Dehydration of dogs can cause kidney problems and severely affect their health. Canned dog foods are an easy solution to fulfill your dog's water requirement combined with nutrition and flavor. These meals are also called wet dog foods due to their high moisture content. Besides water, these pet foods are enriched with nutrients and essential oils, giving your dog a complete and balanced diet.
However, choosing the best wet dog food is essential, as inappropriate ones can cause health problems or food allergies. To help you choose the best dog food, we brought a complete list of canned foods recommended by vets and tested by customers. These dog foods are ideal for pups of all ages. Before jumping to the list, let's see why every dog on the planet needs it.
Benefits Of Canned Dog Foods
Water is an essential factor for your canine's health. Less water intake can cause loss of consciousness and multiple other problems for your adult dog. Out of all dog foods, only wet food has high water content. These foods fulfill your pup's water requirement without compromising the meal's nutritional value. Compared with dry dog foods, wet meals have more water which helps support healthy hydration of your dog.
Another big benefit of wet dog food is their scent and flavor. Unlike dehydrated foods, wet foods typically have a strong smell and taste. That is why even your picky eaters love having them as their morning treats. Unlike dry food, canned dog food is extra chewable and easy to digest because of its high water content, meaning it won't cause a problem for your canine with a missing tooth. Besides, better chewing helps in extra nutrient absorption, which enhances your dog's health.
Unopened canned dog food has a shelf life longer than dry dog food. You may ask how long can wet dog food sit out once opened. Opened canned dog food has a shelf life of only an hour. After that, the risk of getting contaminated by microbes increases. So, it's better to be cautious.
Buying Guide Of The Best Canned Dog Food
The dog food market has thousands of options when it comes to canned dog foods. With so many choices, finding the best wet dog food becomes tricky. However, this daunting task can be made easier if you focus on a few key factors. Keep a keen eye on the wet food ingredients, brand reputation, and calorie content to make an informed decision.
The quality of ingredients is the first thing you need to focus on. Don't use products having artificial additives of filler grains. Instead, choose the ones with natural components to serve your dog's nutritional requirements. Your required calorie content would vary depending on your dog's size, breed, and activity. Be sure to find a wet dog food that is appropriate for your dog to minimize the risk of overfeeding or underfeeding.
Lastly, check for reviews of a particular product to judge the credibility and reputation of the brand. You can consider the food options below if you don't want to spend hours searching for the perfect one. All the wet foods below are recommended by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. Thanks to their human-grade ingredients, these grain-free foods serve as a complete and balanced diet for your puppy.
If you are a dog parent looking for a meal that could help your canine maintain a healthy weight, Purina Pro Plan is the solution for you. The chicken liver, chicken broth, beef liver, and turkey liver used in this canned dog food can help your dog put on a few pounds of muscle mass in a minimum duration. Besides, this package also has salmon oil that helps promote healthy skin for adult dogs.
Purina Pro Plan is known for its high content of vitamins and minerals, especially the turkey recipe. The 23 essential amino acids inside helps improve the immune system. Besides, many pet parents reviewed it to nourish their dog's coat health by making it shinier. Another reason why this food made it to the scoreboard, is because it is filler grain free and has no artificial preservatives. Therefore, the risk of allergies is minimized with its usage.
The folic acid and vitamin E inside it help give your pup complete and balanced nutrition. The best part is this wet dog food, is it's available in a variety of 3 recipes, making it ideal for picky eaters. It is also suitable for smaller dogs thanks to its low-fat content. Plus, you can use it with the combination of dry kibble as a topper to have dual benefits.
The soft texture of this wet dog food makes it perfect for senior dogs. If you are highly conscious about the brand's reputation, Pedigree would satisfy you well. This wet dog food is highlighted due to its quality control products in a US-originated manufacturing facility. Its production is under the supervision of American feed control officials to ensure nutritional value.
As for the ingredients, Pedigree used wheat flour, vitamins, and minerals. The vitamins A and D3 in it help make it a human-grade dog food recipe with complete and balanced nutrition. This wet dog food is easy to chew, even for senior dogs, thanks to the green beans, beef broth, and chicken bone broth. This Pedigree dog food has multiple flavors, each with soft textured veggies.
The Merrick Grain Free Wet Dog Food is best for pet parents traveling with their furry companions. Thanks to its small can size, your dog won't miss out on their favorite meal while on a journey anymore. This wet dog food has more than one grain-free diet and the protein inside comes from animals, making it a complete and balanced raw food alternative for your dog.
The chicken liver, beef liver, and chicken broth used in it help enhance your dog's bone and muscle development. The beef recipe of this wet dog food is the most popular among pet parents because it is suitable for all life stages.
This grain-free dog food is perfect for dogs with food allergies. The absence of artificial additives and filler grains makes it the one of the best wet dog foods on the market. Moreover, this recipe has a flavorful taste that is ideal for picky dogs, and pups with a big appetite. Another highlight of this grain-free dog food is its USA-inspired deboned chicken ingredient, helping to repair damaged muscles with its high protein content.
Hill's Science Diet Wet Dog Food is another perfect choice for dogs on a weight management program. According to their customers, most dogs using it, hit their target weight goal in 10 weeks with this product. This wet dog food has every essential nutrient your dogs need to live their lives to the fullest, which is why board-certified veterinary nutritionists recommend using it daily.
The biggest highlight of this wet dog food is its water content. The canned dog food has more than 84% moisture in its recipe and vets recommend using it for dogs not keen enough to drink water regularly. Using it would help fulfill their water requirement and give them extra nutrients typical dry dog foods do not have.
The mixture of water and chunks of raw food helps make a slurry/stew form of dog food, making it easily chewable for senior dogs. Moreover, pet parents of dogs with dental issues stated that it is easily digestible. This pet food provides complete and balanced nutrition to your dog as a whole meal, or with a combination of dry foods to give your dog a balanced diet.
Cesar wet food is an all-in-one producer that serves well for all life stages. It is exceptionally compatible with toy breeds. With the combination of more than four recipes, this wet food will satisfy your little picky eaters. All the nutrients come from natural sources, so you won't have to worry about your dog's specific food allergies. In addition, there are no artificial additives that can act as allergens.
The main ingredient in this canned dog food is meat. Like other wet dog foods, this one uses real beef liver, turkey liver, beef broth, and chicken liver to give your dog the vitamins, proteins, and essential oils they need. This product comes in pre-portioned tubs, and pet parents love that because it saves them the hassle of measuring how much wet food to give their dog.
This wet food has plenty of vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin D3, which helps provide balanced nutrition for your pup. If you plan to use it with dry kibble, the Cesar canned dog food will mix well with it. Plus, dog owners of senior dogs use this product because the chunks inside this dog food are smaller and easy to chew and digest.
Conclusion
A combination of moisture and raw food like beef bone broth, brown rice, and pork liver make wet food the best dog food for your canine. Canned dog food is considered fresh even if stored for ages. Its huge moisture content makes it ideal for dogs of all life stages. However, with so many options on the market, choosing the ideal one can be challenging. Thanks to our thoroughly researched list above, you can make an informed decision without wasting time.