can food. refigerate or not?

Should I refrigerate the canned catfood after opening? Or can I just put one of those can lids on it and feed him the rest in the next few day without refridgerating? was just thinking the cat might not like the cold food?

You NEED to refidgerate it after opening ... it will spoil

But you're right that they may not like it cold. You can zap it in the microwave (not in the can, of course) or add a little warm water and mix it up to bring the temp up.

I refrigerate after opening and always transfer the contents into a glass container, never in the can itself. To warm it up, I add about two spoonfuls of warm/hot water and mix well.

I have never refrigerated food and never had a cat poorly off it, although it might last a tad longer - I find that they get bored of the flavour first though.

I always set the leftover can in the fridge overnight. I don't give them cold food - its either set on the counter when we eat supper or I add hot water to the food and make it soupy (thus warming it up).

Some of the cans of food (Natural Balance) tend to be pretty solid packed with little moisture, so they really like it better when I add water to it.

When I take the can out of the refrigerator, I warm it up by placing the closed can in hot water for five to ten minutes.

I don't think you'd eat ground beef you'd left out on the counter overnight; the cat food has meat in it, and it will spoil in a pretty short time. Think of it as raw ground beef, and treat it accordingly.

Our cats eat it cold, and don't seem to mind it, judging by the way they come running when I get it out.

Not refrigerating leftover canned food is not worth the risk of your cat getting sick.
Always refrigerate the unused portion of canned food.

This is how I do it....
AM meal / my 2 cats share 1/2 can divided into 2 bowls.
I transfer the remaining half to a small glass storage container with a tight plastic lid which I immediately refrigerate.

PM meal / they eat the remaining half of the canned food.
I remove the refrigerated food, divide that into two microwaveable dishes.
I microwave those for 10 seconds to take the chill off.

This works really well for us.

thanks every one you guys are great! I looked on the can for that " refrigerate after opening" label and couldnt find it, so I thought id ask.

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

But you're right that they may not like it cold. You can zap it in the microwave (not in the can, of course) or add a little warm water and mix it up to bring the temp up.

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A microwave may make it or the plate too hot and the cat can be burned. It's best to use a bit of hot water to warm it up.

However, I find that Chynna prefers her canned food fresh from the fridge instead of freshly opened at room temperature. I mash it up with a fork and then gather it loosely into a pile on the plate and she chows down.

You had me wondering, so I just went and looked at the Friskies can. It's small, and at the very end, but it says, "Refrigerate Unused Portion."

Originally Posted by xocats

...
I remove the refrigerated food, divide that into two microwaveable dishes.
I microwave those for 10 seconds to take the chill off.

This works really well for us.

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

A microwave may make it or the plate too hot and the cat can be burned. It's best to use a bit of hot water to warm it up.

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As Lei mentioned, it only takes a few seconds to take the chill off, and that's all you want to do -- certainly not enough to be in danger of burning. However, to each his own.

thanks guys.

Originally Posted by BillyG

Should I refrigerate the canned catfood after opening? Or can I just put one of those can lids on it and feed him the rest in the next few day without refridgerating? was just thinking the cat might not like the cold food?

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What I like to do is refrigerate the opened leftovers and put one of those plastic lids on as well. To seal in the goodness and keep it fresh. I have a very picky old female but she doesn't mind eating it a little cold.

I have never kept a can of food overnight. When I open a can for my boy in the morning, I feed him half, and put the remaining food in the can into one of those small tupperware-type containers that seals. When I give him the rest of the food in the evening, it's as fresh as when I originally opened it.