Soaking kibble: is it dangerous?

L
Lucie272 Icon representing the flag French
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Hi everyone,

I’ve had a good look through the posts on this forum, but I can’t seem to find any reliable information on the subject. I haven’t found anything on the Petfood Advisor forums either, and on other sites, the answers are a bit of a mixed bag.

On some Facebook groups, people say you should definitely wet dry food for dogs and cats. However, vets’ opinions seem to be quite divided on the whole. Some suggest it could even cause bloat.

In my view, adding water might cause the kibble to spoil, especially in this heat, and flies certainly won’t hesitate to lay eggs in it. I always thought the reason dry food is dry is specifically to help it keep for longer.

I’ve tried it a few times but didn’t see much of a difference; if anything, I’d say the dogs weren't keen on the texture.

So, if anyone has any solid, well-reasoned info, I’d be really interested, as it’s an important question that affects a lot of us.

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18 answers
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    • Kikaah
    Kikaah Icon representing the flag French
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    LOL she’s not a greedy one, she just picks at her food. I reckon she’s just too lazy to crunch it! ^^

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    Y
    Yubka Icon representing the flag French
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    With mine, sometimes I moisten it and sometimes I don't. He eats it quicker when it's dry.
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    ?
    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Is she on dry food for small dogs or is she just a proper little glutton? With her princess-like ways, I’m surprised she scoffs her food like that 🤭

    I add a 'topper' to her dinner; it’s basically just wet food in gravy with tiny little bits of "meat", but with a fancier label than your basic supermarket wet food. It’s really palatable, hydrating, and calorie-wise, it doesn't seem like too much as she’s actually slimmed down!

    Mind you, for a Bichon, the portions won’t be huge, so switching to just wet food shouldn’t work out too expensive. At least that way she’s getting plenty of moisture in her diet.

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    Kikaah
    Kikaah Icon representing the flag French
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    Gally swallows most of her dry food whole ^^

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    ?
    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Either way, kibble swells up in the stomach, especially if the dog drinks after eating (which my girl does, for example). So, whether you feed it dry or wet, it doesn't really make much of a difference once it's in the stomach.

    Generally, people suggest soaking dry food if they think the dog isn't drinking enough water during the day, if it's too hot (to get more fluids in), to make it less dry, or even to help fill up a dog that's a bit of a greedy eater.

    As for "reducing kidney issues", it's simply because you're adding water to their meal, which helps the kidneys work better. If you aren't a fan of soaking the kibble (I find it makes it less appealing for my dog), you can always give them wet food or a mix of dry and wet.

    If you're worried about keeping their teeth clean, you can just give them natural chews like horns to gnaw on.

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    L
    Lolo7444 Icon representing the flag French
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    Hi there, as far as the 'toothbrush effect' goes, many people don't think that's actually the case. But I’m not sure if that’s really an issue.

    What could be a problem is suggesting that soaking dry food prevents kidney failure because, from what I've gathered, the main criticism from some people is that kibble is simply too dry.

    Then again, that's precisely why it keeps so well. I'd be interested to know what the vets think about it.

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    Docline
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    The benefit of dry food is that it also acts as a "toothbrush", whereas wet food encourages tartar build-up.

    Other than that, I don't see why it would be a problem.

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    Kikaah
    Kikaah Icon representing the flag French
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    I've never heard of any issues with adding water to dry food. As for bloat, it just takes a dog eating and drinking and then exercising for it to happen (which is much the same as eating wet dry food and then exercising), but smaller breeds don't really tend to have that problem. In my opinion, you don't *have* to do it, but you certainly *can* if you want to and the dog likes it—there's no obligation at all. It’s a good way to get more fluids into the dog because dry food is obviously very dry, and they need to drink more in this heat. But if the dog doesn't eat it straight away and turns their nose up at it, then it's not really worth it.
    Translated from French

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