Moisture is a must
Moisture in pet diets is something we often discuss. Proper hydration through diet is a key component to both cats & dogs overall health and wellbeing. Feeding a diet lacking moisture can lead to a myriad of health complications throughout your pets life. Health issues like chronic urinary tract infections, elevated kidney or liver levels, even to liver and kidney failure can all be attributed to a moistureless diet.
The fact of the matter is many pets in the United States have little to no dietary moisture day to day. Meaning they are not eating their water, instead are expected to drink their water. This in entirely biologically inappropriate with cats and dogs expecting to get upwards of 70% of their moisture from their food.
So what does this mean practically? This means that cats and dogs will never keep themselves hydrated by drinking water, simply because they “assume” they will get it through their food. We hear it all the time “oh don’t worry my dog drinks a ton of water.” That is because they are severely dehydrated, attempting to hydrate themselves within the threshold where their food will fully rehydrate them. Not because that is all the water they need. Their body quite literally won’t tell them they need to drink more water, it will simply tell them they need to drink enough water for the food to take care of the rest! With canned and raw foods comprising upwards of 80% moisture, this more often than not fits the bill for their dietary moisture requirements. But when we look at something like kibble, which tends to land around 10% moisture, we can see there is a huge moisture discrepancy.
The easiest and most straightforward way to add moisture is simply to feed a majority moisture rich foods. As mentioned previous, canned and raw foods are upwards of 80% moisture. No extra work, just plop and serve. Feeding toppers or even store bought cuts of fresh meat are other excellent ways to get moisture into the diet. Also, using topper items like bone broth or goat milk can be used to hydrate and provide additional nutrition.
Now this isn’t to say the only way to properly ensure hydration is through feeding raw food or canned food, both of which we highly recommend and advocate for. We entirely understand this may not fit into everyone’s budget or schedule. Simply pre-hydrating kibble can go a long way to provide proper hydration. One of my coworkers puts her kibble portion for the next day in tupperwares and rehydrates it overnight in the fridge. It is worth noting that kibbles have wildly different absorption points, some of which absorb next to no water at all. This is due to a variety of manufacturing differences, one of which coats the outside with oils that do not allow moisture to penetrate the kibble. Regardless of this, providing them moisture that they are forced to intake during mealtime is key.
Even with these tips, in practice we may find our pet is still missing out on moisture. Constipation, non-elastic skin, loss of appetite, vomiting, reduced energy, panting, sunken eyes, dry nose, dry gums, and thick saliva can all be signs of continued dehydration. Always care for your dog while observing health signs. Thanks for reading!
