Leaving Raw Food Out

Does anybody know how long you can safely leave raw cat food out for them to eat?

Thanks.

I personally wouldn't leave raw out for more than half an hour, My cats gobble up their food in less than 5 minutes so I have no worries I know other cats may be slower or pickier eaters and may take awhile to finish a meal. I think there are a few people here who do leave raw out for at least a few hours, maybe in a timed feeder or something.

What type of raw are you feeding? Frozen and frankenprey and homemade shouldn't be left out too long but I think freeze dried and air dried raw can sit in a bowl nearly all day.

In the cooler months i leave raw out for a couple of hours no problem, but usually its gone pretty quick tho. In the summer months I use Frosty Bowlz for any raw because I live in the desert. 

It is a homemade raw food (Dr. Pierson or Feline Nutrition recipe). I have 3 cats and they are in transition, so 1/2 of it is canned food for two of my cats and the other 1/2 is raw.  They both are grazers, eat a little and go back to it a while later and eat more.

I have left it out for about 45 minutes so far, but it is the winter and I keep my house on the cooler side so I haven't really worried too much yet.  In the summer, I know I can't do that and wouldn't feel comfortable with more than 30 minutes.

Maybe I can ask a butcher and see what they say.  One of my cats eats it up within 10-15 minutes but not the other two.  One was formerly a dry food junkie.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

You all would probably gasp when you hear what I do:  I use Frostybowlz and leave the food out all day.  I put out fresh food once/day and change ice packs 2x/day in winter, 3x/day in summer.

No problems with this in the two years I've been doing it.  The breeder I got the cats from was very insistent about this feeding method, and she's been doing it for 10 years with no problems.  She feeds exclusively Nature Variety raw though.

I do however pay a lot of attention to freshness and trusty sources.  I trust Hare Today and also there's a poultry farm nearby that I know cleans all its equipment every night and hasn't had a pathogen issue in the 30 years of its operation.  No uncooked grocery meat, even from Whole Foods.  And definitely no celery :-)

Not sure I would do this right off the bat in a cat used to canned food.  Remember what happens when you go traveling and get "Montezuma's revenge"?  It's a matter of being used to the bacteria.  My cats were brought up this way from day one, so they handle it just fine.  I suspect a feral cat would as well.

sophie1 said:

 
You all would probably gasp when you hear what I do:  I use Frostybowlz and leave the food out all day.  I put out fresh food once/day and change ice packs 2x/day in winter, 3x/day in summer.

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I use Frosty Bowlz in the summer too. Raw doesn't last that long out in my house tho with so many kittens running around. 

TIL about Frosty Bowlz. Will now have to go order some.

Does Frosty bowl keep the food cold?  I feed it warmed.  I don't know if they will eat it cold.

Thanks

feline03 said:

 
Does Frosty bowl keep the food cold?  I feed it warmed.  I don't know if they will eat it cold.

Thanks

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It does keep it cold. I don't warm my cats raw food at all because I'm concerned about bacteria growth. I think if you're warming the raw food you do not want to leave it out very long at all because warming it already promotes bacteria growth. 

missmimz said:

 
It does keep it cold. I don't warm my cats raw food at all because I'm concerned about bacteria growth. I think if you're warming the raw food you do not want to leave it out very long at all because warming it already promotes bacteria growth. 

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Agreed.  I don't warm food either - just put it out straight from the fridge, and it stays almost as chilled as meat in a grocery display case.

One of my cats is 2 years old and still growing, and I can always tell when he's starting another growth spurt because he gets ravenously hungry, eats too much and regurgitates it.  I'm guessing the cold food is partly to blame for that, but it doesn't seem to be a problem when he's doing his usual grazing.  Thankfully it doesn't seem to happen otherwise.  Anyway you might want to reconsider this method if your cats have this issue.

I have one very picky eater. I leave it out for about an hour or so. If she doesn't eat it, the other will.

In the rare chance neither of them eat it, I put it away for snack the next day or throw it out.

Thank you Sophie1 for putting your head above the parapet.. I do exactly the same with my raw feeding of six cats. Food is put out am and they graze on it. When finished new is put out. I know this is wrong to many people as they are free fed and eat as much as they want, however I do have to say they see a vet yearly and ALL have come away with perfect body condition scores and perfect teeth. Two are involved in a Vetinary Uni study.
This happened as the kittens all came into the household separately in stages and separating them when feeding would have created disharmony with MY cats, other cats maybe different. We have not once with any cats OR ourselves had health issues. I do make sure food is placed in a variety of locations so there is no competition for resources but because of this ours don't bolt their food and only eat enough for that moment.

Does anyone know if Frosty Bowlz can be bought in EU (Sweden)? Their website only has a US shipping option. I saw a few listed on amazon.co.uk but they are all the larger deeper versions - I need the 14oz specifically. 

Citrineblue said:

Thank you Sophie1 for putting your head above the parapet.. I do exactly the same with my raw feeding of six cats. Food is put out am and they graze on it. When finished new is put out. I know this is wrong to many people as they are free fed and eat as much as they want, however I do have to say they see a vet yearly and ALL have come away with perfect body condition scores and perfect teeth. Two are involved in a Vetinary Uni study.
This happened as the kittens all came into the household separately in stages and separating them when feeding would have created disharmony with MY cats, other cats maybe different. We have not once with any cats OR ourselves had health issues. I do make sure food is placed in a variety of locations so there is no competition for resources but because of this ours don't bolt their food and only eat enough for that moment.

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Thank you for posting this!  Yes, my cats are perfect weight also, and they have self-regulated beautifully as they've transitioned from kitten to adult.  They do vary how much they eat each day, so sometimes I have to put new food out 2 or 3 times in a day, and other times the food sits out a full day.  I just keep switching the ice packs and this is just fine.  And I don't have to measure amounts or pack precise portions for the freezer.

I was worried about competition but I don't have a lot of choices for feeding stations.  Fortunately my cats do just fine sharing a single bowl.

What do you feed your cats?

sophie1 said:

Thank you for posting this!  Yes, my cats are perfect weight also, and they have self-regulated beautifully as they've transitioned from kitten to adult.  They do vary how much they eat each day, so sometimes I have to put new food out 2 or 3 times in a day, and other times the food sits out a full day.  I just keep switching the ice packs and this is just fine.  And I don't have to measure amounts or pack precise portions for the freezer.

I was worried about competition but I don't have a lot of choices for feeding stations.  Fortunately my cats do just fine sharing a single bowl.

What do you feed your cats?

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Our cats get a range as the all prefer slightly different types. As most of them don't like whole offal we grind the kidney and liver with some heart and muscle meat on coarse then mix that with some extras ie bone broth, eggs, and some supplements, and then a whole load of large chunked muscle meat. If it is a rabbit or a small boned meat then the bone is kept on the meat if it is like beef I generally add calcium hydroxyapatite, which is freeze dried bovine bone. The also get whole foods such as Docs and Mice each day. A chopped up featherless but non eviserated Quail is put out in another bowl and at the moment we have good access to pigeon breast which all the cats love as a treat. Meat wise we have gone through a whole wide variety of meats however our basics are rabbit ( favourite), pork ( UK pork is fine)( favourite), Turkey ( ok), beef ( ok), Hare ( favourite). We've had venison which they did love but not now! Lhama , not keen thank goodness too expensive, kangaroo which was ok but then they went off it again thank goodness! They hate, hate, hate duck and lamb! I think both are very fatty meats. I hope that gives you an idea. We feed in the kitchen, the hall, the dining room and conservatory.

Sounds like a nice do-it-yourself mix!

I asked because one negative effect of leaving food out for grazing is that the cats won't necessarily eat the same thing.  If I leave out some chunks and some ground with excess bone/organ, for example, one cat will go for the chunks and the other will eat the ground.  So anything I put out has to be either a single item or thoroughly mixed.  I like the idea of whole chopped up quail - I was thinking about doing something similar with a Cornish hen, to get them to eat something they have to work at.

I also found that my cats' tastes changed with time.  They used to love beef and mutton, and now they won't touch either.  They used to dislike duck but now they like it.  I guess next year it'll be different yet again. They reliably like rabbit, goat, and pork, which foods tend to disappear quickly when put out :-).

Yep sometimes their food looks like a slushy chunky liquid but it all get eaten eventually. The photo shows what's left after an hour, the quail and pigeon have already been moved to one bowl and other bowls blended.