How to Rehydrate Freeze Dried Treats

Pour warm water over the pieces, a tablespoon to a handful, and give them a couple of minutes before you serve them. A freeze dried piece is full of tiny pores, and it drinks the water in quickly.

The details are small: how much water, how long, and when to skip the whole business and hand over the crisp piece as it is.

When to add water and when not to

Most freeze dried treats are meant to be given dry. They are crisp, light and easy to carry, and a dry piece is the right size and texture for a training pocket. Add water when you want something different: a softer piece for an animal that struggles with a hard one, a topper that mixes into a bowl, or a treat with more smell.

The directions on the bag come first. If the printed directions say to feed the treat dry, or give a method for soaking it, follow the bag over anything here. Where the bag is silent, the steps below are a place to start.

This page is about texture and serving only. It makes no statement about what water does inside an animal, and a licensed professional who cares for yours is the person for questions of that kind.

Warm water, cool water and how long

Set up a small test before you soak a full serving, and use a timer. Put a handful of cubes in a shallow bowl, pour a tablespoon of warm water over them, and press one piece between your fingers at two minutes and again at ten. Note how far the softness has reached each time; the outside gives before the center, and thickness decides how long the center holds out. The timer is how you find the right soak for your own pieces.

Use a shallow bowl, so the water reaches every piece; a deep cup leaves the top layer dry while the bottom sits in a puddle, and a stir halfway through evens it out. Warm water works faster than cool. Cool water works too, and takes longer. Hot water is not needed and can leave a piece mushy at the edges. Warm to the wrist is the idea.

Start with less water than you think you need. A tablespoon for a handful is a starting point, and it is easy to add a little more. Too much water leaves a bowl of soup with soggy pieces floating in it, and the pieces cannot be dried again.

Whole fish are a different job from cubes. A thick body takes longer than a thin tail, so break a piece in half before soaking if it is long. The Sniff and Shift freeze dried minnows and sardines are freeze dried whole in small batches in Malvern from imported seafood and are labeled for dogs and cats, and breaking them first gives an even result.

Treats as a topper

Soaked pieces break apart easily, which makes them useful as a topper. Mash a few into the animal's regular food, or crumble dry pieces over it and add a spoon of warm water to wet it. A cat that turns up its nose at a dry cube will sometimes take a softened one.

Keep the amount small. VCA's treat guidance, from VCA Hospitals, says treats should make up no more than 10 percent of a pet's daily calories, and a topper counts as a treat. For a cat, two or three soaked pieces is a sensible size, and for a dog it depends on the dog.

The range of freeze dried cat treats and the one for freeze dried dog treats each list the forms and bag sizes, which helps when you are choosing something that will soak well.

What to do with leftovers

Soaked treats smell more and have to be eaten that day. That is the trade off: you get a softer, stronger smelling piece, and you lose the shelf life the dry piece had. Soak only what the animal will eat at that meal.

If any of it was raw, the bowl and the spoon have touched a raw product. FDA's tips for handling pet food advise washing bowls and scooping utensils with soap and hot water after each use, and our raw feeding notice sets out the routine for every product on the site. Throw out what is left in the bowl at the end of the meal.

Keep the unsoaked pieces in their bag, closed tightly. A bag that has been opened and closed with damp hands will take on moisture, so dry your fingers first. The process that makes the pieces so quick to soften is described in how freeze dried dog treats are made, and it also explains why the bag has to stay shut.

Common questions

How much water do you add to freeze dried treats?

A tablespoon of warm water over a handful of pieces is a starting point. Add a little more if the center is still crisp after several minutes.

Can you rehydrate freeze dried treats with cold water?

Yes, and it takes longer than warm water. Warm to the wrist is quicker, and hot water is not needed.

Can I save rehydrated freeze dried treats for later?

Plan on feeding them the same day. Soaked pieces are wet food and do not keep like the dry ones, so soak only what will be eaten at that meal.

Do all freeze dried treats need to be soaked?

No. Most are meant to be given dry, and the printed directions on the bag are the guide. Soak only when you want a softer piece or a topper.