As Auden alluded, water is the basic stuff of life. Living creatures, like young pups, may go for some considerable time between meals, but not between drinks. Like us, their bodies comprise mainly of water, perhaps as much as 75% water, for an 8-week old pup.
Water is the substrate in which all the chemicals of the body are dissolved, all cells are bathed, and all cell contents are suspended. It is also the essential vehicle of the circulatory system.
Nothing in the body goes anywhere without water. As little as a 10%-15% reduction in total body water can result in death.
And water doesn't just sit there in a static pool. It is constantly lost and replenished resulting in a dynamic status quo. |