Cooking the food

[Roxie'sMommy]

I was wondering if anyone else cooks their dogs food before feeding them. I feed nutro natural choice (but am switching to chicken soup soon) and I always add hot water to Roxie's food to make it expand, then drain the excess water, then feed it to her. I was just curious if anyone else does that? Or if I should even continue doing it?

Karla

 

[swooley]

Wyatt gets slushies since he can only have liquid foods. Every weekend is devoted to making enough meals to last the week and we have to add more warm water right before feeding.

 

[Roxie'sMommy]

I do it because I heard it reduces bloating (since i am already expanding the food before it gets into her stomach). I guess I was wondering if there is any truth to this or if it really makes a different?

 

[gmacleod]

No, I don't believe there is any truth to that.

In fact, you need to check the ingredient list of a kibble before you pre-soak it. If the preservative used is citric acid, the pre-soaking it increases the risk of bloat by a very large margin. Don't panic here - neither the kibble you're currently feeding nor the one you're considering switching to happen to use that preservative. But it is worth knowing for future reference.

In respect of bloat, there is a sticky thread at the top of the health forum with links to research into factors that increase or decrease the risk of bloat. With the exception of the pre-soaking/citric acid issue, wetting the kibble is not a factor that makes any difference one way or the other.