The major differences between dry vs. wet dog food

The major differences between dry vs. wet dog food

It is important that you always check with your vet to get a more specific recommendation best suited for your dogs lifestyle, but this article will cover the major differences between dry vs. wet dog food. As with dry food, whether or not a wet dog food is good for dogs comes down to the quality of the wet food, specifically in terms of the types and amounts of protein from meat that it contains (and what unhealthier additives it does not contain). To illustrate just how much difference there is in the protein content between wet vs. dry dog food, even if it is the same flavor and brand, heres an example.

Not only are there tons of different brands and ingredients, even making a more basic wet vs. dry dog food choice can be overwhelming. Proper nutrition is important for all dogs, and choosing the right one can be a daunting task. Since wet and dry food contain all of the nutrients that your furry friend needs, mixing foods is not necessary for most dogs who are healthy. A wet food diet may be a great option for your dog if you notice that your pet turns up his nose at dry foods.

One of the key benefits to feeding a dog a wet food is added hydration, since wet foods are significantly higher in moisture than dry foods. The higher water content in wet food also has the added benefit of keeping your dog slightly more hydrated, which may be particularly useful if you are concerned about dehydration in warmer weather. If your dog is always asking for more, but needs a little bit of calorie control, wet foods high water content allows your dog to eat what seems like a larger portion, but is actually providing the same amount of calories as a smaller dry food portion.

Wet food contains more water than dry dog food, allowing your dog to stay satiated more so than a calorie-dense dry food bite would. Your dogs diet needs to include a variety of different foods, so including wet foods, even if you still primarily feed kibble, will benefit your pet. Some owners find that a mixed diet works better for their dogs, and they mix the wet food into the dry kibble in order to provide some variety for their dogs during meals. Whether you are feeding dry, wet, or both, it is always recommended that you switch brands or recipes of dog food and cat food slowly over several days.

You could do this by mixing both wet and dry foods in one bowl, giving the dry in the morning and wet in the evening (or vice versa), or giving the wet dog food as a treat for outstanding behavior. One of the options when feeding dogs is using a mix of dry and canned foods every day. When a dog needs to lose some pounds, some people look at a wet food as the solution. High carbohydrates can lead to obesity in dogs, so some wet foods may keep them from getting fat or even help them lose it.

While dry dog food can provide some slight benefits for the teeth of your dog when compared with wet food, neither product provides sufficient benefits on its own to properly prevent the accumulation of plaque, bad breath, or dog dental diseases like periodontal disease. Wet food can potentially cause tartar build-up to occur more quickly on your dogs teeth than dry food (or, at the very least, fail to prevent tarter as dry food does). If the dog is susceptible to taking large, sustained drinks after dry meals, having a belly full of water over a belly full of dry food can increase the risk of bloating. Wet foods do not take up so much fluid in the stomach, making dogs who are eating canned food less likely to have bloat.

If you decide to feed a dry-food formulation to your dog, this may also benefit their teeth, as the crunchy pieces of food may help to eliminate plaque on their teeth when the dogs are chewing. Wet dog food formulas can be fed alone, or as a supplement on dry kibble, providing flavor and hydration. Dry dog food also takes longer to spoil and does not have to be refrigerated once opened, so can be left outside for longer periods. The shelf-stable nature of dry food means it can be left outside in your home, to let animals eat at their own pace (something particularly helpful for pets who enjoy foraging), and it can fit into a automatic feeder, or one that has a big hopper, so that you only have to refill every few days.

While the convenience of dry food continues to make it the most popular feeding choice for pets, dogs (and cats, too) may benefit from including wet food in dogs (and cats) diets, either regularly or even occasionally. Wet dog food, or as we call it sometimes, canned dog food, is an excellent source of things that you often will not get in as much dry food. If your dog does not drink enough, or if you live in a dry, hot climate, a wet dog food may help your dog stay adequately hydrated, according to PetMD.

Because wet foods are a lot heavier in water content than kibble, canned foods take up a lot more bowl space (and in a dogs belly) and may offer an easier way to cut calories. Because canned food is made with more real meat and less carbohydrates, it also typically does not have artificial flavors or colors, like many dry dog foods.

Given that occupied, as well as the fact that semi-moist foods are far less popular and generally expensive than the other two varieties, from this point forward, we are going to focus on both wet and dry dog foods. The relative amounts of each vary from food to food, but the main ways that wet, dry, and semi-moist foods vary is in wet-water content. Soaking dry kibble in hot water brings out the scent, heating up the meaty fats inside the food, a scent that dogs and cats find appealing.