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Free feeding with wet food....

post #1 of 9
3/28/11 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
Is it possible? How long can canned food be reasonably left out at room temp? TIA!
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post #2 of 9
3/28/11 at 11:48am
It's not supposed to be left out long. You could probably get away with 2 hours. Now, to be honest, I put canned food out at night and take the dishes up in the morning, so theoretically it's out for many more hours. But I don't think the cats actually eat any more after 2 or 3 hours. It gets all dried out and gross looking. I give the leftovers to the dogs--who don't get sick. So maybe it's not even necessary to worry about how long it's out, health-wise. But it is true that very few cats are going to eat un-fresh wet food if they don't have to.
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post #3 of 9
3/28/11 at 12:29pm
I'm doing the same thing, have been since "the days of Noah". Never had a cat get sick from canned food left out longer than a couple of hours. Of course, the fact is, they are active at certain times of day, especially in the morning hours and then again in the evening. During the day they usually rest and sleep. So they eat when they have their active periods and then show little or no interest in whatever was left over.
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post #4 of 9
3/28/11 at 1:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Willowy View Post
It's not supposed to be left out long. You could probably get away with 2 hours. Now, to be honest, I put canned food out at night and take the dishes up in the morning, so theoretically it's out for many more hours. But I don't think the cats actually eat any more after 2 or 3 hours. It gets all dried out and gross looking. I give the leftovers to the dogs--who don't get sick. So maybe it's not even necessary to worry about how long it's out, health-wise. But it is true that very few cats are going to eat un-fresh wet food if they don't have to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Violet View Post
I'm doing the same thing, have been since "the days of Noah". Never had a cat get sick from canned food left out longer than a couple of hours. Of course, the fact is, they are active at certain times of day, especially in the morning hours and then again in the evening. During the day they usually rest and sleep. So they eat when they have their active periods and then show little or no interest in whatever was left over.
This is good to know, thanks!
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post #5 of 9
3/29/11 at 10:40am
I leave wet food out in the cooler weather only. During the summer it gets around 83 degrees in my condo (even with the air conditioning running 24x7), so I don't leave out wet food; rather, I leave Ritz a little dry food. Normally, her diet is 100% wet.
I think off and on about buying one of those timed food dispensers; I know (think?) they make them to dispense wet food as well as dry. I've also tried puting the wet food in a small bowl, and then put the small bowl in a large bowl of ice. Problem when I did that was, the melting ice makes a noise which spooks Ritz. Go figure...
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post #6 of 9
3/30/11 at 6:52am
I freeze canned food and leave in it my auto feeder if I am going to be out overnight. Works out well.
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post #7 of 9
3/30/11 at 9:46am
Great idea about freezing the food. I may try that. Thanks.
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post #8 of 9
3/30/11 at 9:55am
Check popular review sites including Amazon though. If unsupervised, they can either be popped open early by your cat (there's no chute to keep away paws and these tend to be cheaply made), fail to open and your kitty goes hungry, and freezing is needed as the cooling packs are woefully inadequate, but you also have to figure out how to time it just right so that it close to room temperature for your cats not to turn their noses up at it, but not thawed too early or you risk the food going bad. You'd also need to clean the device after each use.

If freezing to feed yourself, also remember not to put it in the microwave for thawing, as that will destroy the taurine in the food which over time can be deadly.
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post #9 of 9
3/30/11 at 9:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ritz View Post
Great idea about freezing the food. I may try that. Thanks.
Seconded! That's a really excellent suggestion. I too have been trying to figure out what to do for overnight trips since I can't give one of my cats any kibble.

I've been leaving them freeze-dried raw, but that stuff is really expensive! It's $30 more a month when fed for only one meal a week.

I've been uneasy about leaving canned food out for too long and worrying about the cats stealing eachother's portions, but I may experiment with this freezing + autofeeder idea.
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