Puppy doesn't detect thirst

Hi guys this is my first post so I hope it's in the right place.
So my (almost) 6 month old pup has just been diagnosed with an extremely rare congenital brain condition which prevents her body from detecting thirst. So now in order to ensure her sodium does not reach fatal levels we must add 200ml water to her meals and feed her 3 times a day. My concern here is that she can no longer be on dry food but rather a combination of rice, meat and veggies (which is fine) so I have no idea how to measure out the quantity she requires. She was previously having just over two cups of dry food a day but obviously kibble is different in weight than rice, meat etc. I'm just worried of over or under feeding her. The vet did say that she can have canned dog food but I'd prefer not to.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to work out how much to feed and/or recommendations on what the best quantity combination would be eg 50% rice, 25 meat 25 veg eyc.

Thanks in advance

Would you consider feeding raw? That would be easy to add the water to and the ratios are quite simple. I don't really know about home cooked food but I would imagine a similar principle to raw but without the bone, I would go for mostly meat and carbs and veg have very little benefit to dogs. Some links here about raw in case your interested.

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/barf_and_raw_diets

http://staffy-bull-terrier.com/raw_faq

Hi Nalabala, found this recipe for pups if you prefer to cook her food which gives the ratios you want. Although it doesnt say how much to feed, other advice says try a small amount and add more if the pup eats its it all up. At least there's plenty of water in it and you could presumably add more to serve it. Sorry that you pup has this condition - I'm sure its controllable with lots of care.
"All it takes is a few minutes to chop the ingredients, and some time in the slow cooker. Powerful omega-3 fatty acids in every bite! Be prepared for puppy happiness :-)

1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup diced apple (no seeds, or core, please)
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken meat, cubed into tiny cubes appropriate for your size puppy
1 small can of sardines (like a super food in a can!)
2 1/2 cups of uncooked brown rice
1/4 cup of olive oil (remember, puppies need their allotment of fats)
7 cups of filtered water
Place everything into a slow cooker and cook on high for 6 - 7 hours. You will know it's ready to cool for your puppy when you test to see if the rice is cooked through. HINT: Try substituting other healthy vegetables, such as chopped green beans, peas, plums or even sweet potato every now and then. Choose organic foods whenever possible. Beef or lamb can be switched out for the chicken. Be sure you choose good quality meats that are fresh from the market". Good luck

Thank you both for your help!
I have thought about raw but will definitely need to do some solid research. At the moment the only raw she gets is the little bits of meat around raw bones and I've heard mixed things about it. 'Dogs should eat mainly raw' to 'too much raw is not good for them' so thank you for the links! Will check them out.
Lovemystaffies thah recipe seems so simple. We don't have a slow cooker but I'm sure it could be done on a stove top too. Thank you and yes, definitely easy to manage we just have to be very careful as their water needs change with age. We are just relieved we know what's wrong and now how to keep it at bay. Poor little bugger has has a tough couple of months at such a young age.

I don't know whether it's suitable for all dogs, but have you tried goats' milk? Mine loves it and he drinks it even when he's not thirsty. I'd advise you check with the vet first though, because as I say I don't know if it's suitable for yours.

Have you tried getting her to lick an ice cube ? just an idea or freeze her food in a Kong, this may be another way of getting the required amount of moisture into her body.

Bane likes goats milk too Just start small though as it can cause an upset tummy!
Raw is great for getting moisture into them, we find Bane only drinks after he has had a run around, otherwise doesn't really bother!
As for the cooking meals for her, I'm sure there are plenty of recipes around! I think my parents had to give their Dobey rice and chicken because of her skin and that was about 50/50. The more meat the better though I guess

Thank you for all your tips. Trying the freezing of some
Beef broth today. She will lap up her water even with just a teaspoon of yoghurt so as long as it tastes of food in some way, she's in. She doesn't touch her water during the day do tricking her is the way. Now we have to be careful of her drinking tooooo much as if it tastes of food, the whole bowl is gone. She's not a leave for later type pup. Although I'm not sure if any staffs are hehe

Any idea where to buy goats milk? Not sure I've seen it. Normal refrigerated milk section or long life?

Most supermarkets have it in their chilled milk selections , otherwise prob health food stores if you have one near you. Good she's responding to your efforts.

Nalabala wrote:Any idea where to buy goats milk? Not sure I've seen it. Normal refrigerated milk section or long life?

I get St Helen's goats' milk from Tesco's online. Costs £1.60 for 1L. It's a bit more expensive than other brands but I think it tastes better (I drink it too!). You can get skimmed, semi-skimmed or full fat.

BTW, don't bother with goats' milk for dogs. It's exactly the same as normal goat's milk apart from over twice the price.

We got ours from the long life section of milk in supermarket!

Thanks! I'll check out both in that case. Nala will eat anythjng, she even loves yoghurt so she's ok with dairy and lactose. One of the ways we get her to drink water is add a spoon of plaing yoghurt to it. We are lucky, with her condition, that at least she isn't picky with her food.
And we froze the broth yesterday and she loooooved it. So we've left her with a bowl of water with a couple of cubes in it hoping she'll drink as it melts.

Just a little update - it's been one week since we got her home and her check up today went perfectly. Her sodium levels were in the normal range, she is a healthy weight and her skin has improved dramatically too (she had what looked like bad dandruff before but never itched her skin so we had no idea it was all connected).
Thank you for all your tips. I know it has only been a week but we just have to continue doing what we have been doing and hopefully the rest of her life wont be as tough as her first 6 months.

That's great news, thanks for the update xx

Sounds great I hope she continues to improve!