The Balancing Act Of Water

Approximately two-thirds of your
pet’s body is made up of water!!

The importance of water and its effect on all body mechanisms is one of the most critical balancing acts that the body performs.

It’s important to recognize the relationship between urinary infections, urinary blockages from crystal formation and dehydration or reduced total fluid intake and turnover. Take cats as an example. In comparison to dogs, they are more susceptible to urinary urolithiasis. A cat can try to increase its voluntary water intake when eating a dry cat food but will not be able to sufficiently compensate for the lower moisture content in the food. A dog however is better able to compensate for low moisture levels, (which is why cats have a higher level of urinary problems than dogs).

Problems With Low-Moisture Foods

Dogs and cats that are given a continuous diet of low moisture foods may eventually be subjected to elevated levels of urolithiasis. A suggested recovery program for both cats and dogs with low moisture intake from their diets is to switch to a higher moisture content diet (the BARF Diet) that offers a more utilized and absorbed intake of water than you can get from voluntary ingestion of water. When water content is increased in the body, the urine will contain a lower concentration of the mineral components that lead to urolith formation. And the increasing urine volume stimulates frequency of urination thus decreasing the time available for struvite formation.

Other body mechanisms that are affected by low moisture intake are cellular function and cellular formation. One has only to look at the following to understand the importance of an adequate supply of water in your pet’s body:

• Approximately two-thirds of an animal’s body is water.
• Brain is 90% water
• Bones are 22% water,
• Muscles have 75% water content
• Blood is 83% water.

Here’s what else water does for your pet:

• Transports nutrients and oxygen to the cells, moisturizes the air in the lungs
, helps with metabolism
, helps the organs to absorb nutrients.
• Regulates body temperature
- detoxifies
- protects and moisturizes the joints.

Overall, water makes up around 80%

of your dog’s body mass.

A separate report can be made on the requirements of the kidney and the delicate balancing act it performs in regulating the water balance in the body. Lack of water, known as dehydration, has harmful effects such as lethargy, constipation muscle cramping, irregular blood pressure, kidney problems, digestive system malfunction, and dry skin.

Dry Skin

A majority of new cases that we see every day are allergy and dry skin related issues. We are amazed to see the dry skin condition change when the pet is switched to food with higher moisture content. In fact, this is one of the first observable differences that our customers see when making the switch to the “water rich” BARF Diet.

A little known fact is that the skin is the largest organ in the body and it requires its share of water too. This is why hair coat is an important indication of adequate hydration. Is your pet’s hair coat dry and coarse instead of soft and shiny?

Sometimes the easiest cures come from the simplest solutions. Increase the water content and watch the entire operating system improve dramatically. Decrease the water content and witness the devastating effects of dehydration. If you have ever been rehydrated with IV fluids you will you remember how much better you began to feel as the fluids entered your body.

A Detoxifying Agent

The body uses water to help flush out toxins and waste products. Feeding a diet with 70% moisture will automatically induce a detoxifying effect. The quick release of toxins from the body may cause a skin condition to worsen temporarily, but eventually, the reduced toxins and waste products will promote better health and vitality. Itching and scaling skin conditions improve quickly by merely switching to a high moisture diet. Naturally some skin conditions take longer than others to correct due to the amount of toxins and waste material to be removed.

A Hydrated Immune System is God’s Best Medicine

The immune system is nature’s secret to good health. A hydrated immune system is God’s best medicine. Our overall goal, in recommending a biologically appropriate raw food diet, is to improve hydration and thus improve the immune system. You can now see the importance of water to your pet’s body and the benefits it produces and the importance of feeding the water-rich BARF Diet.

-Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller, BSc, Pharm. is a registered pharmacist, author of “ Living Enzymes: The World’s Best Kept Pet Food Secret” , and co-developer of BARF World’s BARF Diets patties, nuggets and supplements – the first company to make the Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods (BARF) diet conveniently available to animals everywhere. To receive more articles like these in your email inbox, click here to sign up for “The Intelligent Pet” weekly e-zine absolutely FREE!