Timeframe for Canned Food

cats_toy

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We have just started the move from dry to wet (canned) food. I performed a search on the length of time cat owners leave their canned food out. I must say I was extremely surprised by the amounts ranging from 30min to 2 days.


The last thing we want to do is leave food out to long that could jeopardize our catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s health. So my question; what length of time do you feel is safe for canned food to remain out?

Thanks!!
 

jack31

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I'd feel comfortable with 4 hours, but my boys won't eat if after its sat out for more than an hour or so usually.

They are fed on a schedule as they eat raw so they are hungry when the food is presented.

Leslie
 

emmylou

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I leave it out until the next feeding (wet food twice a day), at which time I throw away whatever's left. Never had a problem with this, and growing up we fed our cats the same way. It takes a long time for refrigerated meat to spoil at room temperature, and cats won't eat something that's off.
 

laureen227

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depending on when i put it down [varies from evening to evening] it may stay there anywhere from 4-10 hours... and sometimes they eat it after it's been there all night.
 

audiocat

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I feed our cats their last canned meal for the day at about 11:00pm at night (before we go to bed). Sometimes in the morning around 8:00am or so I see or hear them eating whatever's left on their plate from the night before. Around 9:00am or so, I'll pick up the old plates of food and give them their breakfast. At 4-5:00pm they get another canned meal.

They've never gotten sick from canned being out all night. But, we do have a tile floor which stays quite cool. I'm assuming that since there is also free feed dry kibble out all the time, and they get fed canned 3 x's a day that they are not starving and won't eat food which has gone bad.
 

forensic

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I put wet food down before bed... there's never any left when I wake up so, I guess 30 min to 8 hours!
I did notice that after an hour or two when it starts to dry Hennessy won't even look at it anymore, so even if it's gone off he won't touch it. I'm not too worried.

(The dog, on the other hand, would eat anything that is on the floor... sooo....)
 

Willowy

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Haha, canned food doesn't last long once I put it out. If the cats don't eat it all after about 15 minutes, the dogs are allowed to finish it off.
 

gloriajh

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Same here - leave out until the next feeding, if anything is left. Put out before I go to bed, usually it's gone by the time I get up.

Since we have an ant problem, I sometimes put the food in an "ice dish" - keeps it cooler longer, too.

We also have tile floors.

I feed the ferals canned meat - and, because of ants, put it into a bowl that sits on top of ice (with vaseline smoothed all over the base where cats can't touch it). Most of the time it's gone by morning - sometimes it's not.

Everyone is fine, no problems.

Dogs: I grew up in the country. We had a female dog that would go out and kill a ground hog, she'd bring it back to "cook". When it started stinking up the area we'd see her eating on it. yuck! - Guess she was doing what was natural, she was a hardy dog, too.
 

canaws

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I feed my cat wet food they same way I fed her dry. I feed her twice a day, once in the AM and once in the PM. I leave the food out until the next feeding time and dump whatever is still in the bowl when it's time for more food.

When I switched her from dry to wet I tried to only leave the food out for an hour, but my cat barely ate anything that way. I think she was too used to grazing throughout the day.

I tend to add a little extra water to the wet food. It keeps it from drying up so fast, plus extra water is always good for cats.

Originally Posted by cats_toy

We have just started the move from dry to wet (canned) food. I performed a search on the length of time cat owners leave their canned food out. I must say I was extremely surprised by the amounts ranging from 30min to 2 days.


The last thing we want to do is leave food out to long that could jeopardize our catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s health. So my question; what length of time do you feel is safe for canned food to remain out?

Thanks!!
 

dusty's mom

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From what I've read, the digestive enzymes in dogs and cats are different than ours. In the wild they will often eat a "kill" over several days. As others have said, they won't eat something that smells bad to them, so I wouldn't worry about them getting sick over food left out over night. My cat won't eat food that has become a little dried out, but she likes veggie oil put on it if it has been out more than a couple of hours. Yeah, she's a diva!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Dusty's Mom

From what I've read, the digestive enzymes in dogs and cats are different than ours. In the wild they will often eat a "kill" over several days. As others have said, they won't eat something that smells bad to them, so I wouldn't worry about them getting sick over food left out over night. My cat won't eat food that has become a little dried out, but she likes veggie oil put on it if it has been out more than a couple of hours. Yeah, she's a diva!
they do eat days old kill but it is naturally preserved via burying it ..

IMHO no more than 1.5 hours but my kids wont eat after 30-45 minutes
 
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