how to transform dry dog food into canned

If a dog or cat has teeth pulled during a dental, the owners are often instructed to feed soft food for 2 weeks. Many people go buy canned food, and sometimes the tummy can get a little upset from the change.

Here’s a trick to use your dog’s regular dry food, but transform it into the same consistency as canned. No diet change. No gas. No loose stool. Everyone wins!

This works great for dogs, but mediocre for cats. Why? Cats are very bothered by changes in shape or texture, so they might be appalled by your cleverness. You can try it, but canned food might be the option your cat wants.

Here’s how to soften your dog’s food.

Simply take the regular amount of food your dog eats in a normal meal and put it in the bowl. Make sure there’s plenty of room in the bowl. Then add roughly the same amount of water – you’ll be surprised how much water the kibble can absorb. If you add warm water, the process will complete much faster. I use room temperature water, and let it sit for for hours. Same end result.

Here's the food with the water. Be generous with the water!

Here’s the food with the water. Be generous with the water!

Look how much water is absorbed just one hour after! This is using neutral, not hot water.

Look how much water is absorbed just one hour after! This is using neutral, not hot water.

The kibble has nearly doubled in size in 2 hours.

The kibble has nearly doubled in size in 2 hours.

After about 4-5 hours, the expanded kibble can be easily mashed.

After soaking about 4-5 hours, the expanded kibble can be easily mashed.

You can use a fork, a potato masher, even a pastry cutter. Don’t be gentle, mash it up thoroughly. You have achieved the consistency of a pate, but using your dog’s normal diet. After a few tries, you’ll get the hang of how much water to add, the temperature, and how long to wait before mashing. What works for me – after each meal, I rinse the bowl, scoop the food for the next meal, add water, and let it sit for the 11 hours or so until the next meal. If it will be 24 hours or so, refrigerating it would be a good idea.

This trick works not just for after dental procedures. If your dog has very bad teeth, and you cannot afford a dental cleaning and extractions, this at least offers a way for your dog to eat with less pain. This also works well for large dogs – feeding 2-3 cans of food per meal gets expensive very fast! This way is much more affordable, and more environmentally conscious than feeding 5-6 cans a day.