From UpToDate: Case-based reports, retrospective series, and testimony from hospice professionals support the view that dehydration in terminally ill patients is associated with amelioration of symptoms (eg, relief from choking and drowning sensations, less coughing and chest congestion, decreased urine output with less need for catheterization and bedwetting, decreased GI fluid with less vomiting, bloating, and diarrhea, less peripheral edema, less pain), diminished appetite, no thirst, and a comfortable death. In particular, good mouth care provides a useful intervention for caregivers and family members to do for their loved one to improve symptoms of thirst and mouth irritation.