Freezing canned cat food

Hi everybody. I'd appreciate any advice you can give me. My husband and I need to go away for a few days (Thursday afternoon through late Sunday afternoon) and need to leave our three cats by themselves. I will leave them plenty of dry cat food, several bowls of water, extra litter boxes, soft music on the radio, a light or two, etc.

Also, right before we leave I will leave them fresh portions of wet food. Here's my question: I was thinking, what if I froze some canned cat food in small bowls, and leave those out as well when I leave? The cats will leave them alone on Thursday since the food is frozen, but the food will be thawed by Friday morning so at least they'll have a fresh wet snack then. And then it's just two days of dry food til we come back.

Any thoughts or experiences on this? Thank you in advance!

It sounds like a good idea to me, I have never even thought about that before, but I don't see why it would not work, I would make sure to put it in a bowl, so any water from defrosting does not drip over a plate and make a mess, but I'm sure the kittys would lap that up too,,

Can't you get someone to come in and feed them while you're away? I'm not sure it's a good idea to leave them alone for 3 days. While they might be fine, what if they're taken ill? Or knock something over that could hurt them? There are so many things that could happen. If someone could come in once a day to check they are ok they could put down some wet food while they're there.

I would suggest having someone check on them. You never know what could be happening. I personally don't think it is a good thing to leave wet food out unattended. It may start going bad by the time the cats notice it.

Urbantigers, if I could have gotten somebody whom I know (or don't know - but can trust) then I would have. That would have been my first choice but it isn't possible. So I have to do my best by the cats otherwise. Judging from other threads I've seen on this board people do leave their cats for a few days, as responsibly and well-provided for as possible, which I'm endeavoring to do.

Thanks, freshmtt - I thought it was a good idea too! But surely I'm not the first to have thought of it?!

It sounds like a good idea. I doubt a frozen dish of food would go bad in three days. But if you were worried about it, you could just leave them all dry instead. And lots of extra water.

I think it's fine to leave cats alone for a few days. Three days isn't much.

Freezing will alter the texture and flavor so I would nt do it unless you do a test before you leave////

You read my mind, Sharky - I just realized I could employ the scientific method on this problem. I'm going to freeze three portions in small bowls tonight, and place them alongside their regular wet breakfasts in the morning. I'll see how long roughly it takes for the food to thaw, and hold off giving the cats lunch until they (a) eat the thawed food, or (b) give me the vulcan mind-meld or otherwise compel me to give them regular, never-frozen canned food already.

I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for your input!

P.S. I was a philosophy major way back when. So I'm thinking - what is the "Schrodinger's cat" concept (all a distant blur now). What I'm getting at is - I'll be around tomorrow to witness the experiment, which may alter the results (I think that's the Heisenberg uncertainty principle). The true test of the experiment will be our leaving for a few days and then coming back!

Freezing canned cat food - it seems to work. I gave my cats frozen portions along with their regular breakfasts. The food thawed by lunch and they have eaten most of it. The appearance and texture didn't seem different to me, and the food was still moist. I think I've hit on a good solution for if we're out for a very long day or an overnight. (Also, frankly, it was kind of nice to set out two meals at once - and the cats didn't seem to mind.)

Turns out we won't have to leave the critters alone though for our 3-night trip, though - a neighbor has agreed to look in on them.

Glad the experiment went well and that you have a lookin sitter for your time away

I used to have a cat that would not eat any canned food unless it was frozen. She loves kitty popisicles.

How about an automatic Cat Feeder. It is called the Pet Mate C50. It dispenses 5 meals at set times (which you decide). Twin ice packs help keep food fresh in the 5 large food bowls.

here is the link in case you are interested.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products.../Itemdy00.aspx

Hello, I had this idea as well, and am trying it out this weekend.  I fed the cats this morning (Friday) and left enough dry food, water, and litter to last till Sunday afternoon when I return.

I put the food in little plastic bowls with water mixed in (that's how I always feed the wet food, to both make sure they drink more water, and so the bowls end up with less caked on hardened food), and froze them solid overnight.

Worrying it might thaw before tonight or tomorrow morning, I took the added precaution of sliding the little bowls into an ice pack sleeve (for a wine bottle) that I have.  I know my cats smell the food in there, and I know they'll be able to slide it out.  This could either be awesome, or I'll come back to a bunch of smelly hardened food. 

I will let you know how it goes.  

And you can definitely leave a cat home for a couple days unattended, especially if it has company of other cats! They are not babies and they are not dogs.  They're very smart and they know how to ration their food, and usually they're pretty good about not killing themselves.

Welcome to TCS, SashMitri. The thread you are replying to has been dormant for 7 years. I am sure the original posters have solved their problems. I invite you to introduce yourself and your cats in New Cats on the Block. Be sure to post some pics of the cats.