyeds.com/bloat.htm

I am not really up on the tacking procedure that I know some vets recommend for dogs with predisposing factors, and I think for most or all dogs who have bloated, (maybe without torsion), and recovered. The surgery (gastropexy) as I understand it doesn't prevent bloat, but it tacks the stomach in place to prevent torsion.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=672
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bloat.html

Here is one discussion of the relatively new laparoscopic surgery:
http://vetsurgerycentral.com/proph_gastropexy.htm