Should you be adding water to your cat’s wet cat food? Not necessarily. There are some cat owners who do add water into their cat’s already wet cat food, and you may be asking why? And should you be doing it too?
It is fine to add water to wet cat food, but it is usually not necessary unless you are intentionally trying to increase your cat’s daily water intake. If your cat does not have a problem keeping hydrated, it is not necessary to add water to their wet food, but you can if you would like to.
Let us take a look at adding water to your cat’s wet cat food, and if it is necessary or even helpful, should more cat owners be adding water to their cat’s wet cat food? Let’s find out.
Should You Add Water To Your Cat’s Wet Cat Food?
Whether or not you should be adding extra water into your cat’s wet cat food will entirely depend on your cat and their hydration levels.
The reason that most cat owners will generally start adding extra water into their cat’s wet cat food is due to a lack of water intake in their cats.
Usually, a vet will recommend adding water to your cat’s food as a way of upping their water intake if you or your vet are concerned about dehydration in your cat at any point.
Some cats do not enjoy drinking water and therefore do not do it as often as they should, which in unfortunate cases can lead to serious dehydration in your cat.
In an effort to avoid this, cat owners of cats who do not drink enough water will then usually add water into their cat’s food (wet or dry) to ensure that their cat is taking in enough fluids one way or another.
So, if you are wondering if you should add water to your cat’s wet food, it is entirely up to you. If you think that the extra water would benefit your cat, then give it a try.
However, if you would rather not do this and feel that your cat is fine without the extra water, it is not necessary to do it at all.
Is Wet Food Enough Water For Cats?
Wet cat food on its own is not enough water for your cat. You will need to have other water readily available for your cat to drink throughout the day, even if you feed them wet cat food at meals.
Wet cat food will help your cat with added water intake throughout the day, but wet cat food on its own will not be enough water to help your cat stay hydrated without extra water being offered as well.
Wet cat food will generally be made of about 80% water, and as much as this may seem like a lot of water, the amount of food that would need to be consumed by your cat for the water in wet food to be enough on its own to keep your cat hydrated would be too much food for your cat’s stomach to handle.
Therefore, it is better to rather add a little more water to your cat’s wet food if you would like to or if it is recommended by your vet, but make sure that you always have a water bowl for your cat to drink from available too.
Do Cats Drink Less Water When They Eat Wet Food?
Because there is extra water in wet cat food that dry cat food does not have, cats that eat wet cat food will generally drink less water than cats that eat dry cat food.
This is usually not a bad thing or a cause for concern (unless otherwise stated by a vet.)
Both cats will still be getting the same amount of fluids in their diet every day that they need, the only difference being that one is purely from water being taken in, and one will be from water intake as well as water being absorbed in their bodies from the wet cat food.
However, it is true that most cats that eat wet food will generally drink less water than cats that eat dry food will drink, and again, this is usually not a cause for concern at all.
Do I Have To Add Water To Wet Cat Food?
If your vet has told you that you need to add water to your cat’s wet food, then absolutely yes, you do have to add water to your cat’s wet food.
However, if you have not been advised by a vet or animal expert to be doing so, there is no reason that you would have to be adding extra water to your cat’s wet food.
If you think that your cat is not getting enough water intake, it is always best to seek professional help and take your cat to a vet; however, adding extra water to your cat’s wet food is not a bad idea to start with anyway.
As much as adding water to wet cat food is not something that you have to do by any means, there may be a few reasons that you would consider doing it:
- It will help dilute the smell of the wet cat food – although be careful, because as much as this may help your nose out, it may end up detouring your cat from their food as their sense of smell is better than their taste.
- It will help your cat stay hydrated – we have already gone over how adding water can help with hydration.
- Some cats enjoy very wet food more – some cats enjoy food that is so wet it is almost soup-like, so if your cat is one of these cats, adding more water may help your cat enjoy their food more.
- If your cat is a picky eater, adding water to their food may make their food more appealing to them as it changes the smell, taste, and texture of the food, and this may be more enjoyable to your cat.
There are many reasons why you may want to add water to your cat’s wet cat food, but other than being told by your vet that you need to, there is no reason that you would have to add it.
Conclusion
Adding water to your cat’s wet food can have many benefits, but it can also make the cat food unappealing to your cat.
This means that if adding water to your cat’s wet cat food is something that you would like to try, it would be best to do so in small steps.
Start by adding only a teaspoon full of water at a time, and if your cat does not seem to be detoured by this, you can slowly start going up in the number of teaspoons full of water that you add to their food.
For example, you can add one teaspoon full of water to your cat’s wet food for two days, and if they are still enjoying their food, on day three, you can add two teaspoons of water to their food, and so on.
It is always worth a try if you feel that it may benefit your cat, as adding extra water to your cat’s diet will not cause any harm.
As long as your cat is staying well hydrated and enjoying its food, it is entirely up to you as the cat’s owner whether or not you would like to add extra water into your cat’s wet cat food.
