[Joan D]

I would think that a dog eating and having a stomach full of dry hard kibble to digest would be harder on the digestive track than adding liquid and letting the dry food soften up before serving. I thought Less stress on the kidneys to hydrate the food for digestion. But, I read some information saying that moistened dry food could lead to Bloat! How can that be? That frightens me as I lost a dog from bloat and only want to do the best thing I can to not cause this horrible illness.

Please tell me what to do? my lab likes the dry food moistened over the hard kibble.

[anonymous]

Please consult a veterinarian that has examined your dog and knows it’s history.
There is no blanket rule as to what is right or wrong for any dog.
I always add water to dry kibble, that being said it may not be right for your dog, depending on breed, age, etc.
Some dogs do best on canned food only.

[haleycookie]

I sometimes moisten my roommates labs food when I feed him. Bloat is preventable. Tho it is more prevalent in larger dogs. Just make sure your lab takes a long break after eating. Don’t take him out and play or work him hard. Just feed him and wait 6-8 hrs before letting him run and play etc so he has time to digest the food.

[JACQUELINE]

As an owner of 3 deep chested German Shepherds, Bloat is always a concern. I researched and learned as much was I could about it. While shopping at the pet store I came across a table that had a bunch of literature available and included was a 2 sided page about Bloat that was provided by G.S.R.N.E. = German Shepherd Rescue of N.E. It lists common symptoms and a few simple measures that may help prevent Bloat. # 4 on the list is to soak all dry foods with warm water prior to feeding because these foods expand when they absorb water, OR don’t let your dog drink water for a while after eating. # 5 – don’t let your dog drink large quantities of water at one time. I understood # 4 as being that if the food is dry it could make your dog extra thirsty after eating and cause them to drink more water than needed and that would increase the volume in their stomach (along with the added air intake). For that reason I have always added warm water to their kibble but also because my dogs don’t always crunch up every kibble it would be going down dry and sometimes I would see them trying to swallow it again and again. That doesn’t happen when I add water. I add the water right before I give it to them so it’s wet not mushy. Since their puppyhood (since 2007 when I got the info page) I’ve strictly followed the guidelines on the entire info page provided and feel very confident in their advice. And of course It does say ..”This info is not provided to replace advice or guidance from Vet’s or other pet care pro’s it’s simply an aid to assist with your own research on this very serious problem” It also includes info from a Purdue University study that includes “Raising your dogs food bowl may actually increase your dogs chance of getting Bloat by as much as 110%. ” Although the info I got was from 2007, I still believe in it and I hope this post may help anyone that isn’t yet familiar with Bloat. I had given this advice to someone I know with a Lab mix that would allow her dog to heavily exercise (running around yard) , give him treats and Drink large amounts of water during all the exercise, each day. At 5 yrs old her dog developed Bloat. Luckily she got him to the Vet in time and he survived. I don’t know what caused his Bloat but I couldn’t help but wonder about his drinking so much water while he was running around. That experience changed their lives forever.

[Susan]

Hi Jane,
I rescued a English Staffy 6yrs ago who suffers with IBD, Patch was gulping his dry food, at first I was told add warm water & soften Patches kibble, but once kibbles are soft YOU MUST drain all the water out, so your left with the soft kibble, I was cuffing my hand in the bowl around the wet kibbles & pushing out excess water so there was no water & the kibbles weren’t really wet, but when Patch ate the wet kibble he started getting bad acid reflux + swallowing & swallowing about 20mins after he ate the wet kibble, then his new vet said stop soaking his kibble in water, feed 3-4 smaller meals thru the day instead of feeding him 2 large meals of kibble.. he eats between 2 or 3 cups kibble a day depending on the brand, instead of giving him 1 cup kibble at 7am, I give 1/2 a cup 7am & the other 1/2 the cup at 9am I put his bowl on a small stool, level with the dog mouth, when he’s standing, his mouth needs to be inline with stomach when eating, you can buy those raised stainless steel bowls & they go into a wooden thing or there’s stainless legs holding the bowl.. or buy those slow feeding bowls & I put his bowl on his little kids potty plastic stool….
I feed his wet food in a slow feeder bowl & his kibble goes in his stainless steel raised bowl, I noticed he was gulping heaps of air when the kibble was in those slow feeding bowls, he was licking & licking up the kibbles, then he couldn’t get the kibble, then after eating he was burping very loud burps, so no more slow feeder bowls for his kibble meal, I like small kibbles they are easier to digest if he doesn’t chew them….
I feed Patch 7am-1/2 a cup kibble, 9am -1/2 a cup, 12pm – 1/3 cup wet meal, 5pm – 1/2 a heap cup kibble & 7.30pm-1/4 a cup kibble, at lunch he eats either Freeze Dried Raw I add a little bit of water so the freeze dried comes to life & reconstitutes or Sweet potato & tin Salmon, he gets something healthy for lunch…
I try & reduce the amount of kibble I feed & replace with healthy foods, tin Salmon, Egg, Green Veggies, Sweet Potato, Blueberries, Mussels, Yogurt, Almonds as Kibble isn’t the healthiest thing to fed our pets..

Follow “Rodney Habib” on face Book, he’s always testing something, you’ll be surprise what he found when they did blind testing on Purina Pro Plan Healthy Minds, it tested positive to Glyphosate (Round Up)
https://www.facebook.com/rodneyhabib

After soaking his kibble I noticed some kibbles went soft within 20mins then there were kibbles (Vet Diets, Science Diet, Royal Canine, Purina) that would take hours to go soft, Patch never did well on these harder kibbles that took forever to go soft in warm water, so I started looking for kibbles that digested quickly & move thru stomach small bowel quicker instead of sitting in his stomach causing pain, he’d whinge & cry after eating, something was wrong…
when I did my kibble test the small kibbles went soft quickest within 20mins were – , Canidae, Wellness, Eagle Pack, Earthborn Holistic, Pro Pac Ultimates these brand kibble soften very quickly…

Get a cup of warm water drop 2 kibbles in cup of water, a good kibble will float to the top of the water not sink, a good easy to digest kibble goes soft within 20-30mins, also feed large breed kibbles, they are made for large breed dogs bowel to prevent bloat, Large breed kibbles are lower in Kcals so they’re not a dense kibble, dense kibbles are harder to digest more work on stomach & pancreas, Patch does best when the kibble is under 360Kcals per cup also the fat isn’t as high in large breed kibbles, the man at Pet Shop told me to feed Patch a large Breed kibble it will help with his IBD, so last year I tried Wellness Core Large Breed Adult kibble & it helped Patch with his IBD, I think the low Kcals -330per cup, lower fat-13%max & the potato in the Wellness Core L/B Adult helped with his IBD also Potato firms up poos..
I nilly put him to sleep last year he went down hill after Summer, everything he ate he was reacting too.

I’ll try & find a link I have, its a study that was done on small breed dogs bowel & a large breed dog bowel… it explains how small breeds don’t seem to suffer from bowel problems like large breed dogs do..

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