# Adding water to dry food-good or bad?



## DebD

I just read on one of the dog food websites that adding water to dry dog food can cause bloating!?! I am in the process of changing over Coko (3 yo cocker) to Nature's Variety Prairie dry food and Merrick wet food but both are new, sooo I thought I would transition the dry food first. He WILL NOT eat dry food w/o a little something added like carrots, egg, meat etc. If I add a little water to the dry food he will eat it. The reason I am changing food is he seems to have a sensitive stomach...was vomiting bile, and seems to BURP after eating....now I wondering if it's from adding the water!! Any suggestions??? Maybe I should just do wet!!! Thanks!


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## reverend_maynard

IMO, adding water to dry food should actually help avoid bloat. When they eat it dry it mixes with water and stomach acids in their stomaches anyway. I'd think they'd feel full faster and eat less if the food was already expanded in the bowl, whereas if it doesn't absorb moisture and expand until after it's in the stomach they may eat too much.

The one caution I saw that did make sense is that the food will spoil very fast once it's wet. One of the primary things that keeps dry food from spoiling is the lack of moisture in it, which bacteria need to survive and grow. Once it's wet, the bacteria can really take off fast.


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## Inga

there are a few foods that should not have water added to them because of a preservative in the food. You can find these on dogfoodanalysis.com


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## MyRescueCrew

I add water to my dogs dry kibble, I let it soak for a few minutes, then I mixed it with a little bit of canned food. I do this for better hydration.

Here's something to think about:

Take a few pieces of dry dog food, and set it in water. Let it expand for a while, then look at it. Some dog foods expand to 4 and 5 times their size, or more. Now, while the stomach juices in a dog are different than a glass of water, dry kibble still expands once in the stomach. 

To me, I prefer it expand BEFORE my dog ingests it. On top of this, dogs that eat only dry kibble are always in a state of mild dehydration, especially those that do not drink as much water.


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## Priss and Pedro's Mama

I have always added water to my dogs' food. I've always seemed to aquire chow-hounds who gag if given plain dry food. The water slows them down enough they don't choke while inhaling the food. The water/no water bloat thing goes back and forth it seems. With a small dog like a cocker, I wouldn't think there would be as much risk as the bigger dogs like great danes.


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## Ginny01OT

If your dog food has citric acid in the FIRST five or so ingredients you should NOT add water as that can contribute to bloat---refer to dogfoodanalysis.com and the Perdue study on bloat


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## Willowy

It seems to me that if a dog food has citric acid in the first 5 ingredients, something is seriously wrong with that food. Vitamin C should not be a main ingredient, just a supplement. Do you know which brands have citric acid in the top 5? I've never seen it in all of my label reading .


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## Spicy1_VV

When I feed dry I add water to it and let it soak a bit. Never once have I ever had a dog get bloat. It seems with certain dog foods this could be an issue from what other people are saying so you should look into that. We had this discussion in the food forum before.


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## crazydays

A little warm water in the food increases the aroma--it acts like a gravy without the calories.


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## DobManiac

Willowy said:


> It seems to me that if a dog food has citric acid in the first 5 ingredients, something is seriously wrong with that food. Vitamin C should not be a main ingredient, just a supplement. Do you know which brands have citric acid in the top 5? I've never seen it in all of my label reading .


Nature's Variety Prairie formulas use citric acid, and that’s one of my favorite brands. They guarantee at least 40% dry meat in their food, which is a lot for a grain based kibble. They also use only one protein source in each formula, this makes it easier for me to rotate.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/conte...n=naturesvariety:46FFFBE90eb94147DFGPOs4F1C6A


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