Feeding Your Pet a High Moisture Dog Food and Cat Food Diet

This summer, help your pet beat the heat with the foods they eat.

At Furchild, we believe that the old adage ‘you are what you eat’ should be taken one step further to ‘you are what you absorb.’

This doesn’t just apply to humans. Rather, it’s true for our canine and feline friends too. Yet most manufactured ‘high moisture dog food and cat food’ contain poorly nourished inappropriate ingredients with ironically inadequate levels of moisture and excess salt that do not support optimal health.

Food for thought

Would we eat the same food every single day?

If the answer is ‘No’ then how did we get to the point where we think that all it takes to feed our dogs and cats is the same scoop of dry pet food, every single day?!

Moreover, the weather in UAE is hot and humid, which commonly creates kidney diseases and urinary tract issues. Does it then make sense to feed a pet food diet that is not moist enough and puts your pet's body in a constant state of dehydration?

And did you know that drinking water from a bowl is not sufficient to overcome this?

If you compare our dog’s and cat’s ‘Ancestral Diet’ to ‘modern’ typical pet foods, the differences are alarming!

Our pet’s ancestors, wolves and wild cats, depended largely upon high amounts of moisture found in their prey - fresh meat, organs, and bone. The moisture levels of an Ancestral Diet were up to 78% moisture. That’s a lot of moisture, all good and needed!

The question that now arises is - Which cat and dog food diets are high in moisture?

Nowadays, dry pet foods contain 5-10% moisture, canned foods 40-60%, and raw pet foods like Furchild contain 65-75% moisture on an as-fed basis.

There is a huge difference in the amount of key ingredients found between the Ancestral Diet and any typical, modern dry dog food.

Feeding your pet a high moisture raw dog food or raw cat food diet is very important as it…

• maintains a stable, normal body temperature.
• aids in digestion and absorption of the nutrients within the food.
• lubricates healthy joints important for large breeds and senior dogs.
• improves 'healthy' organ function and literally prevents them from shutting down.
• contains many dissolved vitamins and minerals in comparison to normal water.
• moderates hydration, which is very important in hot, humid climates, like the UAE.

Our pet’s digestion and urinary tract systems carry a number of moisture-intensive processes. From the saliva in their mouths to gastric juices in their digestive tract, a high amount of moisture is needed to properly digest food and achieve an optimum pH environment through the urinary tract.

When digesting an entirely dry diet, our pet’s body will extract the needed moisture from other tissues and organs if necessary, leaving little moisture temporarily available for flushing toxins and general hydration.

A chronic state of dehydration can lead to various health problems including kidney issues, crystals, stones, feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), bloating, and more.

Did you know that water bowls can’t replace a high moisture dog food or cat food diet?

Plain and simple, drinking H2O from a bowl is not sufficient. Some pet parents think that soaking kibble in water before feeding would make it moist and serve as a replacement for a high moisture dog food or cat food diet. But this is not the case!

In order to get the kibble back to the level of a high moisture raw dog food and raw cat food diet, like whole prey, approximately 4 cups of water would need to be added for every 1 cup of processed pet food.

Again, it depends on the quality of the kibble and it may or may not get moist by soaking up water.

Following their Ancestral Diet and their low thirst levels, cats are not inclined to drink as much water from a bowl as dogs. Considering this, cats would need to drink over 1 cup of water for every 4.5 kgs (10 lbs) of body weight to efficiently digest their dry food diet. This makes them much more dependent upon a high moisture cat food diet than dogs.

So, how do we ensure our pets are consuming the right amount of moisture and staying hydrated throughout the summer?

The solution

It's simple - feed them a high moisture dog food or cat food diet that is species-appropriate. And keep the temperature of the environment controlled as per seasonal requirements.

For better absorption and assimilation of ingredients, your pet’s diet should be moist and at least a portion of it should consist of one of the two things:

• at least 70% moisture (as-fed)
• more fresh ingredients (unprocessed raw food)

Also, ensure your pet has round-the-clock access to fresh, clean (chlorine and fluoride-free) water.

A little improvement in their diet can go a long way!

As our own mother and grandparents would encourage us to eat a variety of fresh, healthy foods, we need to apply the same common sense to our pets.

If cost is your concern, consider feeding 50% or two meals of high moisture dog food and cat food diets a week. Always ensure feeding your pet fresh, species-appropriate nutrition that is moist, as much as you can reasonably afford.

While cats and dogs thrive on species-appropriate high moisture raw dog food and raw cat food diets, they can be challenging for pet owners and veterinarians to find or make.

Furchild is changing that! We have made it simple and convenient to feed your beloved pets premium raw meals needed for them to live full and vital lives.

Furchild is UAE's and GCC's #1 premium raw pet food company! We provide only the highest quality pet nutrition and holistic care and conveniently deliver personalised monthly plans right to your door across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and the other emirates.