feeding wet only

I have a question for those of you who feed their cats only wet food. According to what I have read in many places, wet food should only be left donw for a short period of time before any uneaten should be thrown away. Different sources give different periods of time, usually between 30 mins and 1 hr. How long do you guys leave canned food down before tossing it?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Medora

I don't feed only wet, but I leave wet food down for up to 30 minutes on hot days, or up to an hour in cooler weather.

My cats eat it all as soon as it goes down! They get wet food 3 times a day and it gets eaten up straight away and then the bowls get washed until next time. I have left wet food in an auto feeder for several hours and it's been ok, but that's not in hot weather.

My cats usually eat most of it and the rest goes to the dog when they are done. I only serve 1-2 ounces at a time per cat.

Thanks for your responses! I'm trying to get my crew to eat more moist food, possibly only moist, but between the 3 of them it takes an hour to finish 1 6 oz can. I think what I'll have to do is pick up what they don't eat after 30 mins and don't give them any more until the next meal time. Hopefully they will get the idea that they better eat in a hurry rather then snacking all day which is what I've been letting them do (with dry food).

Thanks again!

Medora

My crew gets wet only. I give each cat 1/2 6 oz can in the morning and the other half in the evening. Two of the cats gobble it up as soon as it's down. Arthur usually leaves some. It gets picked up in about an hour and refrigerated until the next meal. I mix it with a little new food and microwave it a few seconds to take the chill off. Paisley sometimes leaves a bit. We have cut down on her food. I think she's past her kitten hungries all the time.

What you're cat doesn't eat in a span of 10 minutes, they don't need (until next sitting, which should be atleast 4 hours away, IMO). I don't feel comfortable feeding strictly moist; Zoe gets 1/2 of a 5.5 oz can per day... 1/4 in the morning, 1/4 at night. What she doesn't eat in 10 minutes, I cover with Seran wrap and fridgerate. I add that to some more canned as her meal in the evening.

Mine eat wet food only. They each get about 3oz in the morning and 2oz in the evening. Most of the food vanishes within about 10-15 minutes. Precious usually likes to make a couple of trips to finish hers. I cover it and put it on top of the fridge so the others don't steal it. She makes her 3 trips within about an hour.

They used to take forever to finish it. After I took the dry food away totally, their enthusiasm went up about 200%.

Originally Posted by beandip

Mine eat wet food only. They each get about 3oz in the morning and 2oz in the evening. Most of the food vanishes within about 10-15 minutes. Precious usually likes to make a couple of trips to finish hers. I cover it and put it on top of the fridge so the others don't steal it. She makes her 3 trips within about an hour.

They used to take forever to finish it. After I took the dry food away totally, their enthusiasm went up about 200%.

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That's only 5 oz a day per cat?? Mcat feeds about as much it seems but the cans all say about the same thing, 12 oz a day for a 10 lb cat. Is this too much? It seems like a lot to me but then it is mostly water...

Medora

Originally Posted by mschauer

That's only 5 oz a day per cat?? Mcat feeds about as much it seems but the cans all say about the same thing, 12 oz a day for a 10 lb cat. Is this too much? It seems like a lot to me but then it is mostly water...

Medora

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It doesn't sound like too much to me - Jaffa has approx 300g a day, which is about 10oz I think. It does depend on the food too - premium foods are likely to be more filling so they need less.

Originally Posted by mschauer

That's only 5 oz a day per cat?? Mcat feeds about as much it seems but the cans all say about the same thing, 12 oz a day for a 10 lb cat. Is this too much? It seems like a lot to me but then it is mostly water...

Medora

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Yes, 5oz/day. During the winter, they were eating another ounce or two per day (each). It does depend somewhat on the food. Most of what mine get is fairly high calorie. The recommendations on the cans vary quite a bit and I think a lot of them are recommending way too much. But it really depends on the cat as well as the food.

Wellness, Avoderm, and Natural Balance all recommend 1 5.5-6oz can per 6-8lb cat or some say "average", whatever that means . By Nature recommends 6oz per 8-10lb cat. Those recommendations seem pretty reasonable to me.

Leopold gets about 5oz, he's 11.5lbs, 9yrs old, fairly low activity level. I offer him leftovers that the others leave sometimes too. Sometimes he wants them, sometimes not.

Pumpkin and Pixel are young (1yr) and active, they're 8lbs each and eat the same amts as Leopold.

Paisley is 11lbs, but should weigh about the same as her sisters (8lbs), she gets the same amt (5oz).

Precious is 7lbs, but should weigh more, so she gets as much as she wants (usually about 8oz/day). She's the same age as Pumpkin, Pix, and Paisley.

Momma is 4yrs old, moderate activity level. She gets offered as much as the others but doesn't eat as much. Usually 4oz/day. She's 7.5lbs.

I used to offer them more and I really freaked out when I first started them on wet only, as they would not eat nearly as much as they were "supposed" to. Eventually, I fine tuned it to offer them what they could finish, and monitored their weights...when I saw that they maintained well, I calmed down.

What I usually do is wait until they walk away from the dish. Then I pick the dish up, stir it around a bit with my finger (what I refer to as "plumping it up") and put it in front of them again. Sometimes they'll eat a little more, sometimes not. Either way, once they walk away from the bowl, I pick it up. I scrape it back into the can, cover it, and refrigerate. Sometimes they'll eat it later from the refrigerator, sometimes they won't (they won't eat if it's been microwaved).

Originally Posted by beandip

Wellness, Avoderm, and Natural Balance all recommend 1 5.5-6oz can per 6-8lb cat or some say "average", whatever that means

. By Nature recommends 6oz per 8-10lb cat. Those recommendations seem pretty reasonable to me.

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Oops! My mistake. I've been feeding so many different foods and lately it has been the lower quality ones (long story) I forgot that the better quality foods are meant to be feed at lower quantities.

Thanks again for all the help,

Medora

my 9 week old kitten (Sugar) will only eat wet food. She gets about 2 tablespoons, 4 times a day, she won't eat any more then that for now.

Mine usually doesn't leave any left

These might be helpful
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=131308
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=131303

My cats are maintaining their weights on 1 can of wet food a day. This could be 6 oz or 5.5 oz depending on the brand. As I said, they get half for breakfast and the other half for dinner. When 2 eat the same thing, I split the can between them. We use Merrick, Wellness, Natural Balance and PetGuard brands. I have to mash the Merrick as no one likes the pieces. I'm thinking about skipping that brand.

I'll probably be stoned and driven out of town for this, but I put about 2 heaping tbsps. (1/2 can) down before I leave for work in the morning with 1/2 cup dry. I put the rest of the can in the refrigerator. When I get home at night there is usually only a couple "crumbs" left of their wet food and 1/2 the dry will be gone. I get a clean bowl, (I have around 12 stainless steel bowls so I always have a clean one), put in the rest of the can of wet food and leave that down until they finish it (usually within a couple hours). We have central air so our house doesn't get hot and I've not had any sick kitties. I personally tend not to get too excited about this sort of thing. The only things I'm very careful of are raw meat left out for any length of time and anything with mayonnaise which we know is made with raw eggs (at least my homemade mayo is). I have never ever had food poisoning and I have a sensitive digestive system, so I must be doing something right.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I'll probably be stoned and driven out of town for this, but I put about 2 heaping tbsps. (1/2 can) down before I leave for work in the morning with 1/2 cup dry. I put the rest of the can in the refrigerator. When I get home at night there is usually only a couple "crumbs" left of their wet food and 1/2 the dry will be gone. I get a clean bowl, (I have around 12 stainless steel bowls so I always have a clean one), put in the rest of the can of wet food and leave that down until they finish it (usually within a couple hours). We have central air so our house doesn't get hot and I've not had any sick kitties. I personally tend not to get too excited about this sort of thing. The only things I'm very careful of are raw meat left out for any length of time and anything with mayonnaise which we know is made with raw eggs (at least my homemade mayo is). I have never ever had food poisoning and I have a sensitive digestive system, so I must be doing something right.

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That's the kind of thing I've been wondering about. Cuz my guys are such slow eaters, the easiest thing for me is to put some moist down before I go to work and hope they finish it before it goes bad. I would make sure I clean the bowls when I get home and before I give them anything else.

Thanks for being brave and giving your 2 cents worth!

Medora