# Adding water to dry food - bad?



## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

So i heard dry food can cause issues because of the lack of water the dog gets with it. Can i just add water to the kibble? Without letting it soak? Or is that bad too? Can it cause bloat?


----------



## zhaor (Jul 2, 2009)

Soaking kibble preserved with citric acid was shown to increase risk of bloat from I think it was a Purdue study. I haven't actually read the details of that study but it's pretty much where the issue of soaking kibble and bloat came from.

Most decent quality foods use tocopherols (vit-E...ish) as the preservative and soaking these are fine. (you can check on the ingredients, they'll either list it separately or have something like "chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols)")


----------



## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

I dont let it soak, just put water in and feed. Is it even necessary? I read so many different opinions that i dont know what to do now *lol*


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

zhaor said:


> Soaking kibble preserved with citric acid was shown to increase risk of bloat from I think it was a Purdue study. I haven't actually read the details of that study but it's pretty much where the issue of soaking kibble and bloat came from.
> 
> Most decent quality foods use tocopherols (vit-E...ish) as the preservative and soaking these are fine. (you can check on the ingredients, they'll either list it separately or have something like "chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols)")


It actually said that the risk was with kibbles that have citric acid in the top 5 ingredients. . .and I've never seen a kibble that had that! So I don't know what they were testing. 

Anyhoo, I don't think adding water will increase your dog's water intake. Most dogs drink enough most of the time, and so total water consumption will probably stay the same.


----------



## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

You are probably right, but isn't there a benefit in feeding canned food because of the moisture?


----------



## Jathomasjk (Nov 29, 2012)

We add water for our puppy - when we picked her up at the breeder's at 8 weeks that is what they were doing so we continued. We wet, stir, and she eats right away. She has had no problems. We did have preventative gastropexy done at the same time she was spayed.


----------



## zhaor (Jul 2, 2009)

Letting it soak or not isn't that different since it all ends up soaking in the stomach anyways.

Soaking lets the kibble expand before being consumed which can be useful.

As for hydration, it would obviously depend on how much a dog drinks. With a restricted water supply, consuming a higher moisture food would probably hydrate better than dry kibble. There is also the idea that when you're actually thirsty, you're already dehydrated so maybe there's something to that. Maintaining a more consistent level of hydration is probably healthier but for the most part I think it's just wishful thinking.

You could however get the dog to drink more than they would normally and force them to urinate more which can be useful for maintaining urinary health.


----------



## mnshutterbug (Nov 27, 2012)

About 30 years ago, when I was young and ignorant re: dog foods, I fed my German Shepherd Gravy Train and of course mixed with water to make gravy and he loved it. If a dog always has fresh water available, it surely shouldn't be necessary. Also, canned food is mostly water so I'd never think canned food is that nutritious.


----------

