Introduction

Canned food generally reflects the moisture content of fresh prey consumed by wild felids, yet it is unclear if varying proportions of wet:dry food influence the hydration status of domestic cats.

Objectives/Aims

To determine the effect of feeding inversely proportional amounts of dry versus canned food on water consumption, hydration and urinary parameters in healthy, adult cats.

Methods

Twenty-four healthy, middle-aged, male and female cats were fed either all dry food 100%:0% dry:wet (R1), 66%:33% dry:wet (R2), 33%:66% dry:wet (R3) or 0%:100% dry:wet food (R4) rations for 4 weeks with a washout period of 2 weeks in a 4 x 4 Latin square design (Table 1). Food and water intake were recorded daily; urine volume, osmolality and specific gravity (by 24-h collection) and body composition/total body water (by quantitative magnetic resonance) were measured on the last day of each testing period. A linear mixed effect model was used and analysis of variance on the fixed effect variables were performed to obtain the p values for each variable (alpha = 0.05).

Results

Water consumption was significantly (p < 0.05) increased with increasing amount of wet food in the diet (Figure 1). Cats fed a 100% wet diet (R4) consumed 100% more water, retained 3% more total body water and significantly increased urine volume by 36% compared to dry food alone (p < 0.05, Figure 2).

Conclusions

Cats fed a diet comprised of wet food only showed enhanced hydration, increased urinary volume and less concentrated urine compared with a dry diet alone.

VIN editor: Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2 were not available at the time of publication.