Wet food question

How long do you / are you suppose to leave wet food out?

I leave it for about 24 hours before cleaning it up. By then its pretty much gone (we have lazy eaters).

Actually, many people recommend that you not leave it out for more than 15 to 30 minutes, as it can spoil quickly, especially in warm weather. I have a "nibbler", too, and leave it out for 2 or 3 hours, though, provided it's cool in the house.

Originally Posted by jcat

Actually, many people recommend that you not leave it out for more than 15 to 30 minutes, as it can spoil quickly, especially in warm weather. I have a "nibbler", too, and leave it out for 2 or 3 hours, though, provided it's cool in the house.

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I leave it out until it's gone (about 2 hours). Between the 2 cats they manage to pretty much eat it all in that amount of time or less.

Our climate is not extremely hot so I personally think 15 to 30 minutes may not apply here. Not only that, I've never been blessed with a cat that would eat on demand, i.e., set meal times. Any cat I've ever had pretty much eats when it felt like it rather than when I wanted it to eat.

Mine are both piggies so I only give them what they'll eat in a sitting which ammounts to about a tablespoon and a half. When I was switching their wet food and they weren't eating it all at once I'd leave it till it was time for their bed-time dry food. Which was from 6ish to about 10 p.m. so, 4 hours.

It lasts about 5 minutes in my house I have left it down in automatic feeders all day though, but that's in a cool climate and with the food and bowls put in the fridge (or even freezer for a while) beforehand so that it doesn't warm up too quickly.

I leave it out for up to two hours, by which time it's usually gone. The rule of thumb I was taught for people food is that it can be left out for up to two hours if the temperature is below 80, or up to 30 minutes if it's above 80. I use the same rule for the cats' wet food.

I usually leave it out for about 1 hour. If its one the 4 of them like then it doesn't last long, if its one that only our Precious (pigglet) likes then it takes her longer to clean everyone elses bowls. Her name is Precious but she's gained the nickname Precious pigglet because she eats everything in sight if its wet food or scrapes that we happen to give them. She has even been known to muscle her way into the other cats bowls while they are still eating..hahaha....she is my baby!

I personally don't really worry about it. It's usually gone in a couple of hours so that's okay with me. In general, I clean up the breakfast dishes at dinner and the dinner dishes in the morning and it seems to work fine for us.

Well I have a nibbler too Miss Moofs of course, but I only put her a small portion out in the morning. I like to get the left-over thrown away ASAP, I live in fear of cockroaches coming in and it can attract flies, so the soonest its gone the better for me

Mine eat it all when I feed them, probably because they know it will be taken away if they don't I feed my crew wet food once in the afternoon, early evening, and they know when Meowmy comes home its time to eat!

I would agree that 2 hrs is a good time limit.

The leftover canned food doesn't last more than an hour here, they always finish it off by then. I have one cat that doesn't care too much for wet, but after it's all gone he likes to lick the crusty crumbs off the plate. Yuck ...but he really seems to enjoy the ritual so I don't stop him.

When do you feed them it then?

I feed usually in the morning, right before going to work. They'll beg and beg for it, then take 15 minutes of licking the juice and go nap. At some point it does disappear (after 2 hours), but its hard for me to gage when...

If leaving it out for over 30-60 minutes i place a small ice cube in it ...

Originally Posted by lunasmom

When do you feed them it then?

I feed usually in the morning, right before going to work. They'll beg and beg for it, then take 15 minutes of licking the juice and go nap. At some point it does disappear (after 2 hours), but its hard for me to gage when...

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They get canned food at about 6:30am and again at about 6:30pm. Maybe I'm just lucky, because mine really "go after it" like it's a meal. You would never know by watching them that they have dry food available all the time. I have the advantage of not working outside the house, though...so I do know that it's all gone pretty quickly.

My boys eat it all in one sitting- its usually gone within 5 minutes!

I just leave it out until it's gone, especially right now when it's cold. I put out the food before I leave for work, and I feed them (mostly Odo) again when I get home. In the summer, I'll have to work out a better system, but right now my house is about 60 degrees tops, so I'm not overly concerned (plus I've been doing this for months without any issues).

We are meal feeders, so it's never out for more than 15-20 minutes. I just put the bowl back in the fridge if it isn't all eaten and warm it a little in the micro at the next mealtime.

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

I just leave it out until it's gone, especially right now when it's cold. I put out the food before I leave for work, and I feed them (mostly Odo) again when I get home. In the summer, I'll have to work out a better system, but right now my house is about 60 degrees tops, so I'm not overly concerned (plus I've been doing this for months without any issues).

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60 degrees holy cow are you packing meat?!

I leave it out for a couple hours, and then it's gone on its own. I don't really worry about spoilage with their eating habits.