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My dog eats wet food. Is it normal he's not drinking much water?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Male | neutered | 7 years and 6 months old | 12 lbs

My dog Romeo is acting normal but isn’t drinking much water. However, he eats wet food two times a day. Does wet food have water content? He has not been exercising as much due to the rainy weather. Any concerns I should have? His urine is yellow but not any odor or extremely dark. He’s 7. Shih Tzu and 12.6 pounds.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Ana M, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 29th, 2020

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Romeo. Wet food has a very high moisture content. So dogs eating this type of food drink less water than when eating kibble. If he is exercising less, this will cause him to drink less as well. As long as he is eating and acting normal, then you do not likely need to be concerned. You can always follow up with his veterinarian, but I suspect he is fine. I hope this information helps!

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21Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By Kevin Sanada, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 12th, 2017

    There is virtually no serious condition that would cause a dog to drink less water; so based on that alone, I would not be too worried. The fact that Buster is otherwise normal goes a long ways to tell me that nothing harmful is happening with him. Wet dog food does provide a lot of water, so it's possible that he is getting enough from this; or possibly he is having other snacks/foods with a lot of water content (i.e. vegetables or fruits). It's also possible that he is drinking less due to not being as active as he used to be. Either way, I would not be concerned about this. If he seems to be otherwise normal, then this is a good sign that he is healthy and doing OK. I hope that helps and all is well with Buster.

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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