Gulping down dog food is extremely bad for your dog’s digestive tract. Our Labrador, Saddie, eats like she has never seen food before. If your dog does this, too, you need to find a way to slow her down. The faster your dog eats, the less time it takes to chew her food. The Outward Hound Kyjen Slo-Bowl Slow Feeder is one of the products available to help with this problem.
Gulping down food can lead to choking or gagging. It can also be the beginning of food aggression. Scarfing down food can also result in a condition called gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), which is a very big concern. Rapidly eating dog food results in excessive fluid, air, and food filling up the stomach.
This is followed by swelling of the stomach cavity. As the stomach grows, it can twist around on its axis (volvulus). This will make it impossible for anything to pass through the stomach into the intestines. If this happens, your dog could go into shock and possibly die very abruptly. That's the reason why slow feeders like this Kyjen Slo-Bowl were invented.
I use slow feeders with Saddie, but sometimes she is able to figure out how they work very quickly. For this reason, we use a few different slow feeders and change it up to add more mental stimulation. It keeps Saddie engaged and focused on something besides hogging down her dinner as fast as possible.
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Outward Hound Kyjen Slo-Bowl Slow Feeder for Dogs Review
As you'll see in my video review above, this feeder does what it is supposed to do. Saddie can usually eat a meal in about 3 minutes if it's in a traditional dog bowl. This slow feeder for dogs from Outward Hound increases that to about 12 minutes, which is pretty good!
When you're shopping for slow feeders, you need to be sure that they are going to be effective and safe for your pet. This product is made with high-quality, food-safe ABS plastic. It's also BPA, PVC, lead, and phthalate-free.
The Outward Hound Kyjen Slo-Bowl Slow Feeder is available in two sizes. The mini size holds up to 2 cups of food, and the regular size (which is the one that I use for Saddie) holds up to 4 cups.
It's also available in 3 different colors/designs. Each design is similar in style but has a different pattern of grooves. As I mentioned earlier, it's beneficial to have more than one slow feeder available for your dog. She won't get bored with the same one day after day, and it also provides much-needed mental stimulation for her.
Aside from the fact that it slows our little piggy down, I also love that the bowl is equipped with a slip-resistant base. Saddie has a tendency to push bowls all the way across the room while eating, so this is a big benefit for us.
As you can probably imagine, the grooved pattern of the Outward Hound Kyjen Slo-Bowl Slow Feeder collects a lot of slobber. The good news is it's a top-rack dishwasher that is safe for easy cleaning.
We've been very happy with this feeder. Saddie enjoys it (and you'll see in my video review that our Beagle does, too), and the hard plastic that it is made with is very durable. By far, the best thing about this feeder is the price. It's affordable for pet owners on any budget.
The orange feeder that I have is on sale for $9.99 on Amazon at the time that I'm writing this article. You can pick up the purple design for $8.49 and the teal for $7.79. For less than $30, you can pick up all three and make mealtime a lot of fun for your pooch!
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