how long to leave wet food out

[coaster]

Lactobacillus organisms are specific to lactose in milk, producing lactic acid from the lactose. They aren't a general antibacterial. And if there's no lactose in the medium (ie the wet food), they won't produce any antibacterial activity at all.

The production of lactic acid makes its environment acidic which inhibits the growth of some harmful bacteria

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus
(emphasis added)

 

[4meezers3kids]

Originally Posted by coaster

Lactobacillus organisms are specific to lactose in milk, producing lactic acid from the lactose. They aren't a general antibacterial. And if there's no lactose in the medium (ie the wet food), they won't produce any antibacterial activity at all.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus
(emphasis added)

Then, if we do not feed our cats dairy, it won't grow?

 

[yosemite]

I don't have enough time in the morning to wait an hour before picking up the food.

I get up, feed the kitties, get ready and go to work. I just leave the food down. When I get home at night the food is gone. I have no idea if they ate it in 1/2 hour, 1 hour or 3 hours. So far I have had no problems with this system. If I lived in a very warm climate and my house was very hot, I perhaps would not want to do this, but here in the northern hemisphere I have not had any problems.

 

[mschauer]

Originally Posted by coaster

You shouldn't need to leave wet food down two hours to get a cat to eat it. Cats get used to a routine, so if you leave food down for two hours, they'll take two hours to eat it. Well, some will -- not my two boys -- they scarf it all down immediately.

Anyway, I'd suggest just get into the routine of putting the food dish down and take it up again after 30 minutes. After a few days, your cat will get used to the idea that there's a 30 minute window of opportunity to eat the food, and will eat whatever they're going to eat within that 30 minutes.

Tried it, didn't work.

 

[sharky]

Originally Posted by coaster

Lactobacillus organisms are specific to lactose in milk, producing lactic acid from the lactose. They aren't a general antibacterial. And if there's no lactose in the medium (ie the wet food), they won't produce any antibacterial activity at all.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus
(emphasis added)

MOST brands are coated to make it thru the stomach acid thus are inert in the dish

 

[coaster]

Yes, there's that, too.

 

[coaster]

Originally Posted by mschauer

Tried it, didn't work.

How long did you give it?

 

[mschauer]

Originally Posted by coaster

How long did you give it?

A week. They're stubborn little monsters.

I think part of my problem is that I'm having trouble finding wet food that they like well enough to scarf. I think I'm doing well to find something they will eat if given enough time.

 

[urbantigers]

As soon as I put any food down around here it's gone in a matter of minutes

But if I'm going to be home late I'll put their next meal in automatic feeders and leave it down for several hours. Never had any problems with that. I do put it in the fridge first (plus the bowl out of the feeder) so that it takes a while to get to room temperature. It's also not exactly warm over here and my flat stays cool.

 

[coaster]

Originally Posted by mschauer

A week. .

A week should do it if converting from free feed to mealtimes. All my cats came in used to free feed and were converted to mealtimes within a week. However, I think I'm reading here that you're also coverting from dry to wet. That's a different issue and can take much longer. It took a year to convert Mellie from dry to wet, and she still has issues with eating wet. It took a couple weeks with my other cats.

 

[mschauer]

Originally Posted by coaster

A week should do it if converting from free feed to mealtimes. All my cats came in used to free feed and were converted to mealtimes within a week. However, I think I'm reading here that you're also coverting from dry to wet. That's a different issue and can take much longer. It took a year to convert Mellie from dry to wet, and she still has issues with eating wet. It took a couple weeks with my other cats.

I'm not trying to convert from dry. I've always gone 50/50. Dry in the morning and wet in the evening. I don't leave the dry down either but they eat it quickly enough. With the recall I've had to switch wet foods and I have yet to find something they like well enough to eat quickly. I've found a few they will eat all or most of if I leave it down long enough.

 

[greenvillegal]

I confess too that I put the food down in the morning and leave it out all day. When I get home there is a little left (where it kinda got stuck to the sides of the bowl) but they seem to eat most of it before I leave. I put some dry food out too for them to eat during the day. It seems that they won't eat it after it has been sitting out for a while. They like it "fresh."

 

[littleraven7726]

I put it down in the morning and leave it all day too. If it gets icky, they don't eat it. They usually eat most of it. If I picked it up after 1/2 hour, I would be throwing a ton of food away. My cats like to nibble.

 

[hissy]

Free feeding is something, we as humans have forced on our cats. In the wild, cats hunt twice a day, once in the morning and again at night. They don't eat continuously and they don't drink much water either, because their prey contains all they need to survive; meat, moisture, calcium and minerals. They are originally (all of them) desert animals, used to eating sparsely and drinking occassionally. Because of dry food not containing any moisture, cats are required to drink more water than they are originally set up to do.


If you leave your food down for long periods of time, your cat won't eat right away. Scheduled feedings and bringing the food up (both dry and wet) lets you cat know "if you snooze you loose." In Dr Pitcairns latest book he states- "If you want bladder problems with your cat, leave their food out all day." Your cat may be having illness problems and you might never know until it is to late. It depends on the cat, how strong their antibodies are and a number of other factors.

If you aren't going to be home to do the scheduled feeders, automatic feeders would be the answer. Treat balls are another option.

 

[greenvillegal]

What is a treat ball?

 

[coaster]

It's a hollow ball with a hole in it. You put treats inside the ball and give it to a cat. The cat has to figure out how to get the treats out.

I thought I had a pic of treatballs, but I can't find it. I do have a short video of a treat box, which is sort of the same principal:

Click here to watch treatbox

It's just some fun and mental stimulation for the cat to make him "work" for his treats.

 

[emmylou]

It's true that most cats will eat wet food right away if they like the flavor... this is because most cats prefer wet food to dry food. But sometimes you have an odd one like my cat, who prefers dry. I often have to take the dry away until the wet food has been eaten.

 

[connollygreen]

I'm trying to increase the amount of food my little one eats. I have two hours in the morning to leave food out before I go to work. Babee likes to eat with lots of breaks in between. I read that you should leave it out for just 30min to 1hr but by then she has only consumed 1 ounce of food. I would like to leave it out for the entire 2 hrs. Is is safe?

 

[connollygreen]

Remember cats in the wild eat out of trash cans

 

[catspaw66]

Remember cats in the wild eat out of trash cans

Welcome to TCS. The thread you are replying to has been dormant for 6 years. I invite you to start a thread in New Cats on the Block and introduce yourself and your cats. Put a couple of pictures in of them, too.