Isn’t pet kibble just so convenient? Our staff has had more than one conversation among ourselves about how nice it would be to have a complete, healthy diet ready to pour into a bowl and eat whenever we’re hungry. So much easier than planning a meal!
Unfortunately, that’s not how we’re designed to get our nutrition. It’s not really how our pets are designed to get theirs either. Heavily processed dry diets are lacking in moisture content, and pets—cats especially1—don’t always drink enough to make up that difference. It could be a contributing factor to constipation, urinary tract infections, kidney or liver disease, and a number of other issues. It’s really pretty similar to what happens to humans with chronic low-grade dehydration.
A Bit of History
We’ve been feeding our pets dry food since about 18602. The first canned food came around in 1922. It wasn’t until the 1960s that nutritional requirements were made for these foods. To this day we are still learning which ingredients work best together, what new methods can help to better preserve the food we make, and so on…
More and more pet food companies are acknowledging the advantage of either adding moisture to a pet’s diet, or starting off with food with higher moisture content. Many pet owners are seeing the benefits of feeding this way firsthand, through the health and happiness of the animals they love.
What Can We Do?
So how can we add that needed moisture without completely foregoing the convenience of dry food? Supplementation!
Moisture can come in many forms:
- goat’s milk
- kefir
- bone broth
- canned food
- raw
Want to Learn More?
If you’d like to research the topic further, Primal and The Honest Kitchen, two of the pet foods we carry, both offer great information on the subject. Also, we’ve just begun carrying Open Farm’s bone broth. We’ll be offering samples of their food rehydrated with their broth in stores on Saturdays throughout November! We’ll also be sampling out Honest Kitchen’s Pumpkin Spice Latte on Tuesdays throughout the month!
As always, if you have any questions, we’d be happy to answer them in person! Both locations are open 9AM-7PM, 7 days a week!
By: Tara Dickerson
References:
1: https://feline-nutrition.org/health/species-inappropriate-the-dangers-of-dry-food
2: https://www.petfoodinstitute.org/pet-food-matters/nutrition-2/history-of-pet-food/
Additional links mentioned:
Primal: https://primalpetfoods.com/blogs/news/why-moisture-is-critical-to-your-pet-s-diet
Honest Kitchen: https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/blog/benefits-of-a-higher-moisture-diet/
Open Farm: https://openfarmpet.com/